Key senator, utility chief escalate row to “aggressive”

SANTO DOMINGO.- The row between the CEO of the State-owned power utility (CDEEE) Celso Marranzini and the powerful ruling party senator for San Cristobal Tommy Galan was ratcheted today, when the lawmaker called the official’s reaction “inappropriate.”

Galan was referring to statements by Marranzini Thursday, calling the Senate Energy Commission president “aggressive” for challenging the figures the CDEEE’s CEO has alleged advances in the sector, and for threatening to “reveal how the money was stolen in the utility.”

"I’m glad that the Senate has asked me to appear because there I’ll speak many truths which I‘ve kept silent for years, I’ve endured much, I didn’t reveal what I found there. If I’ve dared to say bad words in the Cathedral, I’ll dare to say more bad words in the Senate because I’m going to say how they stole the money in the CDEEE, you’ll know what a man is," Marranzini said.

But speaking on Channel 9 Colorvision, Galan called those statements “inappropriate,” noting that Marranzini should instead respond to his questions regarding the utility’s constant need for subsidies, including the US$500 million announced Tuesday.

Given Galan’s close relationship with president elect Danilo Medina, the dispute signals the first rift between the outgoing Administration of Leonel Fernandez and the new authorities which take office August 16.