Dominican authorities don’t function, Cardinal

Santo Domingo.- Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez yesterday railed against the disorder in the country, where "there’s no authority here which functions. Neither council nor police nor anybody."

His rebuke of the alleged poor management fuels the row over the Colonial Zone’s future and morass, which despite UNESCO’s World Heritage Site declaration, pits residents and bar and restaurant owners.

After a mass in the Cathedral of America, the also Santo Domingo Archbishop supported the priests’ complaints of the Zone’s crime, also blamed on poor street lighting and lack of surveillance. “I’s nothing new, but gives the impression that the authorities don’t function.”

Suggests austerity to next Administration

Lopez, who suggested austerity for Danilo Medina’s Administration, slammed the ballooned payrolls in the diplomatic corps, and the consuls without functions abroad. "I’m no friend of inflated cabinets."