Long time absence but had to share this with my DR-1 friends.
Reply from a Cape Town friend on hearing of the power problems.
ECH (aka DOC)
Sounds like the money is still being stolen, There are other countries in a position like the D.R. that have power ... example South Africa, they have NO Oil, import it all and have one atomic plant ... there is plenty of power and no cuts ... the difference is that some time ago the government realised that the "Kaffirs" and a few others would never pay for the power and would instead steal when they could and if they had meters would simply not pay and it was too dangerous to go into these areas to disconnect them (Really dangerous people live there!!!) .... so they had a solution, a box was installed at the power point but it was a signal box, more like a phone .... you buy a "Power Card" at a bank, post office etc and then take it home .. then with the box you can buy a certain number of KWH's for your home .. the box sends a signal to the main power point many miles away and you are switched on, the measurement is done miles away also! No way to cheat the system and no way to tap the lines for free power ... its foolproof, you should have heard the s.o.b.'s scream when the system was installed ... but it works and everyone pays ... IN ADVANCE!!! The govt can't steal the money as the banks and other financial authorities pay for the oil and gas etc directly to save management expenses, the system really works and power is not expensive ... so you see, even in a third world country the system can work if you go about it the right way ... you simply have to fix it so that the crooked, stealing, s.o.b.'s can't win!!!!
Reply from a Cape Town friend on hearing of the power problems.
ECH (aka DOC)
Sounds like the money is still being stolen, There are other countries in a position like the D.R. that have power ... example South Africa, they have NO Oil, import it all and have one atomic plant ... there is plenty of power and no cuts ... the difference is that some time ago the government realised that the "Kaffirs" and a few others would never pay for the power and would instead steal when they could and if they had meters would simply not pay and it was too dangerous to go into these areas to disconnect them (Really dangerous people live there!!!) .... so they had a solution, a box was installed at the power point but it was a signal box, more like a phone .... you buy a "Power Card" at a bank, post office etc and then take it home .. then with the box you can buy a certain number of KWH's for your home .. the box sends a signal to the main power point many miles away and you are switched on, the measurement is done miles away also! No way to cheat the system and no way to tap the lines for free power ... its foolproof, you should have heard the s.o.b.'s scream when the system was installed ... but it works and everyone pays ... IN ADVANCE!!! The govt can't steal the money as the banks and other financial authorities pay for the oil and gas etc directly to save management expenses, the system really works and power is not expensive ... so you see, even in a third world country the system can work if you go about it the right way ... you simply have to fix it so that the crooked, stealing, s.o.b.'s can't win!!!!