Fernandez on Economy, Electricity, Refidomsa and Agosto

posted on: Feb 25 2010 10:38 by Royston. Viewed 415 times.


President Leonel Fern�ndez predicted that 2010 will show even  higher economic growth for the Dominican Republic than the 3.5% achieved in 2009.

He stated that he is very optimistic about what will happen this year, taking account of the good performance of the national economy. "That's why we could move forward and sign the agreement with the IMF late last year,� he added.

Fernandez gave this assessment in a wide ranging interview at the Cancun summit this week.
Talking about the electrical supply problems in his home country, the president acknowledged the recurring energy problems and clarified that the causes are partly financial, but are also due to the obsolescence of some plants.

"Sometimes problems are exacerbated when repairs are needed and there are several days of outages. Yet, I must say that we have made great progress in the areas of distribution, transmission, in the hydro and wind energy projects. We are making progress," he stressed.

Moving on to REFIDOMSA ( the Dominican Petroleum Refinery), the president said that neither the state nor Refidomsa were rushing to the market but what was being sought was to build a relationship with internationally renowned companies in the oil business.

"It was not a priority for the State to sell 49% of the shares in Refidomsa. Refidomsa last year grossed over 1,600 million pesos. If the company is doing well, I think we can continue in state hands," he added. Fernandez said that this was an issue to address in future along with whether to build a new refinery, possibly in the North of the country. He suggested that that private enterprise might request a concession to build a second refinery.

Finally, the President discussed the case of the infamous fugitive Figueroa Agosto. He said that nobody was above the law and that there was an ongoing investigation into Figueroa Agosto and Sobeida F�lix. He insisted that justice would be applied at whatever level wrongdoing was found.

"Naturally there has to be a close co-ordination between the public prosecutor in this case, the Attorney General's Office, the National Drugs Control (DNCD) and the National Police (PN). All must work together in this matter," he said.

Fernandez stressed that the case is being investigated fully, but it would not be prudent to disclose everything until the authorities complete their investigation. He said that the final report would provide all the information to reassure the public.

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