DR1 Daily News - Wednesday, 30 November 2016

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President Medina to Cuba for Castro funeral
David Ortiz takes selfie with the President
National Budget approved
1,250 new megawatts by 2019
RD$42 million for university research
Attempt to reduce road deaths
Trade with Venezuela drops 64%
Helping flood victims instead of partying for Christmas
Orange to invest more
Taiwan donates RD$4.6 million for flood victims
Moise likely to be Haitian president
Campaign against micro drug trafficking
Another scandal at OISOE
Omega leaves jail
Search for helicopter continues
Baby girl born to Al Horford and Amelia Vega
Fabr? Sallent exhibition at Museo de las Casas Reales



President Medina to Cuba for Castro funeral
President Danilo travelled to Cuba on Tuesday, 29 November 2016 to attend the Fidel Castro?s funeral in Havana before the former leader?s ashes are taken to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. Medina left from San Isidro Air Force Base at 5pm.

The ceremony would take place in Revolution Square before thousands of Cubans accompanied by the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea and dignitaries from other Caribbean nations and other countries including China and Algeria.

Before leaving for Cuba, President Medina visited Villa Isabela in Puerto Plata province to view the damage caused by the recent rains.

President Danilo Medina is also traveling in his role as acting president of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/11/29/presidente-viajara-hoy-cuba
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...-asistir-al-funeral-de-fidel-castro-JJ5597649


David Ortiz takes selfie with the President
Former Major League Baseball player David Ortiz made a courtesy call to President Danilo Medina at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, 29 November 2016.

The visit was announced in Ortiz?s Twitter account. Ortiz posted photographs of them smiling together and posing for a ?selfie?.

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/11/29/david-ortiz-visita-presidente-danilo-medina


National Budget approved
The ruling PLD-majority Chamber of Deputies has approved the proposal for the 2017 National Budget as received from the Executive Branch. The budget is for RD$711,399.37 million.

The National Budget was approved by PLD legislators that are majority in the Chamber of Deputies. Opposition PRM congress members withdrew from the session and held a press conference in which their spokesman, Alfredo Pacheco, claimed that the level of debt approved by Congress and the Executive Branch is unsustainable.

The budget was already passed by the Senate a few weeks ago and will thus now go to the Executive Branch for enactment.

The amount approved is almost RD$48 billion more than this year?s budget. http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...n-ley-el-proyecto-de-presupuesto-para-el-2017


1,250 new megawatts by 2019
The executive vice president of the Dominican Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) Rub?n Jim?nez Bichara says that in the next three years at least 1,250.4 new megawatts will be added to the national grid (SENI), enough to supply the growing demand. He said that the new power sources were non-petroleum based and that the state power distribution companies, EdeNorte, EdeSur and EdeEste would be investing around US$496 million between 2017 and 2017.

Jim?nez was speaking on ?Prospects and Development of the Electrical System in the Dominican Republic during the opening of the II International Energy Congress Santo Domingo 2016, organized by the Dominican Association of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (Codia) that began on 28 November 2016 at the Ministry of Foreign Relations convention center.

He forecast that losses would be reduced to 20.3% before 2020. Current power distributor losses are around 31%.

Jim?nez said that by mid-2018 the coal-fired Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Central would be in operation, adding 720 megawatts to the system. This is a US$2.04 billion investment made by the Dominican government. He added that the conversion to combined cycle of the DPP plants of AES Dominicana would add another 114 megawatts. Wind energy projects will add another 234 megawatts, and another 172.4 megawatts are scheduled to enter the system contributed by solar projects. Small hydroelectric plants will contribute an additional 10 megawatts.

Jim?nez said that the government has taken on loans for US$296 for grid transmission line improvement projects.

http://www.eldinero.com.do/32983/pa...a-en-1250-4-megavatios-en-proximos-tres-anos/


RD$42 million for university research
The Ministry of Higher Education has announced the allocation of RD$42 million to fund six research projects by professionals from six Dominican universities. The two-to-three year research projects include the creation of an artificial pancreas to treat diabetes, photovoltaic energy for air conditioners, a project that converts garbage into a sustainable business, small wind turbines on buildings as a renewable energy source, transformation of insect waste in harvests to obtain proteins and unsaturated oils and the application of a system for the pre-diagnosis of infectious diseases in senior citizens.

Researchers are from the UASD, PUCMM, Unibe, la Universidad Federico Henr?quez y Carvajal (UFHEC), and Nacional Evang?lica (Unev).

The projects are part of the ERANET-LAC project, a joint research initiative between European Union and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States universities.

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/11/29/gobierno-dara-42-seis-investigaciones


Attempt to reduce road deaths
Attorney General Jean-Alain Rodriguez has expressed his agreement with increasing penalties for traffic offences in response to the high road accident death rates. However, he said that the most important thing was for everyone to comply with traffic laws.

He was speaking at the launch of a responsible driving campaign under the slogan ?to prevent is better than to lament?, aimed at raising public awareness about respecting the traffic laws to reduce the number of deaths in accidents.

The ceremony was also attended by the Amet director, Brigadier General Frener Bello Arias, Drivers? Center (Centro del conductor) chairman Osiris Mota, Drivers? Center general manager Luis Torres Lora, Monumental Insurance president Luis N??ez, Monumental Insurance executive president Simon Mahfoud, and Jean Paul Quiroz, vice president of Finance, Planning and Administration at BanReservas Insurance.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...responsables-muertes-multiples-por-accidentes


Trade with Venezuela drops 64%
The National Statistics Office says that bilateral trade with Venezuela is down US$671 million comparing 2014 to 2015, or a decline of 64%.

ONE director Alexandra Izquierdo says the decline in 2015 was because imports were down 65.8%, while exports declined 49.4%.

For example, sugar and sugar by-products, cast iron and steel, pharmaceuticals and plastics exports declined.
http://acento.com.do/2016/economia/8405838-intercambio-comercial-venezuela-cae-64/


Helping flood victims instead of partying for Christmas
Several government departments and private companies have cancelled their Christmas parties saying the funds would be used to help the victims of the floods caused by more than 40 days of rainfall in October and November. The announcement affects musical performers and their bands during the Christmas season, usually their busiest and most lucrative time of year.

Channel 5 (Telemicro) has already announced the suspension of its Christmas party and the new year concert on the Malecon on 31 December.

Merengueros Siglo XXI, led by merengue bandleader Johnny Ventura, expressed his solidarity: ?While Christmas partying is a tradition that brings joy to everyone every year, and represents major revenue for the merengue bands, it is a time for putting aside celebrations and thinking of ways of helping these people who have lost everything or almost everything,? he said. He said he trusted the government would know when the time was right to bring back the beloved parties to the people. He said that right now we needed to join forces, prayers and resources to help the victims of the floods in the Cibao and other affected areas. He announced that his ?Solo Merengue? concert would be postponed until 29 January 2017. It was originally scheduled for 26 November, National Merengue Day.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense announced the suspension of Christmas festivities at all military institutions nationwide due to the emergency situation in many Cibao provinces. Other government bodies, including the General Controller Office, the Ministry of Women, the Ministry of Agriculture and OISOE also announced they were suspending their Christmas parties. Presidency spokesman Roberto Rodr?guez Marchena said that nobody in government was thinking about parties, and that the priority for government officials was to assist the flood victims.

According to the Emergency Operations Center (COE), a total of 15 people have died in the torrential rains that have been affecting the country for the past four weeks. The COE?s Tuesday, 29 November 2016 bulletin reports that some 20,000 people have been displaced from their homes and that 16 provinces are still on weather alert.

Officially, the 2016 Hurricane Season ends on 30 November. While the Dominican Republic was not affected by a hurricane this season, the start of year drought was replaced by two months in which all the rain that hadn?t fallen during the winter, spring, and summer months came down in October and November as the country was affected by a series of consecutive weather systems.


Orange to invest more
According to Martin Roos, CEO of Altice, which bought Orange Dominican Republic in 2013, the company plans to increase investment in the network to US$435 million a year.

Roos told President Medina that French group Altice plans to increase its annual investment in infrastructure in its Dominican Republic operation by 20%, which it has done each year since the acquisition.

The move seems to forecast more spending than suggested in February 2016, when Altice was expected to increase spending in the country by 1.6%. Altice is the second biggest telecoms operator in the Dominican Republic, behind Claro.

http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.c...Altice-to-boost-Dominican-Republic-spend.html


Taiwan donates RD$4.6 million for flood victims
The Taiwanese government has donated US$100,000 (RD$4.6 million) to help victims of recent heavy rains that have caused flooding and extensive damage, mainly in the north and central areas of the country. Taiwanese ambassador J. Z. Tang formally delivered the donation to Deputy Administrative Minister of the Presidency Lionel Senior, as reported in Listin Diario.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...illones-para-afectados-por-lluvias-en-el-pais


Moise likely to be Haitian president
Initial results of the Haitian elections show that Jovenel Moise has won in the first round with 55.6% of the votes. Last year he was also the candidate with the majority of votes in the first round but when it came to the second round it was delayed several times amidst accusations of fraud, and the results of the first round were annulled.

This time no second round will be necessary as Moise has over 50% of the votes. Moise is an agricultural businessman and candidate for the Tet Kale party of former president Michel Martelly.

He will be certified as president on 29 December but the political parties can still challenge the result before that date.

http://www.listindiario.com/las-mun...sidenciales-en-haiti-segun-datos-preliminares


Campaign against micro drug trafficking
According to National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) spokesman Carlos Devers, at least 450 people have been arrested, seven of them on Tuesday, 29 November 2016, in 1,200 raids carried out by the DNCD on drug sales points throughout the country so far in 2016.

During these raids, the authorities confiscated 22.5 kilos of cocaine, eight pounds of marijuana, 1,070 portions of crack cocaine, 10 firearms, an SUV, eight motorcycles and dozens of cell phones.

During the investigations, it was established that many of those arrested were repeat-offenders in the consumption and sales of illegal drugs.

Devers said that raids would continue all week to combat small-scale or ?micro-trafficking? of drugs and that they had the full support of the judicial and military authorities.

The authorities are also increasing controls at airports, due to the increase in travelers and especially expatriate Dominicans returning to the country for Christmas, including an increase in drug sniffer dogs in the Customs? Hall.

http://elnacional.com.do/apresan-450-en-redada-nacional-contra-el-narco/


Another scandal at OISOE
Eleven among the largest medical equipment suppliers in the country have gone public with what they describe as ?serious fraud? in the procurement of medical diagnostic equipment for the government built Primary Healthcare Centers (Centros Diagn?sticos) under construction by the Office of Supervisory Works of the State (OISOE), a Presidency dependency.

Executives of Bio-Medica Mg, Cientec, Cruz-Ayala, Alm?nzar y Est?vez, Diambelab, Diatecsa, Farmac?utica Dalmasi, Lamda Diagn?sticos, Sued & Fargesa, Promedca and Argos Farmac?utica presented the complaint. They say the OISOE is carrying out procurement operations without a tender directly with the Bio-Nuclear company.

They say that since August 2016, OISOE has been purchasing equipment from Bio-Nuclear without a tender, which is prohibited by the government procurement law. They are contesting sales of RD$100 million.

The companies say that given their demands, the OISOE issued a tender on 24 November 2016 that was restricted to one supplier, to favor Bio-Nuclear, a procedure that they describe as irregular. Bio-Nuclear is also a major medical equipment supplier.

http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...-fraude-oisoe-traves-adquisicion-equipos.html


Omega leaves jail
The National District Prosecution Service has appealed against the release of popular singer Antonio Peter de la Rosa aka Omega from jail. He completed his eight-month sentence for domestic violence against his partner, Sahira Valerio on Thursday, 24 November 2016. The judges suspended four years and four months of the five-year sentence so he only had to serve eight months. His release when the time was up was delayed by the appeal, which was denied and he was released on Monday evening, 28 November 2016.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...lacion-impedia-la-puesta-en-libertad-de-omega


Search for helicopter continues
Units from the Air Force, private helicopter company Helidosa, and Dominican Armada (Navy) vessels have continued searching for possible survivors of the helicopter that crashed on Sunday, 27 November 2016. The helicopter was traveling from Puerto Plata to B?varo and disappeared from radar contact at 6:21pm.

The task has been made more difficult by high waves off the eastern coast near the Nisib?n lagoon but so far the rescuers have recovered several seats from the helicopter and part of the fuselage, but there is still no sign of the bodies of the pilot, Rafael Sanchez or his passenger, Luis Cunillera.

Aviation Accident Commission (CIAA) president Enmanuel Soufront Tamayo said that a specialist team is collecting information to establish the cause of the accident.

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...eda-de-tripulantes-de-helicoptero-accidentado


Baby girl born to Al Horford and Amelia Vega
Boston Celtics player Al Horford missed out on the Monday, 28 November 2016 game to be present at the birth of his second child, a daughter. He is married to fellow Dominican Amelia Vega, the Dominican Republic?s only Miss Universe (2003). The couple has a one-year old boy, Ean. For personal reasons he was given permission to skip the Celtics game against Miami Heats that the team won 112-104.

Horford said his wife, Amelia Vega, and newborn daughter are both doing fine and were released from the hospital on Tuesday.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...rford_returns_to_celtics_in_time_for_practice

Fabr? Sallent exhibition at Museo de las Casas Reales
Long time Spanish resident in the Dominican Republic Fabr? Sallent is holding an exhibition of female nudes at the Museo de las Casas Reales in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo.

The exhibition opens on 1 December and will be open through 31 December 2016. During the first week, the exhibition will be open through 10pm. On other days it will be open during usual working hours.

http://fabresallent.com/index.html

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