Electricity Utility fiasco “alarms” prominent group

Santo Domingo.- The prominent organization Justice and Transparency Foundation (FJT) on Wednesday slammed the Government’s failure to investigate and establish responsibility for the repeated scandals and corruption allegations in various government agencies in the previous Administration, especially the Electricity Utility which it called “bankrupt.”

FJT president Trajano Potentini asked President Danilo Medina to revise and cancel the “festival” of sales, concessions and government contracts for goods and services, signed in the three months of transition, in most cases disregarding accounting procedures and Law 340-06 on purchases and contractions.

He cited the bankruptcy and economic collapse of the State-owned Electric Utility(CDEEE), ballooned costs of several works by the State Works Supervising Office (Oisoe ) and contracts assigned without a call for tenders from the canals and dams agency (INDRHI), among the cases he affirms lacked transparency.

He also cited the lawsuit by the government agency Fonper against the power companies Ege Ege Haina and Itabo for allegedly embezzling several billion pesos from the government and the Public Works Ministry’s allocation of more than 90% of all mega-construction to two Brazilian companies, in violation of the law.

Electric Utility

As to the Electricity Utility, the FJT called the more than US$1.0 billion debt left by former director Celso Marranzini “alarming,” in addition to the self-payment of benefits to its employees and the signing of multimillion contracts without a call for tenders.