DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 6 September 2016

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Meeting to solve doctors? pension impasse
Vice President to UN Summit
Short notice causes traffic backups at tollbooths
Transport fares to increase
Mayor orders cemetery cleanup
Successful factory in Luperon
Fired employees protest outside Treasury
Two die and several injured in factory explosion
Drug haul in San Juan
Drug arrest in La Romana
Ukrainians accuse each other of kidnapping in B?varo
Green Alert due to approaching tropical wave
David Ortiz wears Aly Raisman?s gold
Swimathon for Values



Meeting to solve doctors? crisis
President Danilo Medina met with a committee of government officials headed by Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo and other health sector representatives yesterday, Monday, 5 September 2016 and instructed them to find a solution for doctors who have reached retirement age but do not want to draw their pensions.

Medina said that they should look for a solution that involved deferring their pensions and allowing them to continue working, or some other measure.

After the meeting, Dominican Social Security Institute director Cesar Mella said he would work to achieve this, adding that the agreement with the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) was a done deal.

Budget director Luis Reyes and Hacienda Minister Donald Guerrero also attended the meeting.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...os-medicos-que-se-resisten-aceptar-su-pension


Vice President to UN Summit
Vice President Margarita Cedeno will represent the Dominican Republic at the Latino Impact Summit 2016 being held in New York City on 8 September 2016. This is part of a series of events in the lead up to the annual UN General Assembly taking place at the United Nations headquarters.

At the Latino Impact Summit 2016, the Dominican Vice President will take part in a panel discussion on the role of women in regional politics. In the Dominican Republic, the Vice President?s office directs the social program, ?Progresando con Solidaridad,? which promotes reductions in gender inequality.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...ara-en-cumbre-onu-sobre-futuro-america-latina


Short notice causes traffic backups at tollbooths
Since 2009 the tolls on the country?s main highways remained at RD$30.00.

However, on Sunday 4 September 2016, the government announced that the charges would be increased the following day. The short notice caused bottlenecks on Monday when many drivers were unprepared to pay the increase in the toll, as they had not heard the previous day?s news that the tolls would be increased in less than 24 hours.


Transport fares to increase
As of today, Tuesday, 6 September, fares on public transport routes using tollbooths will increase by RD$5 in response to the increase in highway tolls imposed by the government.

Conatra transport association president Antonio Marte, who made the announcement, is also proposing the creation of a special ticket that can be stuck to the windshield so that they would only pay once a day and not every time they went through the tollbooth.

He said that the problem was that if a driver charged RD$30 and had five passengers, two full fares would go towards paying the toll. If there were only one or two passengers on board, the driver would have to borrow the money to pay the toll.

Marte said that the measure could be provisional as the public transport drivers were open to discussions aimed at preventing fare increases.

Nevertheless, he said that the government did not need to increase the tolls as they only needed RD$5 on each gallon of fuel to maintain the roads.

The toll increase went into effect on Monday, 5 September 2016 and in many cases doubled the cost of the tolls.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...s-a-los-pasajes-en-las-rutas-que-pagan-peajes


Mayor orders cemetery cleanup
National District Mayor David Collado visited the Maximo Gomez National Cemetery on Saturday, 3 September 2016 to order its refurbishment. Cemetery administrator Angel Brito said that it would be cleaned up, repainted and maintained with the next few days.

The cemetery opened in 1942 on an area of 43,000 square meters to replace the Av. Independencia cemetery. City residents then went on to use the Cristo Redentor Cemetery. When the city?s cemeteries fell into disrepair and crime became an issue under former Mayor Roberto Salcedo?s administration, wealthy families started burying their dead in private cemeteries. As part of his campaign for mayor, Collado promised to restore the cemeteries as places for mourning the dead.

During his visit to the cemetery, Collado was accompanied by city government Urban Cleansing director Jose Miguel Cabrera, Public Affairs director Arsenio Borges and National District City Council chamber chairman Victor Ogando.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...a-labor-de-rescate-del-cementerio-de-la-gomez


Successful factory in Luperon
Although the economic boom from tourism has not benefited the north coast town of Luperon for many years, it looks like things may be about to change with the development of a new manufacturing facility for yachts and catamarans.

The company is based in La Culebra and is owned by Frenchman Luc Guessard. He is building tourist vessels for the local tourism industry and has found buyers in Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

The company currently employs 30 in the manufacture of the boats, which sell for more than US$100,000.

Guessard told reporters that the boats are made of fiberglass and wood along with other materials sourced from the United States. He says he has even exported them as far as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Guessard says he is proud of his contribution to employment in the area where he has been living for around 20 years.

Due to his training as a naval architect he has been hired by several local companies to build boats and catamarans. He has also worked at the Luperon Beach Resort, which closed several years ago.

http://hoy.com.do/la-fabrica-de-yates-empuja-la-economia-municipio-luperon/


Fired employees protest outside Treasury
Around 50 former employees protested outside the Hacienda (Treasury) Ministry buildings in Santo Domingo yesterday, Monday 5 September 2016. Their representative Rafael Camilo Matos asked President Danilo Medina to reinstate them. Most of them used to work in the Transportation, Pensions, Correspondence and Casinos departments.

They said they were members of the ruling PLD party not the PRM and said the dismissals had been arbitrary and unjustified, and had affected people with health problems. Many of them had worked at the Ministry for several years.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...supuestas-cancelaciones-en-hacienda-XL4863761


Two die and several injured in factory explosion
Two men were killed and at least 12 people were injured following an explosion of one of the boilers at the Coco Lopez manufacturing plant in Madre Vieja North, San Cristobal on Monday, 5 September 2016. The company produces canned goods for Tropico.

The victims were identified as 43-year old Luis Troncoso Genao, alias Tony, who was in charge of the boiler and Pablo Morales Valdez, who also worked with the boiler. One of the employees told reporters that when the explosion occurred everything was foggy and some of the employees ran outside while others stayed inside.

The injured were helped by fellow employees and taken to hospital in trucks and cars, some seriously hurt. Of the injured six were taken to the Ney Arias Lora Hospital: Angelico Valdez, 40, Confesor de la Cruz, 29, Enrique Castro, 27, Pablo Valdez, 49, Juan Ruben Lara, 38 and Fray Santana, aged 30.

Another three were taken to Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital and the final three Pablo Pina Hospital in San Cristobal.

San Cristobal mayor Nelson Guill?n came to the scene and arranged for some of the injured to be transferred to other hospitals where there was better equipment to care for them.
The emergency services arrived at noon and were clearing the area to see if anyone remained beneath the rubble.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...lanta-de-enlatados-en-san-cristobal-AJ4865244
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/09/...on-empresa-donde-trabajaba-hay-varios-heridos


Drug haul in San Juan
Drug detection agencies have confiscated 50 pounds of marijuana, a vehicle and several cell phones during an operation in the Los Bancos area in the southwestern province of San Juan de la Maguana.

During the operation, Miguel Angel Beriguete Montero was arrested on the road from San Juan to Azua with the drugs inside his vehicle.

http://elnacional.com.do/hallan-50-libras-marihuana-en-sjm/


Drug arrest in La Romana
The Dominican Navy and the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) intercepted a boat laden with drugs in the early hours of Monday, 5 September 2016.

Sources confirmed that the operation took place near Cumayasa, between San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana. The authorities are still investigating the possibility that a second boat made it to the country on the southeast coast.

Three Colombian men are being questioned in connection with the raid and according to reports 575 bales of drugs and a quantity of firearms were confiscated, including an Uzi machine gun.

http://www.dncd.gob.do/dncd-y-armad...en-costa-de-san-pedro-de-macoris-y-la-romana/
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...raco-en-la-romana-cargada-de-drogas-YL4863625


Ukrainians accuse each other of kidnapping in B?varo
A former Ukrainian legislator and mayor Volodymyr Vasiliovich Saldo is in pre-trial custody for the supposed kidnapping of a fellow countryman in the B?varo area. However, he is claiming to be the true victim of the kidnapping.

A court in Higuey has to issue the sentence for coercive measures this week at the latest, and is expected to order Saldo and Bulgarian Georgi Kastandinov to spend three months in pre-trial detention in the hope that the person who reported the kidnapping and the public prosecution service will come up with the evidence.

Defense lawyer Manuel Moquete said that he was hoping his clients would be freed from the Higuey jail shortly. Saldo, who is 60 and 53-year old Kastandinov were arrested on 19 August 2016 at a residence in B?varo. They are accused of kidnapping Ukrainian Denys Pashchenko for a period of 50 days.

Pashchenko, aged 33, who was arrested in Greece in 2015 accused of bank fraud in Andorra, said that Saldo and Kastandinov tied him up, held him prisoner and tortured him with electric shocks to persuade him to pay an old debt. The police said that Pashchenko arrived at the police station by taxi on 19 August with his hands and feet still handcuffed after apparently fleeing his captors.

Pashchenko told the court the same story at the end of August and Saldo and Kastandinov were jailed.

However, Moquete says that his clients were the true victims as Pashchenko changed his story when it was actually him who kidnapped Saldo.

According to Saldo, who was a legislator in Ukraine between 2012 and 2014 and mayor of Jerson from 2002 to 2012, he arrived in the Dominican Republic at the end of June, supposedly invited by Pashchenko to negotiate the payment of a debt of 300,000 euros.

Moquete stated that shortly after his arrival, Pashchenko kidnapped Saldo and threatened to harm his family in Ukraine if he continued to pursue the debt. After holding him prisoner for 50 days, Kastandinov intervened so that they would both come to an agreement and Saldo was freed.

According to the lawyer, Saldo made the error of not complaining about his kidnapping, and he and Kastandinov were jailed as they were both flight risks.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...xlegislador-ucraniano-por-secuestro-KG4866084


Green Alert due to approaching tropical wave
The Emergency Operations Center (COE) has issued a green alert for nine provinces due to the tropical wave that is approaching the country along with a high-pressure system.

Those provinces under green alert are La Altagracia (Higuey), La Romana, El Seibo, San Pedro de Macoris, Hato Mayor, Monte Plata, Greater Santo Domingo, Duarte (San Francisco de Macor?s) and San Cristobal for potential flooding and mudslides.

The COE said that the green alert would also stay in place for small and medium-sized boats on the Caribbean coast that are being advised to stay in port and warned of dangerous waves from Cabo Engano in the east to Pedernales in the south west.

However, vessels operating in the Bay of Samana and the Atlantic Coast could leave port but with precautions and should not go far out to sea.

The use of water sports craft like catamarans, canoes and jet skis is forbidden along the Caribbean coastline due to high waves.

http://beta.eldia.com.do/coe-emite-alerta-verde-para-nueve-provincias-por-sistema-baja-presion/


David Ortiz wears Aly Raisman?s gold
The captain of the winning US Olympic gymnastics teams in both London 2012 and Rio 2016, Aly Raisman, was chosen to throw the first pitch in the Boston Red Sox vs. Kansas Royals Game on Sunday, 26 August 2016.

The media had a ball when Aly, in order to be light enough to throw a good pitch, looked around for someone on whom to place her three medals from Rio, including one gold, and chose Dominican David Ortiz.

The gesture made headlines and social media when Ortiz jokingly walked nearly falling over from the weight of the impressive medal haul. The media contrasted Ortiz?s response to that of pitcher Bryce Harper who stood guard with Katie Ledecky?s medals in an earlier game on Friday, 24 August.

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2016/08/26/197820770
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/dav...rio-olympic-medals-boston-red-sox-first-pitch
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/bryce-harper-katie-ledeckys-gold-medals-first-pitch
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...her-medals-before-throwing-first-pitch-082716


Swimathon for Values
?Brazadas por valores? brings the Dominican swimming community together for an event to raise awareness of the importance of ethics and values in Dominican society.

During the traditional swimathon, founded by Monsignor Victor Masalles (a national champion swimmer himself), triathlon swimmers, masters and age group swimmers and others swim meters in pre-assigned time slots that are sponsored.

The event is organized by the church television station, Televida and the Body Shop gym with the support of the Dominican Swimming Federation.

The 24-hours of uninterrupted swimming in relay style begins Friday, 30 September 2016 at 6pm and ends on Saturday, 1 October at 6pm at the 25-meter pool of the Body Shop Athletic Club, on Fantino Falco street in Naco, Santo Domingo.

http://televida.org.do/brazadasporvalores/

For more on ongoing and upcoming events:
http://www.dr1.com/calendar


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http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...-Headline-News

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http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...p-Tourism-News