Santo Domingo .- Some 800,000 of the most impoverished Dominican households will receive as of the 25th of this month a subsidy to buy cooking gas with the "Bonogas" card distributed by the government through the Solidarity Program, headed by vice president Rafael Alburquerque.
The investment,whose monthly allocations is RD$ million, will benefit around 4 million Dominicans whose receive RD$228 each month for the purchase of gas.
Alburquerque said the program will include 400,000 new homes that participate in the program "Eating is First" and also receive the benefit of subsidized gas.
He said to date 200,000 Visa electronic cards have been distributedto for use in the 700 gas stations participating in the program and the remaining 200,000 cards expected before next Saturday.
He said that with the targeted gas subsidies, the government will save RD $6.0 billion per year.

With targeted 4 million recipients for the cooking gas, the Solidarity Program seems to reach out for almost all of the 42% of Dominicans who are poor -- living off less than $2 per day -- and getting poorer everyday.
Of course a program of this magnitude is administratively difficult to pull off. The bourgeoisie and the lumpen will always rush in and steal benefits to which they're not entitled.