Dominicans fume over blackouts

With blackouts lasting as long as 18 hours in some areas, angry residents have taken to blocking streets with burning tires and stones in protest, and police have respondent with tear gas that have even hit homes.

Authorities blame the blackouts on maintenance problems while residents blame the electric companies and government for inefficiency.

”This is giving us a real beating,” said Samuel Abreu, who lives in East Santo Domingo.

The electric sector has always suffered from poor maintenance, internal inefficiencies and a lack of operating funds due to negligent bill collection and illegal tapping of electric lines.

But the oil crisis has aggravated the problem: Daily blackouts can now last between 12 to 18 hours, causing disruptions across the nation.

In Maimón, nestled in the hills of the central Cibao region, residents last month tried to burn down the electric company offices after 20 days of 18-hour outages. The province of Monseñor Nouel has been one of the hardest hit by the blackouts, which have unleashed myriad difficulties.

Food has spoiled, stores and workshops are paralyzed and nerves are raw from sleepless nights of suffocating heat and concern about thieves operating in the dark.

Adalgiza Almonte, who owns a small bar, complained that beers aren’t selling.

”Everything is warm, there’s never any electricity and people just aren’t buying,” said Almonte, 28.

Last month, residents of San Francisco de Macorís were terrorized by a gang of 20 youths who went about on scooters attacking everyone they encountered, grabbing cellphones and cash at gunpoint. The government sent in the army to restore order.

Rhadamés Segura, vice president of the governmental body that regulates the electric companies, insists that the blackouts are the result of maintenance problems and that the generators are supplying 85 percent of normal demand.

Most resorts and popular tourist destinations in places such as Punta Cana in the east coast and Puerto Plata in the north are not affected by the blackouts because they have their own generators or purchase energy from privately owned electric companies.

Blackout victims don’t believe government claims that 85 percent of demand is being supplied and suspect some of that energy is instead being sold to tourist establishments.

Meanwhile, the entire economy is suffering.

Schools, including the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, have virtually ground to a halt. It costs more to fertilize farmlands and feed cattle. And small enterprises have no power and cannot function, while the bigger ones must provide their own power and thus watch their profits sucked up by the cost of generators.

While salaries are much lower than those in the States, the family food bill is approaching U.S. levels, gas sells for almost $6 a gallon and more people are forced to consider taking extra measures to ensure their security.

Martín Vásquez Reyes, who owns a welding shop in the small Cibao village of Sonador, has adapted his routine as best he can, working late at night when the lights are on and filling in at a nearby cattle farm.

Vásquez now cannot pay his employees, cover the higher cost of materials or pay the monthly electric bills of more than 1,000 pesos, about $30. And he has to feed a family of five.

They skip breakfast, save up for the all-important midday meal and eat a bit of bread and juice for supper.