NewsWhore
08-09-2007, 05:50 PM
Today's Diario Libre comments on the dismal reality of the Dominican public transport system. After 35 years of continuously throwing taxpayer money at the problem, no real progress has been made and there still seems to be no definitive policy in place to solve the mass transit chaos. Diario Libre's report points out that negligence and often complicity have been the Achilles' heel of the public transport system. The newspaper highlights that the excessive power wielded by the transport union leaders, regarded as the default leaders of the sector, has also been a detriment to any real progress.
Over the years, the government has created multiple offices to deal with the transport sector - ONATRATE (1979 - President Guzman), OTTT (1987 - President Balaguer), AMET and AMETRASAN, OMSA (1997 - President Fernandez) and OPRET (2005 - President Fernandez), among others. These offices and their overlapping functions have resulted in a lack of planning and coordination that has exacerbated the problem.
The Fernandez administration OPRET office is responsible for the construction of the Fernandez administration new contribution to the solution of the transport difficulties - the Santo Domingo underground and feeder operations.
Diario Libre refers to a study carried out by OPRET that documents how over the last 35 years the government has subsidized the transport sector with customs tax exemptions on vehicles and discounts on fuel. The report indicates that in recent years 11,360 buses and minibuses have been imported in a series of attempts to solve the problem.
In 1979 then President Antonio Guzman invested RD$200 million and began an ambitious project to develop a transit system. Then in 1983, about 500 buses were put into service. In 1987, under Joaquin Balaguer, OTTT was created to plan and regulate public transport and 250 buses were imported from the US. In 1997, during Leonel Fernandez's first presidential term the Metropolitan Transit Authority (AMET) was created. That very same year the OMSA was created, ONATRATE was disbanded and a further 300 buses were imported at a cost of US$25 million. Finally, between 2002 and 2004, 4,000 more buses and cargo transport vehicles were bought. This is in addition to the 1,000 "pollitos" imported with commercial bank loans under the first Fernandez administration, and another 2,500 "garzas" imported during the Hipolito Mejia administration.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
Over the years, the government has created multiple offices to deal with the transport sector - ONATRATE (1979 - President Guzman), OTTT (1987 - President Balaguer), AMET and AMETRASAN, OMSA (1997 - President Fernandez) and OPRET (2005 - President Fernandez), among others. These offices and their overlapping functions have resulted in a lack of planning and coordination that has exacerbated the problem.
The Fernandez administration OPRET office is responsible for the construction of the Fernandez administration new contribution to the solution of the transport difficulties - the Santo Domingo underground and feeder operations.
Diario Libre refers to a study carried out by OPRET that documents how over the last 35 years the government has subsidized the transport sector with customs tax exemptions on vehicles and discounts on fuel. The report indicates that in recent years 11,360 buses and minibuses have been imported in a series of attempts to solve the problem.
In 1979 then President Antonio Guzman invested RD$200 million and began an ambitious project to develop a transit system. Then in 1983, about 500 buses were put into service. In 1987, under Joaquin Balaguer, OTTT was created to plan and regulate public transport and 250 buses were imported from the US. In 1997, during Leonel Fernandez's first presidential term the Metropolitan Transit Authority (AMET) was created. That very same year the OMSA was created, ONATRATE was disbanded and a further 300 buses were imported at a cost of US$25 million. Finally, between 2002 and 2004, 4,000 more buses and cargo transport vehicles were bought. This is in addition to the 1,000 "pollitos" imported with commercial bank loans under the first Fernandez administration, and another 2,500 "garzas" imported during the Hipolito Mejia administration.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)