SANTO DOMINGO.- Bus and truck owners today said they reject the 32 pesos-per-gallon subsidy on diesel if the government allows its sale in gas stations, warning that corruption could affect the provisional program to be in effect for three months.

Antonio Marte, of Conatra; Ramon Perez Figuereo, of the CNTU; Alfredo Linares (Cambita), of Mochotran, and Blas Peralta, of Fenatrado, said in tomorrow’s meeting with the Hacienda and Industry and Commerce ministers they’ll request that the sale take place in depots.

The Government will provide a subsidy of about 32 pesos per gallon on diesel, though the transporters are agaisnt the program being run through the gas stations, arguing malfeasance and corruption.

"We’ve been buying diesel directly from suppliers for 15 years because we have deposits. We are not ready to accept the subsidy if it’s through the gas stations,” Marte said. He said if the subsidized diesel is sold in all gas stations “confabulations” could arise and the fuel would end up in all types of vehicles.

Perez said for the process to be transparent the regulation should verify the use of each and every gallon. He said the monthly diesel consumption is more than 3 million gallons, "and the one million gallons which will subsidized to us must go directly to the organizations’ depot tanks, whose sale Government inspectors must supervise until the last gallon."

Linares said the subsidized diesel must go to the tanks in the unions’ depots for a better control. "We cannot allow that fuel to be sold to SUVs, pickup trucks; we don’t want irregularities in the diesel subsidy to arise."

For his part, Peralta agrees with the other unionists that the diesel subsidy must go directly to that sector.

President Leonel Fernandez issued a decree to subsidize $31.69 per gallon of diesel for use in passenger and freight vehicles, to prevent fare and rate increases.