IDB says poor management to blame

[NewsWhore]

The weakness and instability of the electric system has not been solved in the country despite the large-scale investment and multiple loans that the sector has received from international organizations. Nevertheless, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) representative in the DR, Manuel Labrado, said that the problem in not to do with the loans that the sector receives, but an issue of commercial management of the electricity business. He stated that no matter how much money goes into a business, the problem would not be resolved without effective commercial management of billing and collecting for electricity. He put forward the idea that everyone who uses or buys energy should be invoiced and then collected, and this would solve the country's problem. He also said that the electricity problem is not due to the fact that the people do not pay for the energy, but rather that one million electricity users are not billed and collected, and yet the generators have to be paid. He said that they have made significant progress on the electricity issue in the country, but they have to achieve better commercial management, which is one of the largest problems in the sector. He said that the strategic plan for the sector has been achieved, and if it is continued like this until 2012 there will be no need for a subsidy in the sector. He stated that technical losses had to be reduced to a maximum of 12% to 15%, but not the current 35%.

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