A routine inspection has detected major damage to 14 electricity transmission towers that could have left the southwestern region without power for more than half a year, according to a report from the state-owned Dominican Electricity Transmission Enterprise (ETED). The early detection of the problem made it possible to carry out the urgent repairs.
ETED spokesman Julio Cesar Arias attributed the damage to sabotage, saying that screws were removed at points that could have resulted in the towers collapsing like dominos in a moderate wind. He said that replacing the collapsed towers would have cost around RD$100 million and taken more than half a year because they have to be imported from Spain. Each tower costs RD$7 to RD$8 million.
Arias said the situation would have resulted in chaos in the National Electricity System and the local economy.
According to ETED, the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) and the Public Prosecution Service for the Electricity Sector (PGASE) this was no ordinary robbery.
Moises Ferrer of PGASE said that the perpetrators only took 150 metal plates and the screws and whoever did it left the towers in this condition, knowing they would collapse.
Towers 17 to 36 on the Julio Sauri to Pizarrete line and from Pizarrete to Madre Vieja in Yaguate municipality, San Cristobal province were sabotaged. Ferrer said they were located in inaccessible areas that were not securely guarded.
http://eldia.com.do/sabotaje-habria-dejado-la-zona-sur-sin-luz-por-siete-meses/
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/10/28/343242/Develan-plan-para-sabotear-linea-alta-tension-del-sistema-electrico
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2014/10/29/delincuentes-intentaron-tumbar-sistema-electric