The executive vice president of the Foundation for Justice and Institutionalism (Finjus), Servio Tulio Castaños Guzmán, became the talk of the town when on Wednesday, 10 May 2017, he went public on the El Despertador morning TV talk show (Grupo SIN) to criticize the findings regarding the Punta Catalina coal-fired thermoelectric central. The Punta Catalina central is under construction by Odebrecht. Knowledgeable experts have speculated the project was overpriced and the difference used by the Medina government to finance President Danilo Medina’s bid to run for reelection in 2016 that required an change of the Constitution.
Castaños is part of a commission handpicked by the President to inquire into the legalities of the Punta Catalina power plant. The commission was named parallel to inquiries being made by the Attorney General into Odebrecht works in the Dominican Republic, following the disclosure of New York City court documents that revealed that Odebrecht had admitted to paying US$92 million in bribes to secure contract work in the Dominican Republic.
Speaking during the El Despertador TV program, Castaños stated: “There are things there that at the end of the day, the Public Ministry is going to have to investigate.” He observed that Punta Catalina was the only Odebrecht project contracted from 2012 to 2014. He explained that the members of the tender commission for the plant “did not know about that, so they hired Stanley Consulting.” He criticized the involvement of Stanley Consulting consultants in tender commission roles. “I am going to tell all that I saw, independently of the opinion of the commission,” he observed. He expects the commission report to be ready in a month.
Castaños said he was not consulted when he was named to the commission. He said the inquiries they have been making are all taped, so they cannot be altered.
Other members of the commission are Monsignor Agripino Núñez Collado, reverend Jorge Alberto Reynoso Cabrera, the president of CONEP Pedro Brache; businessman Jose Luis Corripio, union labor Gabriel del Rio Doñé, and former executive vice presidents of the CDEEE, Celso Marranzini and Cesar Sanchez. Also economist Jaime Aristy Escuder and Persio Maldonado, president of the Dominican Society of Daily Newspapers.
Read more in Spanish:
Noticias SIN
Lo Que Sucede
Diario Libre
12 May 2017
