Guárico to receive US$164k to improve power connections

Venezuela's energy and oil ministry will give the Los Lirios del Valle township in Guárico state 354mn bolívares (US$164,600) to improve electricity distribution, ministry officials said. The financing is part of the energy roundtables program being promoted by the administration of President Hugo Chávez. According to ministry documents, about 400 families will benefit from the scheme. "It's a rural area and most inhabitants are only precariously connected to the grid," a ministry official said. Cadafe, the government-owned fully integrated electricity firm, services the state through subsidiary Elecentro.