NewsWhore
02-20-2012, 11:00 AM
According to El Caribe, the number of deputy ministers is unprecedented in the history of the country, or the rest of the world. The Dominican government has 334 deputy ministers, distributed between different ministries: Agriculture 37, Public Health 33, Education 29, Sport 28, Employment 25, Environment 21, Industry and Commerce 20, Youth 19, Interior and Police 19, Public Works 18, Tourism 18, Higher Education, Science and Technology 13, Women 12, Foreign Relations 9, Culture 8, Housing 8, Public Administration 5, Administration 5, Economy 4, and Armed Forces 3.
Even much larger countries do not have such an army of deputy ministers. Canada for example with a geographical area 206 times larger and a population 3.5 times larger, has only 25 deputy ministers in its government.
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State for the United States has one deputy minister for all of her work. Yet the Dominican Republic, which has only 3% the population of the US, needs nine Deputy Ministers for the same department.
The number of deputy ministers is actually laid down by Law. There should be three for Agriculture instead of 37, five for Public Health and there are 33. The same is the case for the other ministries and in total the law states there should be 59 Deputy Ministers and in fact there are 334. El Caribe asks whether the President has forgotten his promise made in 2004 to comply with the law that regulates these posts.
This excess of deputy ministers costs the country RD$715 million a year, taking into account the salaries, credit cards, cars, gasoline, insurance, secretaries, chauffeurs, security guards, cell phones, travel allowances and other indirect costs associated with the position.
El Caribe goes on to say that had President Fernandez complied with his promise, over the last seven years the country would have saved RD$5,000 million which could have be used to increase spending on education or the Solidarity card.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
Even much larger countries do not have such an army of deputy ministers. Canada for example with a geographical area 206 times larger and a population 3.5 times larger, has only 25 deputy ministers in its government.
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State for the United States has one deputy minister for all of her work. Yet the Dominican Republic, which has only 3% the population of the US, needs nine Deputy Ministers for the same department.
The number of deputy ministers is actually laid down by Law. There should be three for Agriculture instead of 37, five for Public Health and there are 33. The same is the case for the other ministries and in total the law states there should be 59 Deputy Ministers and in fact there are 334. El Caribe asks whether the President has forgotten his promise made in 2004 to comply with the law that regulates these posts.
This excess of deputy ministers costs the country RD$715 million a year, taking into account the salaries, credit cards, cars, gasoline, insurance, secretaries, chauffeurs, security guards, cell phones, travel allowances and other indirect costs associated with the position.
El Caribe goes on to say that had President Fernandez complied with his promise, over the last seven years the country would have saved RD$5,000 million which could have be used to increase spending on education or the Solidarity card.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)