DR1 Daily News - Monday, 16 January 2017

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Vice President Cede?o recovers from hernia operation
Isa Conde: 25% of energy grid from renewables by 2025
Dominican exports up to Europe after Brexit
Progress on Ozama and Isabela rivers
Troops sent in to patrol Valle Nuevo mountain area
Monsignor resigns from Estrella board due to conflict of interest
Hard Rock Hotel case awaits judge?s ruling*
Dominican invents smart padlock
Winter chill prevails nationwide
Aguilas first to qualify for baseball playoffs



Vice President Cede?o recovers from hernia operation
Former First Lady, Vice President Margarita Cede?o is reported to be making a successful recovery from a hiatus hernia operation at Cedimat in Santo Domingo. The surgery was carried out on Saturday, 14 January 2017 by a medical team including laparoscopy surgeon Luis Betances, head doctor Jorge Marte and gastroenterologist Fernando Contreras. She was expected to be sent home on Sunday.

Cede?o is the wife of former President Leonel Fern?ndez.

http://eldia.com.do/vicepresidenta-margarita-cedeno-es-operada-de-una-hernia-hiatal/


Isa Conde: 25% of energy grid from renewables by 2025
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arabian Emirates, Minister of Energy and Mines and president of the National Energy Commission (CNE) Antonio Isa Conde appealed for more support in technical cooperation and guidance from countries with vast experience in sustainable investments to expand access to clean energy that contributes to inclusive economic growth in the Dominican Republic. He was speaking during the Seventh Session Period of the Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency that is presided by Italy with the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Jordan and Morocco as vice presidents.

Isa Conde chaired a working session and said that renewable energy was high up on the Dominican government?s development agenda in order to make the most of the country?s solar, water, wind and biomass potential to provide electricity to remote areas.

He said that renewable energy development contributes to controlling environmental problems caused by the indiscriminate felling of trees to meet wood and charcoal demand in poor and inaccessible areas. He said that 4% of Dominicans do not have access to electricity, but in some provinces this percentage can exceed 30% because of the difficulties in expanding the national grid to these remote areas.

He said the national target is for 25% of the energy grid to be supplied by renewable energy by 2025.

The meeting was also attended by deputy minister of energy Ernesto Vilalta, Dominican ambassador to the United Arabian Emirates Clara Martinez Thedy and Dominican consul in the UAE, Eduardo Cintr?n Morales.
The work sessions took place on 14 and 15 January 2017.

Isa Conde made his remarks at the same time the Medina government advances on the construction of the largest coal-fired power plant in the Caribbean, the thermoelectric power plant at Punta Catalina.

http://acento.com.do/2017/ecologia/...ar-energias-renovables-la-economia-inclusiva/


Dominican exports up to Europe after Brexit
A challenging trade situation has turned positive for the Dominican Republic. Dominican ambassador to the United Kingdom, Federico Cuello has described how Dominican export markets have shifted to mainland Europe after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, saying that the country gained when national exporters successfully sought new markets for their products in order to maintain the present advantages offered by the European Partnership Agreement (EPA) that enables the tax-free entry of Dominican produce to Europe Union countries.

With Brexit, a separate trade agreement with the UK will need to be reached. Cuello stressed the continuing importance of the UK market for Dominican exporters. He said the UK imports more than the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Germany. He made his comments at a conference that focused on the implications of Brexit for Dominican producers, exportable farm supply and the sugar market at the Dominican Sugar Institute (Inazucar) headquarters.

The Dominican ambassador said that while Dominican exports to the UK made up 17% of total exports to Europe at the end of 2015, for the third quarter of 2016, and following the Brexit vote, they had dropped to only 9.9% of shipments to Europe. Cuello said the exports have been rerouted to nearby countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as to Sweden and Switzerland, with which the preferential market treatment under EPA will continue to apply.

Cuello said that Dominican exports to European Union countries have increased from US$593.3 million from January to September 2015 to US$922.7 million for the same time last year, or up 55.5% in only a year. Exports to the UK were also up, going from US$97 million in the first nine months of 2015 to US$112.2 million for the same period in 2016, for a 15.7% increase.

Cuello said that the UK is the leading Dominican market and that the UK is able to purchase all that is produced in the country. He spoke of the potential for more exports to the UK market. He said in the past two years exports have increased by 84% due to a concerted effort by the Embassy and Dominican exporters. He said that in 2015 the DR exported US$200 million, a drop when considering the UK imports GBP10 billion worth of fresh produce a year.

He explained that Dominican fruit and vegetable exporters have absorbed the around 25% devaluation of the British pound and have not increased their product prices in order to ensure they remain competitive. This includes banana, mango, and avocado exporters.

Cuello says the biggest challenge for Dominican exporters is to achieve the reliability in delivery times and meeting quality standards in Europe. Exporters need to meet minimum standards set by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the first global free trade agreement.

http://www.7dias.com.do/economia/20...canos-asumen-devaluacion-libra-esterlina.html
http://www.diariolibre.com/economia...l-reino-unido-cambio-tras-el-brexit-YD5984771


Progress on Ozama and Isabela rivers
Construction of a water treatment plant off Av. Jacobo Majluta to process the waters of the Ozama and Isabela rivers in Santo Domingo is making swift progress. It is projected to benefit around 450,000 inhabitants in the northern area of the National District and Santo Domingo North municipality.

A government-private sector coalition is working to eliminate 54 polluting industries that affect the quality of the leading Santo Domingo waterway. An update in List?n Diario says that the project should be up and running by January 2018. Construction works for the sewage plant have advanced 60% in the project, which is being built by the Santo Domingo Water Corporation (CAASD) in the National District and Santo Domingo North municipality. The installation of equipment, electromechanical structures and the road works will commence in May.

The project, which involves an initial investment of EUR55.7 billion with financing from the Deutsche Bank, is being implemented by the Incatema Consulting firm. The plant will be able to treat 1,200 liters of sewage water per second of residual waters emitted by industries and neighborhoods alongside the rivers.


Troops sent in to patrol Valle Nuevo mountain area*
In cold winter weather with temperatures dropping under zero in the evening, farmers in Valle Nuevo contested the Ministry of Environment order to 409 farmers to cease farming at the end of January 2017. They took to the access roads in an attempt to stop the government enforcing the farming ban on the mountaintop where the country?s two leading rivers have their sources.

The farmers have connected pipes to the river for irrigating their farms, which affects the flow of the waters throughout the river basins. The Ministry of Environment has said it stands firm on implementing Resolution 14-2016 ordering them to stop their farming activities. The farmers were given four months to harvest and leave the Juan Bautista P?rez Rancier National Park where Valle Nuevo is located. Valle Nuevo covers an area of 910 square kilometers.

According to reports, the Ministry of Environment?s Environmental Protection Service (Senpa) under General Valent?n Garc?a Reyes has sent 120 military personnel to the protected area in an operation led by Colonel Mario C?sar Fr?as Nolasco.

The men are being deployed in addition to 23 other national park service rangers who are already patrolling the park. They have instructions to dismantle and seize all pipes, water pumps, installations and other farming equipment as of 29 January 2017.

Colonel Fr?as Nolasco said other military personnel and staff would join them later for a 200-strong force. The Ministry of Environment has given the farmers and laborers who live in the area until 29 January 2017 to leave the area.

Strawberries, apples, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, flowers are cultivated in the area as well as livestock and sawmills. The producers have requested an extension of the ban on production through March.
The rivers flow from La Vega to Monse?or Nouel (Bonao) to the north and San Jos? de Ocoa and Azua to the south.

The Ministry of Defense (MIDE) and the Ministry of Environment (MA) announced that since the area was militarized on Friday, 13 January, the army began patrolling the area to control access to the area by day laborers, seeds, fertilizers and other chemical inputs.

The work is also being coordinated by the director of the Valle Nuevo Park, Julio de los Santos, and Brigadier General Valerio Antonio Garc?a Reyes of Senpa.

The protestors blocked off access to the roads leading to the military training camp in Pinar Bonito (Sexto Batall?n de Cazadores), the Salto de Aguas Blancas waterfall and the Valle Nuevo National Park. On Saturday, 14 January 2017 the protestors suspended their actions awaiting talks to decide their future.

http://hoy.com.do/agricultores-valle-nuevo-se-movilizan-envian-militares/
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2017/01/14/militarizan-valle-nuevo-medio-protestas
http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...1/ocupantes-valle-nuevo-suspenden-la-protesta
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...tiene-enfrentados-campesinos-autoridades.html


Monsignor resigns from Estrella board due to conflict of interest
Monsignor Agripino N??ez Collado has resigned from the board of Aceros Estrella, an Estrella Group company, after agreeing to chair a commission appointed by President Danilo Medina to investigate the tender won by a consortium including Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht for the installation of the Punta Catalina thermoelectric power plant. The investigation follows a US court ruling that revealed Odebrecht had paid US$92 million in bribes to secure US$163 million in contract work in the Dominican Republic.

In a letter dated 11 January 2017 sent to Estrella Group president Manuel Estrella, N??ez Collado said that since Ingenier?a Estrella is the local counterpart of the consortium that is building the coal-fired plants, he considers it appropriate to submit his letter of resignation from the board membership.

The media had questioned the conflict of interest of a board member of an Odebrecht associated company sitting on the commission that was set up investigate the disclosure that US$92 million had been paid to secure US$163 million in contract work in the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, in a series of short messages on Twitter the former president of the PRD political party, Ram?n Alburquerque strongly criticized the monsignor. Alburquerque accused N??ez Collado of holding shares in several leading business groups, including 14% in Corporaci?n Portuaria del Atl?ntico that handles the Port of Manzanillo in Montecristi, and 14% in shares of the Aeropuerto del Cibao in Santiago. The information about Monsignor Agripino N??ez?s wealth is from the book on Baninter written by journalist Esteban Rosario.

He was critical of the resignation of his membership of the Grupo Estrella board while remaining as chair of the presidential commission that was set up to review the tender for the coal-fired Punta Catalina power plant. ?What would Pope Francis say about Monsignor Agripino?s resignation from Grupo Estrella and not from the commission? It is not a betrayal?? he tweeted.

The announcement of the appointment of the governmental commission followed revelations of US$92 million in bribes being paid in return for US$163 million worth of contracts were documented and the case is being investigated in parallel by the Attorney General Jean-Alain Rodr?guez. There is speculation that the Punta Catalina power plant was overvalued in 100%, as reported in El Dia.

The case is being covered in the media amidst expectations that the outcome of this case would not be any different than from the cases involving senator F?lix Bautista, former Minister of Public Works V?ctor D?az R?a, or those of Sun Land and Super Tucano airplanes where irregularities and red flags have been extensively documented but ruling party pressure has led to them being filed away on technicalities, even by the Supreme Court of Justice.

Lawyer Carlos Eduardo Tav?rez Guerrero writes in El Dia: ?Now we ask, what to expect from that commission? Will they dismiss the work of the prosecutors or is the Public Ministry inoperative and all the government organizations funded to fight administrative corruption are not working? Or is this again a new diversion for the people??

http://eldia.com.do/justicia-paralela-que-barbaridad/
http://eldia.com.do/agripino-renunc...endiente-comision-investigara-punta-catalina/


Hard Rock Hotel case awaits judge?s ruling
Judge Rafael V?zquez has yet to issue his verdict on the request by neighborhood groups in the Piantini area for a suspension order on the construction of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in the mixed-use area. The judge gave the company and the neighborhood groups five days to present their conclusions.

The neighborhood groups? lawyer Miriam Paulino argues that the National District city government is violating zoning ruling 94-98 in authorizing the construction of the Hard Rock. City government lawyer Juan Jos? Jim?nez says that the zoning allows for the construction of buildings up to 40 floors high.

Lawyers Juan Manuel Guerrero and Manuel Ferm?n Cabral are carrying the case for the Inmobiliaria Nivar that sold the property for the hotel on Av. Abraham Lincoln.

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2017/01/14/tsa-reservo-fallo-del-hotel-hard-rock-casino


Dominican invents smart padlock
The BenjiLock, has been designated as a CES 2017 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Smart Home product category. The award was received by its inventor, Dominican Robbie Cabral. The awards are chosen by a panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers and members of the trade media to honor outstanding design and engineering in cutting-edge consumer electronics products across 28 product categories.

The Benjilock is the world?s first traditional rechargeable padlock with fingerprint technology. It was unveiled for the first time at CES Unveiled on 3 January 2017 and displayed at the Eureka Park in the Sands Expo and Convention Center at CES 2017, which took place 5-8 January in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The padlock?s battery lasts a year with an average use of four times a day. It is waterproof and resistant to extreme temperatures. The new lock is being marketed under the slogan ?the key is at your finger tips?.
Cabral said the padlock would be available for purchase as of September 2017, and the range of products will include small padlocks for luggage. He said the smart padlock would be for sale at around US$49.99, making it very competitive.

http://acento.com.do/2017/actualidad/8419258-dominicano-gana-premio-la-innovacion-ces-2017/

http://www.benjilock.com


Winter chill prevails nationwide
With lows of 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) in the capital city and freezing temperatures in the mountains of Constanza, Dominicans have taken out their cold weather clothes and are enjoying the chilly weather. Weather forecaster Jean Suriel is forecasting even more chillier temperatures as of Wednesday, 18 January 2017 due to a cold weather moving down to the Caribbean from the United States.


Aguilas first to qualify for baseball playoffs
After a slow start in the regular season, the Aguilas Cibae?as (12 wins and 4 losses) became the first team of the Dominican Professional Winter Baseball Lague Championship to qualify in the round robin that ends on Tuesday, 17 January 2017. It could be another Cibao playoffs as the Gigantes del Cibao defeated the Tigres del Licey over the weekend. The Gigantes (8-8) are now second, followed closely by the Licey (7-9). The Leones del Escogido are well behind (5-11).

http://estadisticas.lidom.com/Estadisticas/Inicio
http://www.lidom.com/home/calendario/

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