El Caribe newspaper has been following the incredible story of four Southwestern city governments (Janico, San Jose de las Matas, El Rubio and Juncalito) that have reportedly signed ?global promissory notes? for US$281 million with the Fundacion Luz Riggio that was incorporated in April. The city governments? promissory notes guarantee investments of US$1 billion, according to the financial scheme. This foundation is the same non-profit organization that last week announced it would build 10,000 houses in the Haitian border town of Jimani, a project that would call for an investment of US$100 million. Jimani has a population of 11,414, and is part of a province that has 50,000 inhabitants. In the entire province there are 11,000 dwellings. In Santiago, Evelio Oliva is the spokesman for the foundation and the contact for the Saratoga International, a previously unknown foreign organization behind the supposed funding to build, dams, irrigation channels, aqueducts, schools, hospitals, sewage treatment plants, libraries, fire stations, parks, 400 kilometers of highway, shopping malls, etc.
El Caribe reports that the foundation is selling its plan under the Proyecto Sierra banner to other city mayors across the country, with whom they will meet in the next weeks.
The scheme calls for the bonds to be registered for a minimum of three years in the Central Bank or other Dominican commercial bank. As reported in El Caribe, the bonds would be annulled in the three-year period and the guarantees passed on to the renewable energy plants that would be built as part of the project.
El Caribe highlights that the Dominican Constitution prohibits the municipal governments from contracting debt and only Congress is authorized to approve the credits. The promoters of the project say these are not loans, and the guarantee is merely symbolic.