What do you guys think of the latest chapter in the electric power saga in the DR? It seems to me that basically they have just paid Union Fenosa to "go away" and that control is going back to the CDEE. In other words we're back to where we were 10 years ago. Will Hippo use the CDEE to give "jobs" to his people? Will people who had started to pay for the service now stop paying because it is back to being a state owned company? What do you guys think about this???
- Thread starter suarezn
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Power Situation "Solved"
this is a never ending issue for the next months hippo will problably supply the country with 24/7 light service in order to buy a couple of votes.
This is interesting. I also think it is a political ploy but I don't think I understand the ramifications or the reasons too well. Here in Cabarete, we've had excellent power for the last while, from around the time that the games ended. I think we had two very short (5 minutes or less) power interruptions and one three hour interruption, but they were working on the lines at that time. And yesterday, the fellows turned up to read the meter. So, for this month at least we might not have problems paying the bill.
I'd like to get Hillbilly's take on this and Golo's reasoning. Or anyone else that had experience of the power generation when it was under government control before.
Aha! I see Golo talking about this in this thread. http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25744
I'd like to get Hillbilly's take on this and Golo's reasoning. Or anyone else that had experience of the power generation when it was under government control before.
Aha! I see Golo talking about this in this thread. http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25744
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I totally concur
This is a very dirty situation, somewhat of a reminder of the "Gold is ours!" speech made by President Guzm?n when the Rosario Mine was nationalized. And then, under Quique Antun and family along with Imbert Barrera, forced into bankruptcy.. How the phuck can you bankrupt a gold mine?????
According to some of the "talking heads" the gold mine used up some RD$60 million that had been set aside to build a dam for hydro power....but the gold was more politically valuable than the electricity.
Now we are going to have to spend what>? US$750 million to buy back what was worthless just a few years ago? Gimme a break!. My only hope is that a rumor that I heard a few weeks ago comes true. That at least two consortiums of Dominican businessmen take over the distribution and some of the generation and run it like the Santiago Airport and the Coraasan.
But not even they can make money with the dollar at 31+ ....and only 70% of the people paying anything. A trip to the East out of Santiago will reveal that there are hundreds of houses with electricity but no meters!.....
And transmission lines are so old that another 25-30% is lost in transmission! So you spend 100% and only cover 40-50% with what you collect? That is a business that Dominicans call Capaperro!
HB
This is a very dirty situation, somewhat of a reminder of the "Gold is ours!" speech made by President Guzm?n when the Rosario Mine was nationalized. And then, under Quique Antun and family along with Imbert Barrera, forced into bankruptcy.. How the phuck can you bankrupt a gold mine?????
According to some of the "talking heads" the gold mine used up some RD$60 million that had been set aside to build a dam for hydro power....but the gold was more politically valuable than the electricity.
Now we are going to have to spend what>? US$750 million to buy back what was worthless just a few years ago? Gimme a break!. My only hope is that a rumor that I heard a few weeks ago comes true. That at least two consortiums of Dominican businessmen take over the distribution and some of the generation and run it like the Santiago Airport and the Coraasan.
But not even they can make money with the dollar at 31+ ....and only 70% of the people paying anything. A trip to the East out of Santiago will reveal that there are hundreds of houses with electricity but no meters!.....
And transmission lines are so old that another 25-30% is lost in transmission! So you spend 100% and only cover 40-50% with what you collect? That is a business that Dominicans call Capaperro!
HB
You don't even have to go out of santiago to see people stealing the electric, this is happening right inside santiago in the poor barrios. The guy who programs my DSS card has been stealing electric since columbus dropped him off here. He has the house wired correctly as opposed to many other people who simply tap into lines with naked wires and connections. I mean, I am surprised to see how not so many people die of electric shocks.
I was in Ambis disco (i usually hate going there but there was a concert and the girls wanted to go) and while I was standing in the back leaning against the metal frame support structure with fancy neon tube lighting I grabbed the pole only to get shocked out of my pants. I had grabbed a naked wire connection for the neon lights. Damn, it was a sizzling jolt because I had totally grabbed the connection not knowing it was there. I mean, there must have been 100s of people who got shocked from it just by leaning on the damn thing. I told the waitor about it, he simply played dumb.
So back to the original subject, yes there are thousands of people who are stealing electric from the lines into barrios and doing it for many years.
I was in Ambis disco (i usually hate going there but there was a concert and the girls wanted to go) and while I was standing in the back leaning against the metal frame support structure with fancy neon tube lighting I grabbed the pole only to get shocked out of my pants. I had grabbed a naked wire connection for the neon lights. Damn, it was a sizzling jolt because I had totally grabbed the connection not knowing it was there. I mean, there must have been 100s of people who got shocked from it just by leaning on the damn thing. I told the waitor about it, he simply played dumb.
So back to the original subject, yes there are thousands of people who are stealing electric from the lines into barrios and doing it for many years.