SANTO DOMINGO – A Dominican civic organization announced it will file a criminal complaint for corruption against the mayor of the country’s second-largest city, Santiago.DominicanToday.com - Several community organizations on Monday staged a protest near City Hall to reject a proposal by the entity’s ruling PLD party spokesman Luis Jose Estévez, to assign a pension for Benny Sued, sister of outgoing mayor Jose Enrique Sued.
The protest comes just two weeks after audits found “serious” irregularities in the handling of taxpayers money in the Santiago City Council, and after Sued lost the post in an upset by former ruling PLD party leader Gilberto Serrulle.
The community leaders Leonor Mieses and Andres Ramos also warned that at least 11 outgoing councilpersons are also seeking a pension, after their terms conclude on August 16.
Benny Sued, the current director of the City Councils Plazas and Parks, has been accused of heading a network of the Mayor’s relatives who’ve pocketed millions with different contracts.
“We are here (statue of Juan Pablo Duarte) to protest against the intent of the Santiago councilpersons to assign a pension for life, and the people of Santiago cannot allow,” said Ramos, president of the Santiago Popular and Neighborhood Organizations (Juvoposan). “We want to let the councilpersons know that we aren’t going to allow a ransacking of the Treasury of Santiago.
