Marilyn stopped the "copters"

Now that we are talking prices I cannot avoid to post another message..
This country is NOT cheap and actually it is very expensive compared to the quality in general. Just having a normal life here is much more expensive than many other places I know about - and in other places you have options you can pick for almost whatever you want to buy.
Anything they cannot sell in the rest of the world, because of bad quality for example is shipped to the Dominican Republic.
Investors are more and more avoiding this country, because it is far too expensive compared to what you get - just ask the big hotel companies!
You can buy a cheap house in Costambar and maybe in a few other places too, but have you asked for the Real Estate prices in other areas? I have! I assure you it is not cheap.
Off course if you compare to Saint Barth’s this Island might be cheap, but try to find a decent house in nice and secure surroundings in Bavaro/Punta Cana - in La Romana or just here in the center of Puerto Plata and you can buy at least 2 houses for the same price in Costambar.
Costambar is cheap, but the country is NOT!

Anette hit the nail on the head when she said that the power problems stop this country from progressing further.

The country will never attract foreign manufacturing companies & domestic companies will always be at a disadvantage as long as there is not reliable, cheap energy for them.

The DR will stay a third world country, however as a consequence of this, it will also remain one of the cheapest islands in the Caribbean to buy property.

Every cloud has a silver lining ...

I am dissapointed that once again we have such trememndous power problems. Let me tell you as you well know that generator and inverter are very costly even when I am not in Costambar because it has to keep going for my help, they don't like being in the dark either.
We in Costambar obviously do not have an IN with the people who control the power because in the end that is what matters "who you know"

It was not my intention to argue with you either and I apologize if I was rough and angry in my message..
BUT I am angry (not with you off course!!), because I do want some kind of comfort in my daily life and electricity is very important to me!
I have the problem, that my Edenorte bill might go down, but my “generator bill” is going up! In the end it is much more expensive NOT having light from Edenorte…If you have a big inverter your bill will not go that much down, because you use more light, when Edenorte is on, in order to charge your batteries…
And thinking about the country in general, it is stopping the development with these kind of problems..
I have been living here for 18 years and we ALWAYS had the same problem with the electricity. At the beginning I was not that concerned, but after all these years you just expect things to get better..
It is unbelievable that NOBODY has managed to find a solution to a problem, that affects so many people. Embarrassing is the right word !

I'm not argueing with you Annette. I'm just saying it how I see it.

Personally I don't mind the power being out for a long time - my powert bill is lower .......... that's what the idiots in charge don't realise - supply the power & you can collect more money.

As Homer Simpson so succintly puts it ........... DOH!

I know VERY WELL that Costambar is not the only place with hours of black out and it is unfair to EVERYBODY, who pay for the electricity.
Just because we are “gringos” and “rich” ( which we are not!) is no reason for not providing us with electricity. ..
The “richest” people are living in Bayardo and in Torre Alta mainly and they have 24 hours of light, although they can afford generators and inverters.
I also know people living in Muñoz, which is behind the sugar cane fields and really barrio. They pay a fix price of 200 pesos per month and have 24 hours of light.
The center of the City and the barrio behind the supermarket Jose Luis also have 24 hours light. And don’t tell me, that only people in Costambar steal the electricity, because this is only a bad excuse.
And many people in Cafemba DO have generators and inverters too!!
This is politics and nothing else than politics. There is NO political interest in solving the energy problems in this country, because too many people (politicians etc.) benefit from this crazy institution.
Paying for the expensive electricity AND “feeding” and maintaining a generator is not exactly in the interest of any investor, who might consider this place as an option.
Authorities having meetings here in Costambar telling that they are sorry, because we will continue having even bigger problems with the electricity - is a JOKE.
Edenorte is supposed to be a BUSINESS, but because it belongs to the State, everybody close to this institution is making his “august”… Any PRIVATE institution would find a way to solve the problems very quickly.. (Just go to Bavaro/Punta Cana…)
This is THE MOST embarrassing “spot” on the reputation of the politicians in this country (next after the construction of the Metro in Santo Domingo..)

Another information about the light:
We did not have light the whole night for around 12 hours.. (well, It came back a couple of times, but only briefly)
I just read in the News Paper that San Felipe was shut down Yesterday for about a week because of a scheduled maintenance.
What upsets me most is the “apology” to the people having light 24 hours, that they will maybe suffer from lower voltage during this week !!!! Nobody is giving us an apology for hours and hours WITHOUT any light at all..


That's because Costambar is full of rich gringos with invertors & plantas Annette.

They forget about the people in Cafemba though who can't afford them ....

Suzanne, the heliport is situated right between Costambar and Cofresi - right behind the river, which is separating the area of Costambar from Cofresi..
It is a bad bad place for a heliport, because they MUST fly over some houses to get to the ocean , where they are supposed to fly!
So they start their copters ( with the heavy engine noise) and before they gain distance from the ground they rush VERY low over the lower part of Costambar - for example over Lóase and the houses there. Then they cross the Golf Course and the houses to go to the ocean!!
(I know they fly over the houses along the beach too, where Marylyn Putnam lives for example.)
I guess they do so in order NOT to fly over the hotels and properties in Cofresi to get to the ocean or just because they don’t care if they disturb!
It is actually prohibited by law to fly right over peoples houses, but who cares anyway in this country?
It is a “tourist attraction” to fly with the helicopters and they fly from the area of Playa Dorada somewhere to Cofresi and Ocean World - forth and back - as a Tour. They are supposed to fly over the ocean - also for security reasons, but they want the tourists to see something I guess - and not only ocean and water!
Very disturbing indeed!

Another information about the light:
We did not have light the whole night for around 12 hours.. (well, It came back a couple of times, but only briefly)
I just read in the News Paper that San Felipe was shut down Yesterday for about a week because of a scheduled maintenance.
What upsets me most is the “apology” to the people having light 24 hours, that they will maybe suffer from lower voltage during this week !!!! Nobody is giving us an apology for hours and hours WITHOUT any light at all..

Hello Annette:
Thank you for posting! I myself will be in Costambar in a couple of months and it is so...good to be prepared for whatever the present problems are. Why are the Helicopters flying so low over Costambar do you know? I used to work for New York Airways in New York which is/was a Helicopter Company. Most of our business was commercial and I cannot seem to understand what benefit this Helicopter outfit/or whoever they are, would gain by flying low over Costambar

It is now ONE YEAR ago Marylyn Putnam wrote a letter complaining about the helicopters flying over Costambar (see previous post)
We still have the helicopters flying VERY low right over the houses in Costambar.

Half of Costambar did not have water for weeks.

We have MANY hours of black outs in Costambar right now. I stopped counting the hours, but now the light goes out anytime = in the middle of the night, late evening or during the whole day. I guess we have around 10 hours black out per day.

Somebody cut a lot of trees along Calle Sanchez. I guess it might have been Nelson fixing some street lights, but I am not sure. It looks very ugly. The dead branches are just hanging from the trees and some nice coco palms were just cut in the middle and will properly die.. It is good to take care of the wire and lamps, but what about the trees???

The wall is broken in the corner behind Lóase. There is an opening of around 3 feet and everybody can walk right through…

A better news is that Los Mangos is starting to build behind the Golf Club house. A Gym, a Spa and a pool area among other things - I was told. They talk about a restaurant too..

I think it is wonderful that somebody is doing something to get the helicopters from flying over Costambar and the beach.
I have read in the “News” on this page, that the problem with the helicopters flying to close has partly been solved…
That is NOT my experience.
The last days the helicopters were still flying very low over the houses and the golf course as usual and according to what I have seen nothing has changed.
Maybe they avoid the beach now – I don’t know.
The fact is that it is dangerous with the helicopters so close to our houses. And the noise is disturbing, because some of the helicopters must be from the last century, because I have trouble even to think, when they fly right over my house.
As far as I know this is not allowed according to the law in this country and the helicopters are supposed to fly over the ocean.
This is difficult, because of the location of the helicopter airport (between Cofresi and Costambar). I guess they don’t want to disturb the residence in Cofresi and therefore their only choice is flying over Costambar . (The helicopter airport should be removed from that place actually)
Maybe another letter should be forwarded to the airport authorities?
Thanks to the people for trying.