President Hipolito Mejia has assumed full responsibility for choosing the builders of the Northwest Aqueduct, a project that will cost more than RD$2,800 million (or US$160 million). News reports indicate that President Mejia favors the Brazilian firm Odebrecht (http://www.odebrecht.com.br/). He said the contract has not been signed yet, but that he will have the last word on the matter. El Siglo contacted the firm in Brazil, but no one in the company would comment. El Siglo reports that in a memorandum sent to the National Institute of Potable Water and Sewage (that oversees aqueducts in the DR), advisors Leonardo Mercedes and Julio Antonio Casals tell the director that Odebrecht estimates the project will cost from US$83.4 million to US$200 million, and that their proposal does not indicate interest, commission, grace period or duration of the construction. Neither does it present final plans or designs.
