NewsWhore
08-25-2008, 03:20 PM
Efforts by the Fernandez administration to provide reliable and competitively priced electricity have failed. Blackouts are back, causing major inconveniences and raising the cost of doing business in the DR. Companies can no longer cope with using their back-up power generators because the rising cost of diesel has made operating them too expensive. The costs can no longer just be passed on to consumers. The companies fear that consumers would just stop buying the goods. "The impact of the blackouts on the operational costs of companies is very high, because one has to maintain a self-generation system, not an emergency system as originally designed, and more so with the high cost of fuel today," Pedro Perez of the National Organization of Shopping Malls told Diario Libre. The biggest complaint of all is that electricity bills do not come down, despite the blackouts. The blackouts mean additional costs just for staying in business. Ignacio Mendez of the Federation of Industries (FEI) forecast that many companies would simply go out of business. "This situation is going to cause bankruptcy in many companies that will only make the economic situation worse when they stop paying taxes and fire their employees," he said.
For the Association of Herrera Industries, the Dominican Republic is experiencing a disastrous situation in the electricity sector. They warned about "a collapse with unforeseeable economic and social consequences, due to the deterioration of the electricity supply, the financial blackouts and the absence of new investments in generation."
Over the past few weeks there have been protests in East and North Santo Domingo, in Santiago, in Loma de Cabrera, and other cities around the country with a toll of at least three injured, many arrested, and burned tires and garbage in the streets.
Electricity service got worse over the weekend in Santiago and other cities in the Cibao Valley, but Ede-Norte executives reiterated that the blackouts were the result of low water levels in the Tavera and Lopez-Angostura dams. Meanwhile, Santiago Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ricardo Fondeur called on the government to give the highest priority to the electricity superhighway because it will provide a solution to the problem.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
For the Association of Herrera Industries, the Dominican Republic is experiencing a disastrous situation in the electricity sector. They warned about "a collapse with unforeseeable economic and social consequences, due to the deterioration of the electricity supply, the financial blackouts and the absence of new investments in generation."
Over the past few weeks there have been protests in East and North Santo Domingo, in Santiago, in Loma de Cabrera, and other cities around the country with a toll of at least three injured, many arrested, and burned tires and garbage in the streets.
Electricity service got worse over the weekend in Santiago and other cities in the Cibao Valley, but Ede-Norte executives reiterated that the blackouts were the result of low water levels in the Tavera and Lopez-Angostura dams. Meanwhile, Santiago Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ricardo Fondeur called on the government to give the highest priority to the electricity superhighway because it will provide a solution to the problem.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)