The "second stage" of a project to provide illumination to SD’s colonial sector has bogged down amidst bureaucratic finger-pointing as well as allegations of technical ineptitude and embezzlement of funds. El Siglo quotes the representative of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (ACE), Saturnino Cisneros, saying that the task of installing colonial-style electrified lanterns through the streets of the 16th century enclave has been flawed by "technical errors." Ace is contributing half of the money for the project, budgeted at DR$12 million (around US$750,000). The other half is to be provided by the government. Planning for the project was assigned to a three person steering committee, including Cisneros, Juan Lopez, Director of the Commission to Preserve and Protect Historic Monuments (CCAM), and Wilfredo Felix, Director of the Cultural Patrimony Office (OPC), which is the landmarks preservation body in the old city. The actual realization of the works was assigned by the committee to OPC, which apparently carried out the first stage without difficulty. To begin the second stage, OPC signed a DR$1 million contract with a company called Electro Cierre, and delivered the funds. But, according to Maria Hirujo, formerly the OPC accountant, Electro Cierre is "a ghost company," created by "a high ranking official" of OPC. The SD commercial registry lists no such company, and phone calls to the numbers listed on its invoices have been found to be out of service. ACE, whose only role was to disburse funds and confirm compliance with the project’s technical specifications, is waiting for work to resume, while CCAM looks to OPC as the responsible party. Most streets in the easternmost part of the kilometer-square city laid out in 1502 have been fitted with the lanterns, and the streets around the Cathedral, the Ozama Fortress, and the commercial artery known as El Conde, are now brightly and uniformly lit at night. Much of the remainder remains dark or randomly lit. (14 April 2000)
