A Senate report prepared by economic advisor Pedro Casals Victoria says that the assets of the CDE were undervalued by RD$35,000 million for the privatization of the generation and distribution of power. The report questions whether the US$643 million payment from these private companies ever entered the DR. The Senate allegation comes at a time when the same Senate has just approved an extension of the contract for the distributors. Senator Enrique Martinez (PLD-La Romana) asks if the privatization process was so bad, why did the PRD-majority Senate extend the contracts of the distributors from 10 to 17 years. Martinez says the government furthermore has taken it upon itself to provide service in the rural areas and the barrios when this was contracted to the distributors. The former administrator of the CDE, Radhames Segura, attributed the procedural difficulties to Antonio Isa Conde who was in charge of the Commission that carried out the privatization. Isa Conde, in turn, said that if summoned by any technical or legal body, he would answer questions about the privatization process. Attorney General Virgilio Bello Rosa promised to investigate the complaint after Easter.
