One of the most outspoken members of the government these days, Andy Dauhajre, called for unified efforts among those in government who deal with the electricity sector as a major first step in resolving the crisis. Dauhajre’s official post in government is director of the Unit for Medium Term Foreign Financing. “If Industry & Commerce, the Dominican Electricity Corporation (CDE) and the Superintendency of Banks pull in the same direction, that would resolve a good part of the problems,” he said. “It would help a lot if the government honored its commitments to pay the generators and power distributors. At the same time there should be a Superintendency of Electricity that really works,” he said. He admitted the government’s inability to resolve the electricity problem is one of the weak points of the Mejia administration that needs action in the shortest term possible. Minister of Industry and Commerce Hugo Guiliani concurs that the government needs to make changes to resolve the electricity crisis. Edwin Croes, economic advisor to the CDE, told El Siglo that the government plans to make payments of RD$1.9 billion (US$116 million). Minister of Finance Fernando Alvarez Bogaert said that a first US$50 million payment would be forthcoming in 48 hours. According to an editorial in El Caribe, the government owes the two generators, the 15 independent producers of power, and the three distributor companies US$212 million, as a result of the debt that has been building up from this government on top of past government arrears for power, plus promised subsidies that have not been met. The newspaper also mentions that maintaining this debt costs the government 15% in interest rate payments.
