The construction of the Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Plant, composed of two coal-fired generating plants, will continue despite the suspension of the process of the international public tender for this project ordered by the Superior Administrative Tribunal (TSA) on Wednesday, 13 August 2014.
The executive vice president of the Dominican Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) Ruben Jimenez Bichara said that halting the construction of the two coal-fired power plants in Punta Catalina, Bani was not an option. “The decision is not for the project, it only refers to the tender process,” he said. Jimenez said that the project has been implemented transparently and is essential for solving the country’s power problems. “We are not going to go soft over threats of boycotting the construction of the plants,” he said, as reported in Hoy. Yesterday, Thursday 14 August 2014, the president of the Second Chamber of the TSA, Delfina de Leon ordered the suspension of the tender carried out by the CDEEE for the coal-fired plants. Jimenez Bichara said the TSA order does not call for paralyzing the construction of the plant, but for the international tender to be verified. He described the TSA’s position on the inconsistencies in the value approved by the General Budget Law and the cost of the project, as “nonsense.” The budget assigned a maximum amount of US$1.5 billion while the tender provided for an amount of US$2.4 billion.
Bichara said that last year they assigned this project a disbursement of US$150 million, and of this amount they used US$100 million. “A project of US$1.94 5 billion cannot be disbursed in a year, or in the budget of a year. It would punish the allocations of the other institutions too, and because of this it is distributed over several years and the money is taken out slowly.” He pointed out that the contract that awards the construction of the thermoelectric plant to the consortium made up of the companies such as Odebrecht, Technimont, and Estrella Engineering, specifies that the state’s share as US$400 million.
During the same press conference, he said the power plants would not pollute the environment. He commented that Itabo, which is 30 years old, also runs on coal and that this demonstrates their low pollution levels.
Rubén Bichara dice construcción plantas a carbón en Baní no se van a detener pese a orden TSA