Venezuelan experts help Dominican Republic solve its electricity crisis

Caracas - A team of Venezuelan experts arrived Tuesday in Dominica to help solve the electricity crisis on the island, which has suffered blackouts due to generation problems caused by an obsolete infrastructure and increased demand.

Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told a press conference that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro responded quickly to his urgent call for help.

Skerrit and Maduro held talks in Cuba last week on the problem Dominica is facing with the aim of getting Venezuela to provide the necessary support "in the short and medium term".

Dominica Electricity Services Ltd (Domlec), the majority of whose shares were acquired last year by the government, acknowledged this week that the island is experiencing electricity problems due to a generation deficit caused by equipment that has already exceeded its useful life.

In this regard, the prime minister told reporters that the government has also discussed with Domlec, and will be advised by Venezuelan experts, on the acquisition of new generators to address the situation, given that some are old.

"We will help Domlec acquire generators because if Domlec were to acquire the generators there would be an increase in tariffs and we want to mitigate that," he added.

Skerrit also informed that the supply problems are influenced by an increase in demand due to the high temperatures in the Caribbean and the growth of the economy.

With information from EFE