DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 15 September 2016

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May 3, 2000
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44 new government appointments
Budget meeting set for Friday, 16 September
Dominican exports cleared in Haiti
Digital TV by 2021 the latest
Environment Ministry announces beach cleanup
Jimenez de Luis: UN approves PNRE
Community shoots down plan to move flea market
Sesar Rodr?guez recognized as hotspot hero
?An alarming number of unauthorized clinics? says Waldo
Senate commission begins study on Penal Code
284 candidates for Chamber of Accounts
Cash robbery in Bella Vista
Assault rifles found on board container
Authorities recover bodies of father and child
Waiter rips off nearly RD$1 million from credit cards
Six months custody for Galeria 360 attacker
Environmental Film Festival continues
Novocentro Fine Arts Film Festival



44 new government appointments
The Medina administration, via Decree 246-16 issued on Wednesday, 14 September 2016, has released a long list of names in the latest round of new appointments of government officials. They are:

Omar Caama?o, General Controller of the Republic
Rufino Acosta, director of Government Accounting
Francisco Javier Clark, deputy Controller of the Republic
Former controller Rafael Germos?n was appointed financial advisor of the Executive Branch
V?ctor G?mez Casanova, Dominican Port Authority director
Lidio Cadet, president of the Commission of Ethics and Government Integrity
Antonia Altagracia Guaba, director of the Presidency Social Program
Ram?n Mar?a Rodr?guez, director of the Passports Agency
Julio Mari?ez, director of the Credit and Cooperative Development Institute (IDECOOP).
C?sar Prieto was appointed Superintendent of Electricity
Mayobanex Escoto, director del National Housing Institute (INVI).
Ernesto Reyna, vice president of the National Council for Climate Change
Bautista Rojas G?mez, minister without portfolio for development policies
Domingo Contreras, director of the Presidency Special Programs
Rafael Peguero Peralta, president of the National Drugs Council (CND)
Fidias Aristy, Narcotics advisor to the Executive Branch
Alexandra Izquierdo, director of the National Statistics Office (ONE)
Antonio Pe?a Mirabal, director of PromeseCal
Francisco Rodr?guez Marcelino, deputy director of livestock
Guillermo Torres, La Cruz de Manzanillo project administrator
Alejandro Herrera, director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC)
Cristian Paredes, Executive Branch liaison with the Legislative Branch
Odalis Araujo, Executive Branch liaison with the city governments
Miguel Mej?a, minister without portfolio for regional integration policies
Pablo Tactuk, Executive Branch statistics advisor, under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce
Juan Mera, president of the CORAASAN board
Nicol?s Calder?n, director of government cafeterias (Comedores Econ?micos)
Eric Medina Castillo, deputy legal advisor at the Tax Agency (DGII)
Omar Ram?rez, Executive Branch environmental advisor
Jos? Casimiro Ramos, director of the Special Fund for Farming Development (FEDA)
Antonio L?pez, director of the National Sugar Institute
Freddy Radham?s Rodr?guez, deputy administrative minister at the Ministry of Education
Carlos Antonio Castillo, consul general of the Dominican Republic in New York
Jorge Minaya and William Franklin Tapia, director and deputy director of the National Physical Education Institute.
Jos? Antonio Rodr?guez, Dominican ambassador to UNESCO.
Maribel Acosta, deputy director of the Student Welfare Institute (Inabie)
Xenia Garc?a, deputy minister of the Presidency for Institutional Transparency Policies
Elena Fern?ndez, Executive Branch pharmaceuticals advisor
Franklin Labour, director of the National Seismic Evaluation Office and Vulnerability of Infrastructure and Buildings
Marta Gonz?lez, director of human resources at the Commission for the Integration of the Single Network of Health Public Services

https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...-nuevos-funcionarios-en-el-tren-gubernamental


Budget meeting set for Friday, 16 September
President Danilo Medina and Vice President Margarita Cedeno will head the government cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace at 10am on Friday, 16 September 2016.

Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo said that during the meeting the cabinet members would be instructed in new political and administrative guidelines for the second term of the Medina administration.

?President Danilo Medina wants all the ministers and director generals to be aware of these new guidelines to ensure they are correctly applied in all of the actions that we have planned for the 2016-2020 government program that was presented to voters in the past election,? said Montalvo.

At the meeting, cabinet ministers will discuss the 2017 National Budget.

The government is required to present the budget to Congress by 1 October 2016. The 2016 budget is RD$663.5 billion, or 5.17% more than that of 2015.

http://eldia.com.do/danilo-medina-conocera-el-viernes-el-presupuesto-del-2017/


Dominican exports cleared in Haiti
Speaking to the media on Wednesday 14 September 2016 after meeting with Foreign Relations Minister Miguel Vargas in Santo Domingo, Dominican ambassador in Haiti Ruben Sili? confirmed that the neighboring country was no longer enforcing a ban on Dominican overland exports to Haiti.

Sili? said that imported products that are subject to taxes upon entry are now being allowed into Haiti by land.

The ambassador said that the Haitian authorities? decision means that products can now reach Haitian consumers at lower prices. According to the recently lifted restriction, 23 mass consumption products were only allowed to enter Haiti by sea or air, which led to a major increase in contraband and in turn significantly raised prices for the consumer.

The decision to drop the ban was reached after the newly appointed Foreign Relations Minister, Miguel Vargas, visited Port-au-Prince on 30 August 2016.

The resumption of exports to Haiti is expected to have a positive effect on the balance of trade and in the flow of foreign currency in the country.

http://eldia.com.do/productos-locales-entran-en-haiti/


Digital TV by 2021 the latest
The newly appointed president of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel), Jos? del Castillo Savi??n announced on Wednesday 14 September 2016 that his priorities included the completion of the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming. The country is installing the North America standard or ASTC used in the United States.

The transition was ordered in Decree 407 of 2010 when TV stations were given five years to install the new equipment. The first deadline of 2015 was not met, nevertheless, and Del Castillo says he will endeavor to meet the new 2021 deadline.

The delay is attributed to the major costs for digital production equipment, digital transition equipment and for set-top boxes and digitally enabled TVs.

The local transition is part of a worldwide move to digital broadcasting that offers a number of potential benefits, including a new spectrum for better wireless broadband services, better picture and sound quality and the possibility of more channels.

http://www.metrord.do/noticias/buscan-tv-digital-este-on-en-2021/ftwpin---jDll0BWXcK7C2/
http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...ra-transicion-de-television-analoga-a-digital


Environment Ministry announces beach cleanup
In an announcement made on Wednesday, 14 September 2016, the Ministry of Environment confirmed the celebration of a beach cleanup day as part of the World Cleanup of Beaches and Riverbanks Day. The cleanup of the nation?s beaches and riverbanks will take place on Saturday 17 September.

Environment Minister Francisco Dominguez Brito will lead the beach cleanup work starting at the San Gil Fort on George Washington Avenue (Malecon) in Santo Domingo.
The ministry has identified 194 locations in 32 provinces and the National District for the cleanup operations.

The World Beach Cleanup Day, which was inaugurated by the Ocean Conservancy about three decades ago takes place on the third Saturday in September every year as a way of raising public awareness of marine pollution issues. Beach cleanup day celebrations have taken place in the Dominican Republic since 2005.


Jimenez de Luis: UN approves PNRE
The United Nations resident coordinator and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) resident representative in the Dominican Republic, Lorenzo Jimenez de Luis has told reporters that the Dominican Republic Foreigner Status Legalization Plan (PNRE) and the resulting deportations have met international laws and regulations.

Speaking at the Presidential Palace after meeting with Presidency Minister Gustavo Montalvo on Wednesday 14 September 2016, Jimenez de Luis recalled that the United Nations Secretary General had already congratulated President Danilo Medina for his high level of cooperation in both processes.

He added that according to their observations, these processes are being carried out very respectfully and in compliance with international law. He said that recent statements by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Zeid Ra?ad Hussein have been misinterpreted in the media.

He said: ?What the High Commissioner said is that he offered cooperation and never received an answer, this is what he says, but he also says that there is a high level of cooperation, which he praised.?

He dismissed the High Commissioner?s complaint as ?minor.?

?Generally speaking, I can say that the United Nations system in the Dominican Republic is satisfied with the way in which the status legalization plan was carried out and the deportation process is being carried out with absolute compliance with international law.?


Community shoots down plan to move flea market
Neighborhood associations in Pu?al, in the province of Santiago, are rejecting a proposal to relocate a flea market from the Central Market in Pueblo Nuevo to their area, as suggested by Santiago?s new mayor Abel Martinez. They say the move would violate territorial and environmental laws.

The neighborhood groups erected a sign on the land rejecting the proposed new location for this market, which takes place every Thursday and attracts thousands of people.

The municipal district of Pu?al is separate from Santiago, and, according to the municipal Council?s press director Paulino Perez, ?this move would take over lands that are part of the Pu?al municipality.

The local residents point out that the establishment of the flea market would also violate environmental regulations since the proposed location is part of the parkland in the Thomen residential area and protects the nearby creeks and springs.

Mayor Martinez is trying to solve a problem created by the conglomeration of thousands of people in the area surrounding the Central Market in Pueblo Nuevo. Relocations to other sites such as the old airport and La Barranquita have also been rejected.

Even the new Environment Minister Francisco Dominguez Brito, a former senator for Santiago, together with the Santiago Development Association and the Sports Union have opposed the new suggested sites.


Sesar Rodr?guez recognized as hotspot hero
Sesar Rodr?guez, executive director of the Consorcio Ambiental Dominicano (CAD), was honored as a Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot
Hero by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) during a ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii on 4 September 2016.

Rodr?guez received the award together with 14 other conservationists during the World Conservation Congress held by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that took place 1-10 September in Honolulu. Rodr?guez was honored for his work to create the Dominican Republic?s first private protected area, the Reserva Privada El Zorzal.

Also attending the event was Jesus Moreno, president of the private Bicknell?s Thrush Reserve, the bird sanctuary and organic cacao demonstration farm in the northern mountain range of the Dominican Republic.

The Bicknell Thrush is an endangered species of songbird that establishes a conservation link across the hemispheres by migrating annually between the Dominican Republic and North America.

Sesar Rodriguez is an agronomist with expertise in natural resource management. He earned a degree in environmental management and has dedicated his career to biodiversity preservation and resource conservation.

After working as Horticulture Department director for the Dominican Republic?s National Botanic Garden, he became the executive director of the Consorcio Ambiental Dominicano (CAD), an organization that develops creative policy solutions to protect the environment and improve quality of life for rural communities. He also served as president of the Central American and Caribbean Federation of Beekeepers from 2014 to 2015.

Under Rodriguez?s leadership, CAD used a grant from CEPF to help create the first private protected area, Reserva Privada El Zorzal.

The establishment of this reserve also gave rise to the country?s first carbon credit project. CAD partnered with Plan Vivo, which certifies the carbon rights to trees in the reserve and in buffer zones around the reserve. This allows farmers to generate income by helping to preserve the natural habitat. The carbon credits are sold in a bundle with organic cacao grown in the reserve, allowing small-scale chocolatiers to establish sustainable, ethically sourced manufacturing processes.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) selected the recognized heroes from among the fund?s more than 2,000 grantee organizations around the globe. The Hotspot Heroes and the nongovernmental organizations they work for have made outstanding contributions to the conservation of biodiversity hotspots - the world?s most biologically diverse yet threatened terrestrial regions.

The CEPF is a joint initiative of the French Development Agency, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. CEPF awards grants to civil society organizations that are working to conserve biodiversity hotspots in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

http://zorzalcacao.com/reserve/
http://www.cepf.net/news/press_rele...ership-Fund-recognizes-15-Hotspot-Heroes.aspx
https://www.iucn.org/news/sesar-rod...tegida-privada-de-república-dominicana-recibe
http://biodiversidad-rd.net/reserva-privada-el-zorzal-I


Too many chickens, not enough dollars
The president of the Northern Poultry Producers Association, Jos? L?pez told reporters from Diario Libre on Wednesday 14 September 2016 that there is an overproduction of poultry and an increased shortage of dollars at a national level.

Lopez told reporters: ?The lack of dollars is of much greater concern than the overproduction, since all raw materials that we use are imported and have to be paid for in that currency.?

He said that many factors were influencing the overproduction of poultry, such as competition among the different groups producing the white meat and the ease with which this product enters the country.

He told the reporters that a meeting is being planned between the Ministry of Agriculture and the nation?s poultry producers in order to suggest possible solutions to the current problems.

On Monday, 12 September 2016, poultry producers in the central provinces of Moca, Santiago and La Vega expressed their concerns about overproduction. The current situation has seen prices at the farm level fall by six pesos a pound


?An alarming number of unauthorized clinics? says Waldo
The president of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD), Dr. Waldo Ariel Suero has described the report by the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Altagracia Guzman Marcelino, that only 40% of the private clinics in the country are authorized to operate, as ?alarming.?

However, Dr. Rafael Mena, the president of the National Association of Private Hospitals and Clinics (Andeclip) said that the measures being applied by the Ministry of Public Health to authorize a clinic to operate were illegal. He said that the National Health Council (CNS), which has not even met, has not approved the measures.

Dr. Guzman Marcelino added that the 40% figure included clinics that are in the process of obtaining their authorization and others that have been contacted to comply with the regulations.

Dr. Suero attributed the high percentage to the fact that the Ministry of Public Health had changed the rules in order to make it easier to obtain approval for the clinics and these new rules have not been revealed or approved by the National Health Council, as established by Law 42-01. He said that the guidelines for approval were introduced without consensus and without consulting the stakeholders.


Senate commission begins study on Penal Code
The Permanent Senate Commission for Justice and Human Rights has started holding a series of hearings and talks on the legislative proposal to amend the Penal Code. The commission chairman, Senator Aristides Victoria Yeb has scheduled a hearing with women?s organizations for next week.

The Commission also reported the formation of a group of specialists to examine the differences and similarities between two proposals for changes in the code. One was sent by the Chamber of Deputies and the other was submitted by the former senator for Puerto Plata, Francis Vargas.


284 candidates for Chamber of Accounts
284 candidates are in the running for Chamber of Accounts posts, as reported in 7 Dias. According to reports from the Congressional session on Wednesday 14 September 2016, there will be no extension of the period for receiving files from aspiring candidates.

The Chamber of Deputies will deliver the documents received to the Permanent Commission on the Chamber of Accounts to assess the candidates for the appointments.
Commission chairman Dilepsio Nu?ez said that in keeping with the Constitution the case files would also be sent to the Attorney General office, the General Controller of the Republic and the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) for review.

Once the review process is over, the names of the shortlisted candidates will be released in the press and the interview schedule will be published. None of the current members of the Chamber of accounts have applied for reappointment.


Cash robbery in Bella Vista
At around 7pm on Wednesday 14 September 2016, a G4S security truck was carrying out routine cash delivery services at the Bella Vista Mall in Santo Domingo. The company uses an armored truck and several armed guards.

As the two company guards were transporting the cash to the truck, a motorcycle with two individuals, one carrying a guitar case, suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The guitar case contained an Uzi assault rifle, which was used to kill the guard named as 45-year old Bienvenido Garcia. The other guard, Yeuri Eduardo Cuevas, was injured.

The robbery has been compared to the 1992 Columbia Pictures ?El Mariachi? film.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...en-asalto-frente-a-bella-vista-mall-HH4944911
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGzJYcsQdas


Assault rifles found on board container
Customs (DGA) agents have discovered a large shipment of assault rifles, munitions, ammunition clips and percussion caps on board a freight container arriving from Miami, Florida.

The assault rifles included AR-15, M-4, and M-16, and a FAL, the old NATO standard assault rifle. The shipment also came with repair kits and spare parts for the different weapons.

The DGA authorities, together with other security agencies operating in the East Haina Port are extending their investigation in order to find the masterminds behind this shipment as well as to identify possible links in the Dominican Republic.

During the last several weeks Customs Investigators have seized a great number of weapons of a range of calibers together with ammunition and other military equipment arriving in boxes and barrels intended for tax-exempt family shipments of food and clothing from places like New York, New Jersey, Miami and Puerto Rico.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...gamento-de-armas-de-guerra-en-haina-LG4945409


Authorities recover bodies of father and child
On Tuesday evening, 13 September 2016, Civil Defense brigades recovered the body of three-year old Francis Zenon Morel who drowned together with her father after their car was dragged into floodwaters of the Pu?al River in Santiago during a torrential rainstorm.

The rescuers located 66-year old Porfirio Zenon?s body the previous day. The girl?s body was found near the Rio Colorado Bridge in the central province of La Vega. The vehicle was recovered in Yabanal, several kilometers from the spot where Zenon and his daughter were swept away by the floodwaters.

http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...u-padre-en-el-rio-punal-de-santiago-CM4934884


Waiter rips off nearly RD$1 million from credit cards
National District Permanent Attention Office judge Suinda Brito has ordered two months in pre-trial custody for Marcos Aurelio Nu?ez S?nchez, accused by the District Attorney of stealing RD$943,620 from three banks.

According to the indictment, on 9 September 2016 Nu?ez S?nchez was caught red-handed at a bakery in Naco where he worked as a waiter and was using an electronic device known as a ?skimmer or beeper? in order to obtain credit card or debit card information from customers, and cloning the cards.

According to the District Attorney, the case was under investigation by the Department of High Tech Crimes, which was trailing Nu?ez Sanchez, who is being held at the Najayo Correctional and Rehabilitation Center.


Six months custody for Galeria 360 attacker
A National District court has ordered six months pre-trial detention for V?ctor Manuel Soriano Burgos, accused of stabbing Alberto N??ez Sosa in an attempted murder in a restaurant in the Galerias 360 shopping mall last week.

The victim is still being treated in the Plaza de la Salud hospital where he was taken in serious condition.

The Police arrested Soriano using information from the surveillance cameras. Soriano fled the scene after believing he had killed N??ez.

http://elnacional.com.do/dictan-seis-meses-prision-preventiva-hombre-apunalo-otro-en-galerias-360/


Environmental Film Festival continues
The Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) is showing a selection of outstanding environmental films at venues nationwide. All the films are free.

See the full program at:
http://www.dreff.org/dreff2016/wp-co.../guide2016.pdf


Novocentro Fine Arts Film Festival
The Seventh International Fine Arts Film Festival takes place at the Novocentro Fine Arts Cinema in Santo Domingo from 29 September through 12 October 2016. In Santiago the films will be shown at the Cinema Centro Cibao at Plaza International.

The opening film will be ?Cafe Society? by Woody Allen and the closing film will be the drama ?El Rey de la Habana?, a Spanish-Dominican co-production directed by Agusti Villaronga and produced by Celin?s Toribio.

Other films are ?Nina?, starring Zoe Salda?a; ?Don't Tell Me the Boy was Mad?, the Danish film ?Wolf and Sheep?, ?The Measure of a Man? by Stephane Brize, the German drama ?24 Weeks?, the Bulgarian film ?Thirst?, the Spanish film ?Rastros de Sandalo?, the Mexican comedy ?No Manches Frida? and the French comedy ?Lolo?.

See the film schedules for Santo Domingo and Santiago at:
http://festivaldecinefinearts.com


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

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

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