Government to announce mergers and elimination of public entities today

Santo Domingo.- President Luis Abinader is expected to announce a proposal to merge ministries and eliminate public entities that either duplicate functions or have fulfilled their original objectives. The government, through Minister of Public Administration Sigmund Freund, recently revealed plans for a broad state restructuring process. This will involve merging certain ministries and eliminating entities that overlap with others or have completed their mission.

One merger under consideration is between the Ministry of Education (Minerd) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mescyt), both operating within the educational sector. However, this has sparked debate, with figures like Ligia Amada Melo criticizing the potential move. There is also speculation about the creation of a Ministry of the Family, combining the Ministry of Youth, the Ministry of Women, and the National Council for Children and Adolescents (Conani).

Several other areas, including agriculture and health, are under review. In the agricultural sector, agencies such as the Dominican Sugar Institute and the Dominican Agrarian Institute might be consolidated. The health sector could see reductions in institutions like the National Council for HIV and AIDS and the National Health Service.

The Dominican state currently consists of 366 institutions, including 282 centralized and 84 decentralized bodies, with a significant portion under review for consolidation or elimination.