Overseers quit; another Dominican Govt. corruption scandal

Santo Domingo.- One ofthe Student Welfare Institute (Inabie) Oversight Commission´s five members who resignedon Monday complained of irregularities in that agency, claiming violation of theFree Access to Public Information Law.

The resignation of theCommittee is just another episode in the scandal-fraught administration headedby Danilo Medina, who upon taking office in Aug. 2012 said he “won’t throwbricks” at past government corruption.

Oversight CommissionRamon Baez said Inabie senior officials refuse to hand over the information theyhad requested. "We requested compliance by publishing information of theentity in the website, in an open format, and also demanded it of presidencychief of staff Gustavo Montalvo, but they remained in a permanent contempt."

Mithila Ana Lora, who hadcoordinated the Commission said they met several times with Inabie director ReneJaquez, but always resulted in delays. "We got tired of that game,"said Lora, when asked about their letter of resignation emailed to Montalvo. Shesaid the resignation would be formalized this week.

The letter singed by Baez,Lora, Flavio Rodriguez Mendez, and representatives of the Catholic and Evangelicalchurches, Frank de la Cruz and Johnnie Martinez, respectively, stated frustrationand regret that despite it was an unpaid function, they worked with dedication,but "we are not taken seriously."

In the letter quoted bydiariolibre.com, the former commissioners say since 2014 they had demand forinformation on a school breakfast supplier which failed to comply with requirementsduring three years, adding that they waited for a response on some cases offood poisoning for more than a month, but were ignored