Santo Domingo - Total Darkeness!

[luz]

NAL or should I call him "LAN", is living in his own "futuristic intranet" (cave) and has no idea of what's going on down here. He's reading dusty old books at the local library and asks his 5 year old kid to post messages on DR1 because he can't use a PC.

The point is : Big blackouts like these should not be happening in a "leading caribbean country".

Yes the Dominican Republic could do better ! And I hope it will! :cheeky:

And this good advice is coming from someone that doesn't even live here.

It's not about adapting NAL's, it's about seeing a future for Dominicans and those of us that choose to live and work here. Those of us that pay our taxes and work to promote the DR and make it a better country for all.

I have an inverter and live in a building that has a planta, the electricity problem is a minor inconvenience to me compared to many other poor people.

NAL's, sometimes you make the most unfounded and idiotic posts I have ever seen on DR1....

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

I wouldnt go so far as to say that Dominicans had a modern and efficient state in the past, that is a bit of an exaggeration. They used to say that Mussolini had the trains running on time. That sort of thing and the wistful "That would never happen in the days of Trujillo" that you so often hear are really just delusory. No doubt Trujillo made things run more efficiently, and he was a real stickler for details, apparently. But the country was a much simpler place then, and Trujillo's touted economic rigor was apparently something of a charade. The system today is messier; we have a nascent, very flawed democracy and an imperfect capitalist system here that is heavily influenced by the socioeconomic patterns of the past, so it is very hard to break free of that past and develop in an efficient and equitable manner. The corruption and violence in the society that everyone complains about is not a new development or something imported from outside; it is directly attributable to the historic patterns of this country -- it is just that once Trujillo got things well in hand, the violence and corruption were all centralized and overseen by this caudillo to end all caudillos. To compare him, even loosely, to FDR is to make a really bad analogy.

I just make this one statement, then I'll get back "on topic".

I wasn't really comparing him to FDR, I was only comparing the construction programs the Trujillo started.

I have to disagree with some of the posters that the efficiency of Trujillo's government was only a "charade". I do agree that corruption was centralized under Trujillo, so it wasn't so widespread, etc, but the fact remains that under Trujillo, by the mid 1950's, the DR had a very modern and efficient infranstructure. Evven Trujillo's enemies(Galindez included) granted Trujillo that much. Trujillo modernized the ports. He built(at that time) the largest suspension bridges in Latin America. Many of the public works projects(water works, bridges) were installed by American companies, using the lastest equipment, etc.

I agree, shutting down the trains was a mistake. I've wondered why Trujillo did that too, perhaps he thought that brand new buses were a form of modernization? Too bad about the trains.


I think that some historians have gone overboard(Bernado Vega included) in trying to tear down Trujillo's accomplishments. I'll leave it at that.

 

[macocael]

Fair enough Joel.

 

[macocael]

And I agree yet again with Robert, NALs you are off base. It is definitely NOT about adapting and I hear Dominicans daily complain even louder than the rest of us "outsiders" about the electricity. They are fed up, absolutely fed up. Do you have any idea what it is like to live in a barrio -- and not a barrio caliente, just a plain slightly poor concrete jungle -- without electricity to get work done, keep the fans running so the collective heat doesnt drive you mad from lack of sleep? Or when the water also quits and you cannot bathe? Tolerance? Adaptation? Even Dominicans living in bucolic splendor are fed up with the lack of services. it is a shame. Other countries in worse shape have solved their energy problems, but it appears that for our greed, corruption, stupidity and perverseness, we never will.

 

[Criss Colon]

The "Problem",Is Political!

Like "Social Security" in the "Developed World", "Electricity" is looked at as the "Third Rail" of dominican politics.NO Politician wants to "Touch It"!
The "Poor" look at "free" electricity as their RIGHT! Any Political Party,or politicial who takes on the "Electricity" problem will be "electrocuted! Or should I say".."ELECTION' acuted :dead: ?!!!
cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

Be NICE to "Nals",...It's not nice to be mean to the "Mentally Challenged"!!! :laugh:

 

[planner]

In Puerto Plata we have more then one neighbourhood that has been "lights out" for over 28 hours now.

This effects everyone, even those who have electricity 24 / 7. Imagine trying to sleep in this heat and humidity. Imagine going days and sometimes weeks without a full nights sleep - no fan, lots of mosquitoes slowly roasting yourself in your bed. Now imagine someone ****es you off - no tolerance due to chronic sleep deprivation and you have a powder keg ready to go off. Multiply this by thousands and we have serious problems!

People who are sleep deprived get sick more often. When they are at work they are less effective. They don't deal with their children and relatives well. They are lethargic. IF they drive they have more accidents. THey turn to alcohol more often and get drunker faster.

WE have a whole country that is sleep deprived and electricity is a major contributing factor. Just another reason for this government to get off their collective butts and do something about this situation.

My 2 pesos for what it is worth.

 

[Danny W]

Yes, blackouts are accepted by Dominicans in the same way that spending 3 hours a day commuting is accepted by many New Yorkers.

I wouldn't want to be around any poor barrio if the poorest people were deprived of free luz. I agree that at this point it is a trade off for the hopless existence lived by so many of them.

But with the amount of development in so many areas, like the North Coast, I think the situation will improve. In my area, the roads are all new and the housing for foreigers is going up at a blistering rate. Perhaps i am naive, but I think there must be enormous pressure from business interests in certain areas to lessen the blackouts - an ulitmately money talks.

Santo Domingo always appears so sprawling and chaotic that I imagine it's a much bigger problem than some smaller places on the north coast. - D

 

[Snuffy]

This is one hot country and the primary factor I look at for taking my family to the USA. I am one sick animal in the summer. I can tolerate it for a couple weeks but after that my health goes down the drain. Ideal would be that we live in the USA in summer and here in winter.

This heat tortured the first white settlers here. The natives lived in the open air versus in concrete jungles. Curious as to how they dealt with the mosquitoes.

I am sure that these people, who we see working and looking tired, are sleep deprived. Not only do they often lack a fan at night...they also have mosquitoes attacking them throughout the night. If they would put screen on their windows that would help out.

This concrete block heats up throughout the day. Have you ever noticed that the inside of your home seems to be hottest in the late evening after the sun has already gone down? If I built a home here I would design some sort of roof over the top of it so the sun does not hit the top. I would put trees on the sides where the sun rises and sets or do something else so the sun can not hit the brick walls directly. Make the kitchen open air and design it so that the heat from the stove does not find its way into the rest of the house.

These barrio concrete jungles are dismal. Hot, dirty, mosquitoes. The nature of the people is "I give up". They make no community effort to make the place nicer. I suppose they have been beaten down so much trying to survive one day at a time. And prices go up.

Can you imagine this board without Nals? Nals always gives very informative feedback. I may not always agree with him but I do appreciate the fact that he is well researched. He is well educated and a good read.

The electric problem is not going away. And if they finish that metro...can you imagine the energy that will go into running it. Expect more outages.

 

[Snuffy]

Danny, don't count on it. There are some big money areas in Santiago and Santo Domingo that see blackouts.

 

[Gregory8]

Wind generators: has anyone looked into this alternative free power supply? Free after the initial purchase price that is. Coupled with a good battery bank and inverter it should last years. And god knows the DR has "just a little" wind. Hell, in Canada, Canadian Tire stores have started selling small wind generator units for under $1000! Coupled with solar panels or other options you could get more or less "off the grid". Does'nt do much good in town unless you and a neighbour or two invested in a co-op.

 

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