NewsWhore
06-25-2010, 03:50 PM
The Rural and Suburban Electrification Unit (UERS) has connected more than 75,000 families to the national electricity grid. Its beneficiaries are people who never had a single light bulb in their houses. The unit has also managed to secure the installation of modern alternative sources of energy in the most remote and poorest communities of the Dominican Republic.
But these services will come to a halt unless the government can come up with the RD$326 million that the institution owes to its suppliers and personnel.
The reason? It seems, according to unit director Thelma Eusebio, that legislators forgot to include the UERS in the 2010 budget!
According to Eusebio, "In the UERS we are there to work. We are not there to sit and look at each other's faces. Unfortunately, nobody can work when there are no funds to purchase water or toilet paper".
Eusebio was describing the current situation that the unit, which was created in 2001 by Law 125-01, is facing today. During her interview with Listin Diario, she said that the UERS "contributes with human development, health, eco-tourism, and the economies of the poorest communities".
She said that, "electricity in a school changes the lives of the whole community. It supports the educational plans and raises citizen safety levels".
Eusebio pointed out that while legislators did not see fit to include her projects that cost RD$153 million in the National Budget, the organization is not receiving funds that by law are supposed to be deposited in their accounts. These include 20% of the resources handled by the Reformed Government Companies Assets Fund (FONPER), and the US$1.5 million that the electricity distributors are supposed to contribute.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
But these services will come to a halt unless the government can come up with the RD$326 million that the institution owes to its suppliers and personnel.
The reason? It seems, according to unit director Thelma Eusebio, that legislators forgot to include the UERS in the 2010 budget!
According to Eusebio, "In the UERS we are there to work. We are not there to sit and look at each other's faces. Unfortunately, nobody can work when there are no funds to purchase water or toilet paper".
Eusebio was describing the current situation that the unit, which was created in 2001 by Law 125-01, is facing today. During her interview with Listin Diario, she said that the UERS "contributes with human development, health, eco-tourism, and the economies of the poorest communities".
She said that, "electricity in a school changes the lives of the whole community. It supports the educational plans and raises citizen safety levels".
Eusebio pointed out that while legislators did not see fit to include her projects that cost RD$153 million in the National Budget, the organization is not receiving funds that by law are supposed to be deposited in their accounts. These include 20% of the resources handled by the Reformed Government Companies Assets Fund (FONPER), and the US$1.5 million that the electricity distributors are supposed to contribute.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)