NewsWhore
12-20-2006, 04:30 PM
The Dominican Republic has become a jeepetocracy (yipetocracia), declares businessman Federico A. Martinez, in a contribution to the 19 December edition of Hoy newspaper. According to him, Dominicans change once they get behind the wheel of their luxury SUVs, known here as yipetas. He says that the individual then becomes "me and my yipeta". He points to the fact that while in 2000 there were 40,621 yipetas, by 2005 this number had tripled to 124,802. He says that interestingly, Tax Department (DGII) reports do not include the number of yipetas that are part of the official inventory. He estimates that once these are counted - the Presidency with its 21 ministries, and more than 100 decentralized organizations - there are several thousand more. Martinez mentions the case of one minister who purchased 20 or so luxury SUVs from a friend of his, who had already sold more or less the same amount to his predecessor.
He observes that the British government publishes a section on Propriety and Ethics on its web page, including a list of authorized vehicles that may be assigned to officials of Her Majesty's government: the highest ranks are assigned Rover 75 Connoisseur vehicles.
He mentions that the SUVs used by Dominican government officials have CIF value of US$56,549 to US$67,211. He comments that if the government were to auction off these vehicles, it could collect US$100 million or more, with which it could purchase 2,000 vehicles according to the British government guidelines, and still have millions of dollars left over to tackle poverty.
To read the entire column, go to http://www.tomandoencuenta.blogspot.com
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
He observes that the British government publishes a section on Propriety and Ethics on its web page, including a list of authorized vehicles that may be assigned to officials of Her Majesty's government: the highest ranks are assigned Rover 75 Connoisseur vehicles.
He mentions that the SUVs used by Dominican government officials have CIF value of US$56,549 to US$67,211. He comments that if the government were to auction off these vehicles, it could collect US$100 million or more, with which it could purchase 2,000 vehicles according to the British government guidelines, and still have millions of dollars left over to tackle poverty.
To read the entire column, go to http://www.tomandoencuenta.blogspot.com
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)