The leading Milan daily, La Stampa, published a report on 24 April 2019 on the Punta Catalina coal-powered power plant under construction by the Dominican government in the southwest. The newspaper says the plant is the result of “an avalanche of bribes paid to politicians of the highest profile.”
The report raises concerns that the operation of the coal-fired 720 MW plant will affect farm produce and tourism developments in the area. And states: “Punta Catalina, at full capacity capable of producing 720 MW of energy, is an obsolete type of plant, with the inefficient “sub-critical” technology, of those that even in China do not consider more appropriate to build any longer.”
The power plant is news in Italy after the Milan public prosecutor is acting on a complaint received by an Italian anti-corruption organization.
Italian company Tecnimont is a partner in the Odebrecht-Estrella-Tecnimont consortium that is building the power plant. The Italian company has publicly denied all corruption charges.
The power plant was said to cost Dominican taxpayers US$2 billion, but La Stampa reports the final bill is expected to overrun US$3 billion. In the tender process, a Chinese company had bid for US$1.2 billion, recalls La Stampa.
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La Stampa
30 April 2019