President Danilo Medina has decreed the formation of a committee to investigate the bidding and decision process for the Punta Catalina coal-fired power plant, which was won by Odebrecht as part of a consortium that bid for the work.
The President picked Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, Reverend Jorge Alberto Reynoso Cabrera, National Business Council (CONEP) president Pedro Brache, businessman José Luis Corripio Estrada (Pepín), union leader Gabriel del Río Doñé, executive vice president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus) Servio Tulio Castaños Guzmán, Dominican Press Association president Persio Maldonado, former vice president of the Dominican Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) Celso Marranzini, former CDEE administrator Cesar Sanchez, and economist Jaime Aristy Escuder.
The committee has been given the task of questioning any government officials it wishes to investigate as well as representatives of the professional companies that assisted the CDEEE in the selection process. It should also report back as quickly as possible on the results of the investigation and provide all the relevant information to the Public Prosecution Service.
The announcement follows after a US court revealed that Odebrecht had paid US$92 million in bribes to secure US$163 million worth of construction contracts.
Commenting on the creation of the new committee, the editor in chief of El Día newspaper recalls his own experience with a Ministry of Foreign Relations oversight committee. He was appointed to the committee but it was denied access to look into cases of suspected nepotism, political patronage in jobs, inflated wages and cases of favoritism, so he resigned. Writing in El Día on Wednesday 11 January 2017, Molina comments “I’m telling that story because after yesterday’s presidential decree forming a commission to investigate the Odebrecht mess that is already in the hands of the state prosecutors is equivalent to telling the Attorney General: ‘Stay put, we will handle that case ourselves.’” He concludes: “If I were the Attorney General, I would resign today.”
