SANTO DOMINGO, December 17, 2012 – A new website launched today by the World Bank aims to promote transparency and accountability in public expenditure by providing easy access to information about projects financed by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the Dominican Republic.
The System for the Execution of Procurement Plans (SEPA in Spanish) is a web platform that provides information about all contracts for works, goods, and services related to the projects financed by both international development organizations.
The platform allows planning projects procurement plans to be implemented in a period of 12 to 18 months as well planning the progress in the execution of the plans while watching the specific detail in each project contract award in real time.
“SEPA seeks to increase transparency and efficiency in the management of purchases and contracts within World Bank and IDB financed projects in the Dominican Republic,” explained McDonald Benjamin, resident representative of the World Bank in the country. “SEPA will facilitate the participation of civil society in monitoring the use of resources and will allow the private sector to see future purchases and contracts for each project."
The SEPA page in the Dominican Republic will reflect the approved procurement plans for eaqch project under implementation. The general public, especially project beneficiaries, will be able to access detailed plans and progress reports within a procurement plan.
The project implementation units from the respective ministries will be responsible of creating, modifying and updating content in the webpage.
The Dominican Republic is the first country in the Caribbean to implement SEPA. This platform is currently active in 14 countries in Latin America and 4 in Europe and Central Asia. There are plans to expand the system to the rest of the region within the next 2 years.
The launch event, held at the Holiday Inn Hotel, was attended McDonald Benjamin and Manuel Labrado, representatives of the World Bank and the IDB in the country, respectively; Catherine Abreu, procurement specialist for the World Bank in the Dominican Republic, and Nikolai Sviedrys, regional coordinator of SEPA for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Projects financed by the World Bank in the Dominican Republic
The present portfolio is comprised of seven operations totaling US$274 million already disbursed and several non-financial instruments (technical assistance). Around US$148 million are set to be disbursed within the seven operations.
