The Listín Diario reported today that political interests are one of the main obstacles to the resolving of the electricity crisis in the Dominican Republic. Political interests have delayed the passing of the electricity bill that would create the framework for an increase in private investment in the production of energy. Political interests have sided with individual interests that want to keep things as they are in order to maintain their high earnings at present. The bill would eliminate tax privileges granted to electricity producers during the previous administration. The bill was originally sent to Congress on 27 December, 1993. According to the report in the Listín Diario, given the delay in passing the bill, deemed as the long term solution to the energy crisis, the government has had to resort to more costly short term solutions. These include the contracting of the installation of large power plants, and other smaller ones, such as the costly-to-operate five 34,000-kilowatt turbogas plants that are being installed so that in the first half of 1998 the blackouts be considerably reduced.
