Alejandrina Germán, Secretary of the Presidency, said that the agreement that the Dominican government reached with the private power generators was only pending their signature. The president of the Follow Up Committee of the Power Sector, told the Listín Diario that President Fernández does not contemplate a new meeting with the generators. News stories say that the generators are threatening with going off line if the government does not increase payments offered as per the last agreement. She confirmed the government offered to pay US$40 million of a US$102 million debt, and establish mechanisms to pay what would be left pending. She said the government has been making payments as stipulated and the private generators have been receiving these monies. She said that she expects the generators to honor the agreements. News stories have carried versions that the private generators, mainly Smith Enron, AES Dominican Power, and CEPP would shut down if the government does not make larger payments than what was established in the last meeting with the President. These shut downs would increase the present hours of blackouts. The executive director of the Association of Foreign Enterprises (ASIEX) said that the debates will not affect foreign investment, as at the end the government pays.
