DR1 Daily News - Friday, 21 April 2017

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INFOTEP builds more training schools nationwide
IADB study highlights weakness of power system in DR
Los Mina combined cycle plant to go online in May 2017
Viamar signs a deal with transporters for better buses
Vice President’s Office behind Children short film Contest
Attorney General says names of bribe-takers will be known by 19 May
Villa Almacigo residents back mayor accused of child sexual exploitation
Police head has staff of more than 130 persons
Police confirm names of suspected Venezuelan assailants
Mexican photography exhibition at Palacio de Bellas Artes
Film festival dedicated to Argentina


INFOTEP builds more training schools nationwide
INFOTEP, a government institution and the leading vocational training provider in the country, has announced the construction of new facilities in La Romana, La Altagracia (Higuey), Azua and the National District. Infotep is investing RD$248 million in buildings and equipment, says Rafael Ovalles, INFOTEP’s director general. 

This investment is in addition to the RD$400 million earmarked for the Escuela de Hoteleria, Gastronomia y Pasteleria in Higuey, La Altagracia. The hotel and gastronomy training center will offer technical programs for support personnel employed by hotels in Punta Cana. 

Ovalles says that Infotep has added 21 mobile workshops units so far this year, for a total of 56 mobile units nationwide. 

http://elnacional.com.do/infotep-in...-en-nuevas-edificaciones-y-compra-de-equipos/


IADB study highlights weakness of power system in DR
The Dominican Republic is the Latin American country affected by the most blackouts, according to a recent study by Ramón Espinasa, lead oil and gas specialist at the Energy Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). 

Espinasa was in Santo Domingo to present the findings of the “Iluminando el Futuro: Electricidad en Centro América y República Dominicana en el 2040” that looks into prospects for power generation in the region. 

Presenting the report at the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) on 20 April 2017, Espinasa said that the cost of energy in the Dominican Republic is higher than in 25 countries analyzed. Only Belize, Uruguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bahamas, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and Barbados in the Caribbean and Latin American region does power cost more. 

The study reported the energy matrix in the country for the period studied was 52% oil-based, followed by 21% natural gas, 13% coal, 9% hydro, 5% solar. 

Espinasa backed the Dominican government effort to build the Punta Catalina coal-fired power plant as a medium-term solution to the power demand in the Dominican Republic. Nevertheless, he favored more natural gas-powered generation capacity for the country in the long term.   

http://www.listindiario.com/economi...del-bid-valora-como-positivo-plantas-a-carbon
http://eldia.com.do/experto-favorece-generar-mas-energia-con-gas-natural/


Los Mina combined cycle plant to go online in May 2017
The Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) says that the Dominican Power Partners (DPP) combined cycle plant will go into operation in May 2017 with added production of 114 MW. 

CDEEE executive vice president Ruben Jimenez Bichara visited the power plant in Los Mina in eastern Santo Domingo to see the progress of the conversion project that involves adding two heat recovery steam generators and a 114 MW steam turbine generator to the existing two Los Mina V and Los Mina VI 105 MW simple-cycle natural gas-fired turbines. 

The system will increase the plant’s capacity from 210 MW to 324 MW, without using additional gas. 

Edwin de los Santos, speaking for DPP, an AES Dominicana company, said that the plant is finished and tests are underway for the connection to the national electric grid. 

http://cdeee.gob.do/cdeeesite/cdeee-visita-nueva-planta-ciclo-combinado-de-aes/


Viamar signs a deal with transporters for better buses
Representatives of Eco Motors and Grupo Viamar reached an agreement with the transport companies Mochotran, Unatrafin and Codotatur for the financing of 1,300 JAC buses with a range of different passenger capacities that will be used on urban city routes nationwide. 

The agreement follows the enactment of Transport Law 63-17 that orders passenger service to be efficient, effective and of high quality. In addition, the agreement calls for financing of microbuses and taxis to be used to serve the tourism sector and taxis in the Dominican Republic. 

http://www.7dias.com.do/economia/20...para-mejorar-servicio-transporte-publico.html


Vice President’s Office behind Children short film Contest
The Office of Vice President Margarita Cedeno and the Dominican Republic Children’s Library (BIJRD) are inviting filmmakers to participate in the First Short Film Contest of the XII International Children’s Film Festival 2017 (FICI). The event seeks to promote values and creativity among local producers. The Festival opens 26 July 2017 nationwide. 

Participants are invited to submit their films (that must be 10 minutes or less) via email (bijrdblog@gmail.com). The deadline for submission is 15 May. To be eligible for the contest, participants must be 18 to 35 years of age. 

For more information, see:
http://bijrd.gob.do/site/festival-cine-infantil-internacional-2017/
http://elnacional.com.do/vicepresidencia-convoca-al-primer-concurso-de-cortometraje-infantil/


Attorney General says names of bribe-takers will be known by 19 May
Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez has expressed his satisfaction with Judge Danilo Quevedo’s approval of the agreement by his office with the Odebrecht Brazilian construction company regarding bribes made to secure contract work in the Dominican Republic. Speaking to the press, Rodríguez said that by 19 May 2017, the Attorney General would release the names of those who allegedly may have accepted bribes. 

“This ruling marks a milestone in the fight against corruption,” he said. He said that as promised, the approval of the agreement will allow the Attorney General’s office to pursue charges against those involved in the corruption scandal. 

Rodriguez said the agreement would be made public, making transparent the obligations Odebrecht has agreed to fulfill.  The Attorney General so far has delivered to the media an extract of the agreement. 

“On 19 May, we will have the names of those who may have accepted bribes.  We will then proceed as the law orders, regardless of the colors of political parties, or the government ties,” he said. 

A report in El Dia highlights how contract work allotted to Odebrecht is today 15% of the public debt. 

The agreement approval has met with widespread rejection. 

Journalist Huchi Lora protested the approval. He tweeted: “The Attorney General continues to evade at all costs investigating fraud to the state by way of overvaluation. We are told it is a great achievement to receive US$184 million from Odebrecht, while in the first quarter of this year the government has paid the company US$270 million. Add to this the fact that mechanisms for impunity remain intact in the Supreme Court of Justice, the Superior Electoral Court, the Central Electoral Board, the Constitutional Court, the Chamber of Accounts and the Public Ministry. That is why we demand an end to impunity ... “

Lora said the Attorney General agreement was a “pact for impunity.” He urged all to attend the Green March set for 23 April 2017 in San Francisco de Macoris. “I hope there are many people,” he wrote, stating that people power is the only way to motivate the government to end impunity. 

Acento reports that the Green March is requesting the replacement of Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez for the signing of the agreement with Odebrecht. 

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...98/en-30-dias-daran-nombres-de-los-sobornados
https://www.metrord.do/do/destacado/2017/04/19/mp-dara-conocer-nombres-sobornados-19-mayo.html
http://acento.com.do/2017/actualida...ara-partir-hoy-serie-especial-caso-odebrecht/
http://acento.com.do/2017/actualida...es-a-republica-dominicana-afirma-cedeno-brea/
https://twitter.com/huchilora?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author
http://eldia.com.do/proyectos-en-manos-de-odebrecht-equivalen-al-15-de-deuda-publica/
http://acento.com.do/2017/actualida...nmediata-del-procurador-jean-alain-rodriguez/
https://www.metrord.do/do/destacado/2017/04/20/controversias-acuerdo-pgr-odebrecht.html
http://somospueblo.com/joao-santana...campana-en-republica-dominicana-segun-audios/


Villa Almacigo residents back mayor accused of child sexual exploitation
The mayor of Villa Almácigos in northwestern Santiago Rodríguez is under arrest accused of cohabitating with a minor. The father of the now 14-year old girl is also in preventive custody as confirmed by the Court of Appeals of Montecristi on Monday, 17 April 2017. 

But the residents of the town have been protesting and demanding the release of popular mayor Inocencio Carrera Espinal (Tony Carrera) and the father of the child, Salvador Rodríguez. 

The two are in jail at the Fortaleza Santiago Rodríguez. Those who protest say the mayor is a victim of political persecution. Mayor Carrera Espinal has declared his innocence.  He was first accused by deacon Pascual Ortiz. 

As reported, the mayor has been living with the child since she was 11 years old with the blessing of the father. 

http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...iberen-alcalde-acusado-de-abusar-de-una-menor


Police head has staff of more than 130 persons
The press spokesman for the National Police Nelson Rosario defended the dozens of officers on the security staff of the chief of the Police. He says it is a high-risk job. Rosario says that many on the list of 132 persons named by Diario Libre as security staff of the director of the Police Nelson Peguero Paredes serve as waiters, elevator operators and administrative personnel. 

This week, Diario Libre published the story that the director of the National Police has assigned 132 police agents to a security detail for Rosario and his immediate family. His security detail includes a colonel, 39 lieutenants and 30 sergeants, among others. 

The mother, and his three children that do not live with him, have each staffs of four policemen for their security.

Security expert Daniel Pou told Diario Libre the number of security escorts at the service of the director of the Police is too many. He said that the chief of Police of Colombia, at the heyday of insecurity in that country, was never that many.   

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...ene-132-agentes-asignados-a-escolta-AG6877244
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...a-ley-y-los-reglamentos-le-permiten-YB6883357
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...rector-de-la-pn-muestra-inseguridad-FY6890546


Police confirm names of suspected Venezuelan assailants
The National Police confirmed that a Venezuelan man has died and four other Venezuelan men were arrested after allegedly confronting the police in eastern Santo Domingo following an assault a residence of a Chinese national.  

The identity of the deceased man was not provided by the Police. The police said the arrested were brothers 28 year old Luis José Boraure Colmenares, and 26-year old José Alejandro Boraure Colmenares, and 26-year olds Deivis Enrique Orozco Álvarez and Jonathan Alexander Medina Galurdre. 

The Police said they confiscated two firearms, RD$14,950 in cash, two rings and a chain inside the vehicle in which the Venezuelans had been riding. 

The Police said the Venezuelans were fleeing after committing a robbery in Residencial Caribe in Urbanizacion Alpes II in Santo Domingo Este, home of Chinese merchants.

Social media shared photos of the assailants’ vehicle that was wrecked when the suspects collided with a truck while attempting to escape police.   

http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...aco-venezolanos-que-fallecio-una-persona.html
https://www.metrord.do/do/destacado...tenidos-santo-domingo-asalto-dejo-muerto.html


Mexican photography exhibition at Palacio de Bellas Artes
“Todo por ver” is the name of the photography exhibition organized by the Embassy of Mexico and open at the Galeria Nacional at the Palacio de Bellas Artes on Av. Máximo Gómez corner Av. Independencia in Santo Domingo. The exhibition is open 21 April  to 21 May 2017. 

Some 58 photographs by 54 Mexican contemporary photographers are shown on varied themes, styles and situations in an attempt to spark the question in the audience of “what is Mexican photography?”


Film festival dedicated to Argentina
Opening 4 May at Fine Arts Novocentro theaters on Av. Lope de Vega in Santo Domingo, the 19th International Santo Domingo Films Showing (XIX Muestra Internacional de Cine de Santo Domingo) features Argentina as invited country this year. The festival will last until 13 May 2017. 

Argentinean films that will be shown are: Hermina y Helena, El artista, El hombre de al lado and Todo sobre el asado, Cómo funcionan todas las cosas. 

Also participating are films from Bulgary, Chile, Costa Rica, South Korea, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Rumania, Russia, the United States and the Dominican Republic. 

http://www.muestradecine.com/

See more events at http://www.dr1.com/calendar