Figures ! We dont need no stinking figures

shocked yes shocked again

Send these thieves to jail.

They give public money away to friends and DO NOT do their jobs.

What would happen, should all businesses and residential electrical accounts fail to pay their facturas simultaneously (all due the same month)? This would be an effective protest.... Perhaps this would bring some attention to the problem, hit them where it hurts, in their pocket.. Segura would have to get emergency cash to manage cash flow, and LF would/could then replace him with another incompetent....

Meanwhile that would be the final nail in many small business coffins ....you cannot win the dice are loaded en el Pais de las Maravillas

Repeat after me: The METROs are the priority nothing else matters!

These people are so far behind in payments that we'd have to not pay for 6 months before it would affect them.

These illiterate morons have stolen from their own; they go to jail, period.

This is what I mean. The DR does not have a supply problem as Radhames Segura says. I mean, that's part of it. The real problem, the reason why the cost is so high for the government, is because 40% of households don't have meters. Meters are so cheap that everyone should have one, yet look at the situation. And CDEEE doesn't want to focus on that.

The other part, of course, is inefficient distribution lines. Those have to get fixed. The cost of doing that is substantially lower than the cost of the government subsidizing electricity. It's absolute lack of technical know-how on the part of the leadership at CDEEE.

And now we learn the guy has 40 relatives on his payroll. Why didn't the President replace this guy back in 2007 when oil prices started to climb? Cronyism is what's messing up electricity, the most fundamental service for development, in the DR. Seriously, the problem can be solved when you look at the bare bone issues.

rym87,
definitely agree with all you are saying. That is the real problem. The president should definitely revamp the system and rid it of corrupt officials. Second, he should place people in office who actually want a job to work and not take advantage of. Maybe someone who would like to do something for their country and restoring the energy sector and not some guy who wants to hire his grandma and his cousin's cousin's cousin's brother. DR needs to start looking for quality people and not inviting social circles to government. The next thing is to repair the infrastructure and bring it up to date with quality equipment (like meters). The people in place at the moment would prefer to steal the money to fix the infrastructure than to actually fixing the mess that is going on.

The one thing I am worried about is that those same people who do not have meters (some stealing electric) and not being charged, are not going to be able to afford the service.

Once meters are installed, the government should make it a priority to have service for those who are too poor to afford it. I know that many steal the electric and have no meters. But instead of placing blame on them for commiting a crime maybe there should be some compassion and understanding as to what their financial situation is. These people live on $30 usd a month some of them. How can they afford a light bill? but yet they still need basic services to live and have quality of life. I'm sure that the 80 year old gradma that has no meter and hasn't paid a light bill for years isn't a criminal alone but by necessity. So an aggressive governemnt agenda has to be put into place that acknowledges the problems both bad and good. One that can reason out the issues of stealing electricity, faulty equipment, and provides support and relief for those who can't afford it.

Yes, some people can't pay. But others just don't want to pay even if they can. Regardless, we need meters everywhere so we know who's using power. The government has the PRA program that helps poor families (these families don't have to pay electricity). It may not be enough, but it's something and it may grow. On the other hand, there are even businesses that steal electricity. My dad has one and he steals half the electricity he consumes.

So, while the government needs to subsidize for the poor, it shouldn't be subsidizing for people who just don't want to pay because they feel like they can get away with it. That's wrong. This problem can be fixed in four years with good management and implementation of a comprehensive plan.

rym87,
agreed. there has to be meters for all of course. There is no way to help those who need it if you don't know they exist. And essentially the governent has no idea who is using electricity without a monitoring system. So that is agreed. Now, the next step after the repair of infrastructure is to provide adequate relief because there are a great number of people who actually can't pay electricity. If america has 600k job losses a quarter, what the hell do we expect from DR. I doubt the domincan economy is doing that much better than anywhere else in the world. An effective energy plan has to be followed by plans all around that adress areas that could potentially bring unintended problems. So an energy plan has to be followed by good social policy and economic reform. Leonel has been doing an outstanding job by attracting FDI. many knock him because he doesn't pay attention to social problems but the guy has put DR on the map literally. the world know who DR is now.

How about offering El Presidente a percentage of the profits of everything collected from the non-payers. I bet the troops would be out there turning off every non-paying thief's energy and standing guard until they paid. Think of it, he would have to hire a million more soldiers, creating jobs, everybody would pay for their energy, creating more cash flow, and the President could build an underground train system from the capital to Puerto Plata. LOL

The only interest of anyone in any government here for the last 16 years, at least, has been to see how much money they can stuff into their pockets. Does anyone really believe that the electric problem is unsolvable? Of course it isn't. But if your only concern is making sure that your wife's daughter's boyfriend had a cushy overpaid no show job then that is all you are going to worry about. Fernandez doesn't care that Segura is crook, Fernandez is, as well, and if he isn't then he certainly does a heck of a good imitation.