Debt increases because of Metro

[NewsWhore]

The DR's foreign debt will increase by RD$7.1 billion in 2007, all because of construction of the Metro. Austerity doesn't apply in the case of the metro that is due to receive RD$10.7 billion in 2007 in order to speed up the pace of the project. Last year the metro had a budget of RD$1.84 billion, but actual costs ballooned to RD$3 billion and Hoy newspaper reminds readers that there was a RD$1.1 billion fund transfer from the Education and Health Departments to the project at the end of 2006. Metro director Diandino Pena says that Dominicans will be able to enjoy the metro by Spring 2008, before the 16 May Presidential elections. The budget for the Metro includes numerous loans from international organizations, most of which have not been approved by Congress. Last year alone the contract signed by Pena with the Franco-German company Siemens-Thales increased the foreign debt by US$119 million. Siemens has been contracted to build 17 of the train carriages for the Metro. Hoy reports that the viaducts from Villa Mella will cost US$200 million, while the one from the Cementera to La Feria will cost US$327 million, for a total of US$527 million. Initially Pena said that each kilometer of the Metro would cost US$32.6 million, but months later he informed the public that the actual cost would oscillate between US$40 and US$50 million, one of the lowest rates in the world.

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