Dr1: Energy company involved in bribery case

Westmont, the company that wants to install two coal-fueled generators in the DR has allegedly been involved in bribery to acquire electrical contracts in other countries, as reported in Diario Libre. Westmont appears in the " 2001 Global Report on Corruption" for having used bribery to get an energy privatization contract in Tanzania. The company is offering the local energy corporation (CDEEE) a contract for the installation of two 600-megawatt generators at a cost of US$500 million. News reports have also pointed to the lack of transparency in the deal announced by Radhames Segura of the CDEEE. Segura has just revealed that the contract would require the government to advance US$140 million in the form of a loan that would be paid over a period of five years, as of the start of operations of the first unit. The second plant would be built by Westmont using their own resources. Diari! o Libre explains that the Westmont operation has not yet happened because the World Bank has expressed its reservations and the financing is not included in the IMF Letter of Intent. See http://www.globalcorruptionreport.org