The Institutionality and Justice Foundation (Finjus) states that the elimination of some provinces of the Dominican Republic should be considered, while Citizen Participation calls on the National Congress not to further fragment the national territory.
This is as a result of the debates generated by the bill that seeks to segregate the demarcation of Santo Domingo through the creation of the Matías Ramón Mella province, an initiative of the deputy of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) César Santiago “Tonty” Rutinel Domínguez , urgently approved in the Lower House last Tuesday and pending going to the Senate.
“So that, taking into account the current regulatory parameters and the concepts raised on land use planning in our political-administrative system, the central axis of the topic presented here could revolve around the elimination of certain provinces, even,” expresses part of the document. of the Finjus.
In this way, according to the entity, the institutional objectives of the Dominican State would focus on compliance with the Constitution, which establishes in its article 196 that “the region is the basic unit for the articulation and formulation of public policies in the national territory”, also pointing to the strengthening of local municipal structures.
The civic organization, although it does not explain which demarcations should be reduced, clarifies that the provinces, within the framework of the country’s unitary State model, respond only as an intermediate political demarcation, thus being “the municipalities” the constitutive base of the political system. local administrative.
Citizen participation
The civic movement Citizen Participation recalled that the average island only has 48 thousand 442 kilometers, divided into 31 provinces and a National District; 158 municipalities and 238 municipal districts, for which he urged Congress not to further segregate the national territory.
He indicated that this territorial division would only add more spending to the State and with it, the revenues would bleed. He points out that the public payroll already represents 15% of the labor force, including the formal and informal sectors, and that the public occupational density in the country is among the highest in the region.
“More fragmentation of the territory does not imply higher quality of services, efficiency and effectiveness, but it does imply more political jobs,” the institution stressed. He criticized the deputies for urgently approving the new province, ignoring article 193 of the Constitution, as well as articles 194 and 195. The latter establish the priority of a Land Management Plan and an organic law that regulates the name and limits of regions, provinces and municipalities.
Several senators object to Tonty’s proposal
The bill that seeks to create the Matías Ramón Mella province has generated rejection from different sectors at the national level, including legislators from the Upper House, such as Faride Raful, spokesperson for the PRM in said body and representative of the National District; Antonio Taveras, Senator from Santo Domingo; Yván Lorenzo, spokesman for the purple caucus and representative in that chamber for the Elías Piña province; and Valentín Medrano (PLD), senator from Independencia. The congressmen do not see the need for a new demarcation in the country.
