During a ceremony held yesterday Monday 19 January 2015, marking the start of talks to consolidate the National Electricity Sector Reform Plan, Administrative Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo said that the sector could not carry on being a bottomless pit devouring public money.
The talks are being held between members of the government, business sector representatives and experts in general in search of a consensus for solving the country’s electricity problem once and for all.
Montalvo said that electricity had been treated as a political hot potato and was a lucrative business that no one wanted to pay for and which ended up hurting the pockets of each family as well as the country’s economy. He said that a range of private interests in the sector had continuously put the brakes on the changes needed.
He went on to say that the plan was to put an end to the current situation of blackouts and this was a new era of participation and of searching for agreement in order to implement solutions together.
He added that guaranteeing a quality electricity service at a reasonable price while ensuring it is environmentally sustainable was an enormous and complex challenge.
The president of the National Economic and Social Council, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado was optimistic the talks would be positive for national development. He said the discussions would end in late June and the new Pact would be signed by 17 July 2015 at the latest.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2015/1/20/353261/Se-inicia-eldialogo-por-el-Pacto-Electrico-Nacional