The legal advisor to the President, Antoliano Peralta hand to the Chamber of Accounts a request for the government control entity to carry out a financial audit of Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant. Sargent & Lundy presented in January 2022 findings of a technical audit.
The Presidency seeks to transfer the management to a public-private trust. The contract for the trust, nevertheless, has met with much opposition.
After the uproar, President Abinader announced the contract would be sent to the Economic and Social Council (CES) for public debate. Rafael Toribio, coordinator of the Economic and Social Council, said the public debates would on Thursday, 10 February 2022.
The contract is pending approval by the Senate. It passed in the Chamber of Deputies in January 2022. Later, several deputies said they had not read the contract and had voted “yes” just acting on a favorable opinion issued by the Chamber of Deputies committee that studied the bill and now recommend amendments. The contract had been in the Chamber of Deputies since November 2021. The legislators can only vote yes or no, they cannot amend the contract. Congress is closed until 27 February 2022.
Legal and electricity sector experts are calling for the government to first pass a public trust bill and complete the audits of the power plant.
On Friday, 4 February, the Economic and Social Council announced receiving the President’s request to open public debates regarding the proposed public trust for the administration of Punta Catalina. The CES also announced that open, public, debates and exchanges of opinions would begin on Thursday, 10 February.
Over the weekend, the spokesperson for the Presidency, Homero Figueroa said that the Punta Catalina contract is being politicized.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
El Caribe
7 February 2022