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Transparency Top Concern of
Defensoría
Corruption in Costa Rica in the
last year hit an all time high
when a number of public
officials, including two former
presidents, where accused of
putting their hands in the
public coffers.
To combat the wave of corruption
and to offer more transparency,
the Defensoría de los Habitantes
(Ombudsman) offered a number of
institutions a way of letting
the public know what is going on
behind their doors and make
available information on how the
institution operates.
During the last six months the
Defensoría put forth the
initiative that resulted in the
creation of website where public
institutions can offer
information such as payroll,
financial budgets and other
information to the public.
The Poder Judicial, the
Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE), Acueductos y
Alcantarillados (AyA), the
Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi),
the Consejo de Rehabilitación,
the Policía Fiscal, the
Municipalities of San José,
Belén, Escazú and Curridabat and
the Tribunal Supremo de
Elecciones (TSE) form the first
group that signed on with the
program.
According to José Manuel Echandi,
Defensor de los Habitantes, it
is a program that will allow the
public to consult with a series
of institutions and how they are
spending public funds, a way to
keep the institutions honest.
The program is to allow the
public with a greater amount of
information about the public
institutions that are there to
serve them.
The program will be a success,
only if citizens take the time
and interest to review the
information, according to Luis
Paulino Mora, president of the
Corte Suprema de Justicia.
San José's mayor, Johnny Araya,
said it is important that the
public have information and come
to trust their public officials
again. Araya indicated that his
Municipality's website already
contains 90% of the information
that the Defensoría program is
making available.
The Defensoría website can be
reached at:
http://www.dhr.go.cr.
For more information on the
Defensoría's financial situation
and that of other public
institutions go to:
http://www.dhr.go.cr/transinsti.html
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