DR1: Coal-fired tender saga continues

Minister of State Miguel Mejia called for an "annulment" of the tender for the two coal-fired generation stations set to go up in Azua and Manzanillo. The original winner of the tender was a group called Emirates Power DR, S.A., but they were not able to post the required US$40 million bond guarantee, and requested an extension. In consequence, the CDEEE executive board rescinded their original approval, denied the Emirates group the rights to build in Manzanillo and conceded these rights to the group that finished in second place in the tender, Sichuan Machinery and their associates. In Mejia's opinion, the whole bidding process was "tricked up." The former ambassador told Listin Diario reporters that he would seek a meeting with President Leonel Fernandez in order to give him a "first hand report" on the situation. He said that one of the companies, supposedly from China, was actually from ! Singapore and has links with Dominican interests. Yesterday, the executive vice-president of the CDEEE, Radhames Segura, told reporters that the bid tender had not yet been completed. Local sectors have raised several red flags regarding the tender, alerting that from what has been made known, the country could be about to sign two more deals such as the infamous Smith Enron and Cogentrix contracts, whereby regardless of the production of power or not of these plants, the country will have to pay for installed capacity.