The almost RD$800 million debt of the Corporación Dominicana de Electricidad (CDE) to private electricity suppliers and the absence of electricity from the Smith-Enron power station in Puerto Plata, which disconnected from the CDE’s distribution network on 30 March because of lack of payment by the state-owned electricity company, continued to result in power cuts that lasted between 15-18 hours in some parts of the capital and the rest of the country. Representatives of the Smith-Enron company, which according to newspaper reports is owed US$4,500,000 by the CDE, have met with the CDE’s general administrator Amilcar Romero in an attempt to come to an agreement to resume service, but the attempts have not been successful. Another private electricity supplier, Complejo Metalurgico Dominicano (Metaldom) threatened to follow the example of Smith-Enron, and in the 9 April edition of the Listin Diario newspaper was reported as having taken that action. A spokesman for Metaldom, however, denied the report the next day. It has not been revealed how much the CDE owes Metaldom.
19-25 April 1996