The International Relations Adviser to the Directorate-General for Government Ethics and Integrity (Digeig), Ambassador Gilka Meléndez, explained at the meeting last week how the Caribbean state is making important changes to benefit the institutional framework and integrity practices in public administration.
Meléndez argued that these changes reflect an improvement in budget execution and a strengthening of the fight against impunity, favored by the independence of the legislative and judicial public powers, which act autonomously from the executive.
In this sense, he specified that, under the coordination of Digeig, the participation of 18 public bodies in the preparation of the response to the checklist for the implementation of preventive measures and the recovery of assets of the United Nations Convention against Corruption has been agreed.
Likewise, he said that this directorate implemented Decree No. 791-21, which transformed the public ethics committees into government integrity committees to prevent acts of corruption and ensure the principle of good governance and access to information.
Regarding the progress made in the fight against corruption, Meléndez pointed out that the Anti-Fraud Unit of the Comptroller General of the Republic was set up with the aim of conducting special investigations into state institutions that are the subject of allegations of behavior formulated as acts of humiliation or irregular practices. .
The Public Heritage Restoration Team also made an appearance, stating that it was in the national interest to save assets, funds and values that had been taken from state heritage.
The Ambassador stressed that the Attorney General’s Office had given the green light to submit 14 corruption cases to the courts involving former officials who, in cooperation with the Ministry of State, chose to be witnesses.
He also stated that between August 2020 and June 2023, the National Directorate of Drug Control, in cooperation with the Drug Control Administration (DEA), the Republic Attorney General’s Office and the Navy, seized a total of 90 tons of narcotics.
ode/mpv