DR1: Westmont contract violates law

Diario Libre reports that the Power Superintendent and the director of the National Electricity Commission were in contravention of the Electricity Law when they signed a document recommending that President Leonel Fernandez go ahead with the proposed contracting of two 600-megawatt coal-fueled plants promoted by Westmont Power. According to a report from the opposition PRD party's electricity commission, Law 125-01 in its Art. 110 obliges that tenders be offered to select contractors for new power generation. Diario Libre points out that the Power Superintendence and the National Electricity Commission are the institutions in charge of overseeing the fulfillment of the Electricity Law. The contracting of the power plants has been under considerable scrutiny as a result of the government's apparent lack of transparency.