Violence in the streets as power cuts continue

posted on: Mar 20 2010 10:38 by Royston. Viewed 507 times.


The chronic shortage of electricity in the country is beginning to turn rage into violence.
There have been a number of incidents lately reflecting the frustration felt by people who still suffer long periods with no power while at the same time they are hearing reports from the authorities that supply issues are improving.

A group of demonstrators yesterday set fire to Edenorte�s office in the town of Maimon, Monsignor Nouel province. The incident happened at 8:00am and firefighters were called to the scene. It is not thought there were any casualties but the offices have been gutted..

An EDENORTE delegation from la Vega came to the scene to examine the damage. The committee spoke with board members from the neighborhood council and promised to resolve the situation.
Alfonso Sosa, president of the neighborhood council, said that if the situation is not resolved, violent protests will continue because they endure up to 18 hours of outages across the province.

Blackouts of up to twelve hours have also been affecting different sectors and neighborhoods of the National District and the provinces of Santo Domingo, Santiago and others. Residents of Villa Altagracia have for several days been protesting in the streets, burning tires and creating roadblocks to call the attention of the authorities to power supply problems.

Yesterday residents of Villa Mella reported that they were without electricity since the early hours of the morning.

Residents were also complaining in Los Mina, Manoguayabo, Boca Chica, Hainamosa, El Almirante, Pantoja and Los Peralejos where electric service is only three or four hours a day.
People from Invivienda, Mendoza, Villa Duarte and San Isidro also complained of poor service.

Earlier this week three people were shot and wounded and 15 others arrested following a protest in Santiago demanding a resolution to the power crisis as well as improvements to the roads in their area

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