Dominican Republic’s Eastern Electricity Distribution Company (EDEEste) issued a forceful public condemnation this week after a widely shared social media video, first posted on October 29, captured a physical assault on a civilian carried out by two field workers affiliated with one of the utility’s third-party contractors. The altercation took place on the paved shoulder of the busy Las Américas highway, located in the Santo Domingo East municipality, drawing widespread public outcry as the footage circulated across local digital platforms.
In an official public statement, EDEEste moved quickly to clarify that the two individuals identified in the footage, Adalberto Acosta and Jorge Alberto Herrera, are not direct employees of the state-run power distributor. The pair were assigned to a field operations brigade managed by ATAL CARIBE, a private contracting firm that holds a service provision contract with EDEEste.
Within hours of confirming the veracity of the viral footage, EDEEste’s leadership issued a formal legal notice to ATAL CARIBE, demanding two immediate, non-negotiable corrective actions: the permanent removal of Acosta and Herrera from all ongoing work linked to EDEEste’s service territory, and a formal ban that bars the two men from being considered for any future EDEEste-related work assignments through any contracted partner.
The utility emphasized that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy for any acts of violence, intimidation, or abusive conduct that violates the personal safety, dignity, or legal rights of local residents, regardless of whether the offending party is a full-time EDEEste staff member or a temporary worker employed by a third-party contractor. The company also reminded all its contracted service partners of their binding obligation to enforce strict professional conduct rules for every member of their field teams, to ensure all interactions with the public meet EDEEste’s formal ethical and operational benchmarks.
EDEEste closed its public announcement by reaffirming its core commitment to serving the Dominican public as a provider of essential electricity services, pledging to step up oversight of all contractor field teams to prevent similar incidents and uphold the high standards of respect and accountability that the community is entitled to expect from public utility services.
EDEEste suspends two technicians from their duties after they were involved in an assault on a citizen
