NewsWhore
05-25-2011, 03:30 PM
Let's be sincere. Nobody likes to keep garbage in the house. But the reality is that this garbage that you do not want to see has led many business owners to do whatever they can to get it inside their trucks. And although it smells bad and pollutes, garbage is worth lots of money and is a profitable business.
In the case of Greater Santo Domingo, most companies that provide service to the municipalities have obtained their contracts by way of tenders or bidding processes, but this process, which is supposed to be covered in legality, has not been a guarantee in some cases, for transparency. In recent history there are cases of people who have resorted to the creation of companies in a hurry and even to the alteration of public documents in order to obtain garbage collection contracts.
Diario Libre, continuing its investigation into the business of garbage disposal said that the most resounding case in recent memory is the tender process called by the municipality of Santo Domingo East in 2007, in which the consortium Higiene Integral was declared the winner. Nonetheless, the city council's decision was annulled some time later by the Disputes and Administrative Court and then by the Supreme Court of Justice that accepted a complaint filed by Capitales Diversos, one of the others competing for the contract. Capitales Diversos showed that Higiene Integral had altered public documents in order to qualify for the tender. The sentence that annuls the contract says that a certification from the Department of Taxes on 2 March 2010 established that HG (Higiene Integral) showed to be in arrears in the payment of the Anticipated Earnings Tax; that its Mercantile Registration had expired six months before the tender and that the list of shareholders was from the year 2002. The decision also said that the last two reports of the company's general assembly were dated 2002 and 2004, i.e. the package of documents that was submitted for the tender did not fulfill the terms of reference.
Nevertheless, this is not the only contract that has smelled bad in this municipality. People remember the scandal that came about over the contract given to Servicios Pro Higiene and Salud (Sehisa), without a tender, during the first term of Mayor Juan de los Santos. After a lot of public pressure the administration decided to suspend the contract but the company still picks up garbage in the first and second districts. Possibly the most blatant case is the one involving LTP Verban Company in Boca Chica. In the newspaper archives, it appears that the company was formed 17 days after having been awarded the contract by the city government. The political ties between the owner of the company, Alvaro Leger, the son of Reformist leader Jose Osvaldo Leger, and then Mayor Jocelyn Pena, were also questioned.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
In the case of Greater Santo Domingo, most companies that provide service to the municipalities have obtained their contracts by way of tenders or bidding processes, but this process, which is supposed to be covered in legality, has not been a guarantee in some cases, for transparency. In recent history there are cases of people who have resorted to the creation of companies in a hurry and even to the alteration of public documents in order to obtain garbage collection contracts.
Diario Libre, continuing its investigation into the business of garbage disposal said that the most resounding case in recent memory is the tender process called by the municipality of Santo Domingo East in 2007, in which the consortium Higiene Integral was declared the winner. Nonetheless, the city council's decision was annulled some time later by the Disputes and Administrative Court and then by the Supreme Court of Justice that accepted a complaint filed by Capitales Diversos, one of the others competing for the contract. Capitales Diversos showed that Higiene Integral had altered public documents in order to qualify for the tender. The sentence that annuls the contract says that a certification from the Department of Taxes on 2 March 2010 established that HG (Higiene Integral) showed to be in arrears in the payment of the Anticipated Earnings Tax; that its Mercantile Registration had expired six months before the tender and that the list of shareholders was from the year 2002. The decision also said that the last two reports of the company's general assembly were dated 2002 and 2004, i.e. the package of documents that was submitted for the tender did not fulfill the terms of reference.
Nevertheless, this is not the only contract that has smelled bad in this municipality. People remember the scandal that came about over the contract given to Servicios Pro Higiene and Salud (Sehisa), without a tender, during the first term of Mayor Juan de los Santos. After a lot of public pressure the administration decided to suspend the contract but the company still picks up garbage in the first and second districts. Possibly the most blatant case is the one involving LTP Verban Company in Boca Chica. In the newspaper archives, it appears that the company was formed 17 days after having been awarded the contract by the city government. The political ties between the owner of the company, Alvaro Leger, the son of Reformist leader Jose Osvaldo Leger, and then Mayor Jocelyn Pena, were also questioned.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)