Big turnout for first day of school
Electoral campaigning to stop
Charcoal-making revisited
Investigation on use of documentation of the deceased
Gildan celebrates their best students
Lajun complains about Ministry of Environment actions
Cigarettes confiscated in Haina Port
Watchman killed in Bavaro
Bartolo Colón has beaten all 30 MLB teams
Dominicans score first victory at Girls’ Volleyball U18
Big turnout for first day of school
President Danilo Medina was present for the official first day of school ceremony at the Politécnico Doña Rosario Rojas de Contreras in Monte Plata. With him was Minister of Education Andrés Navarro. The technical education center is part of the Ciudad del Conocimiento, where two pre-school centers, two elementary schools, and the polytechnic center are located.
Some three million students are returning to school at daycare, elementary and high schools nationwide after the summer vacations.
What was news this year was that there was a good attendance for the first day of school, especially in Greater Santo Domingo.
Minister of Education Navarro said the big challenge ahead is the implementation of the government’s Digital Republic project in the schools. Navarro announced they will be delivering a million computers at schools.
Meanwhile, media reports claimed that many public teachers in the eastern region of the country did not attend their schools on Monday, 21 August 2017, and instead marched dressed in black in support for colleagues who have been dismissed by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education has insisted that those removed from the payroll were not teachers.
In El Seibo, the teachers gathered in front of the district office and then marched with placards through the town, saying they would not accept being ridden roughshod by the Ministry.
In Hato Mayor it was a similar situation where teachers demonstrated, expressing their frustration that some teachers had been removed from the Ministry’s payroll for political reasons and had not been replaced.
In Villa Hermosa, in La Romana the Juan Bosch school opened without teachers but instead with the local education authorities and local politicians.
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...-seibo-marchan-de-negro-y-no-inician-docencia
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...gar-a-maestros-bloqueados-de-nomina-JK7963931
Electoral campaigning to stop
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) is concerned about what they call premature electoral campaigning being carried out by presidential hopefuls, especially since the general elections are not scheduled until 2020.
The JCE in a press release says the campaigning is too early and outside of the purview of electoral law. There are 2-1/2 years to go for the municipal elections and two years and nine months for the election of the President, Vice President and legislators.
In a press release signed by the JCE judges, the election-organizing entity, states calls for the parties to put a stop to this premature practice of some aspiring candidates. The JCE is in charge of the timing and costs of campaigns. Nevertheless, the electoral law does not contain penalties for early campaigning.
In recent weeks, former President Hipólito Mejía and former PRM presidential candidate Luis Abinader have reportedly held PRM activities focusing on their intention to run again in 2020. On Sunday, 20 August 2017, Mejia was in La Romana and Abinader was in Barahona, both at meetings with party members.
Likewise, regarding the ruling PLD party, followers of former President Leonel Fernández have also being campaigning for him and there is a video circulating in social media pushing for President Danilo Medina to run again for President in 2020. Likewise, the Medina administration spends millions every month of taxpayers’ money to promote the achievements of the government. Medina supporters want him to again change the Constitution so he can run for a third term.
http://eldia.com.do/la-junta-insta-a-suspender-campana-electoral-adelantada/
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...de-cese-proselitismo-mas-anos-elecciones.html
Charcoal-making revisited
Diario Libre journalists went west over the 16 August holiday to learn more about charcoal-making operations on the border with Haiti. Haiti is a major importer of the charcoal made in the Dominican Republic, leading to major deforestation and destruction of animal and bird habitats.
The reporters employed a drone to photograph many of the charcoal ovens near the Enriquillo Lake that is part of the Parque Nacional Lago Enriquillo e Isla Cabritos, both also part of the Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo Biosphere Reserve, now expanded to include areas in Haiti.
The Ministry of Environment says that every week Ministry staff seizes dozens of bags of charcoal, ovens are destroyed and people are stopped from starting new ovens. Responding to the report in Diario Libre, Domínguez Brito said the Ministry has declared war on charcoal production from the prevention of illegal logging, to the persecution of those who produce the charcoal and cracking down on the underground marketing chain at hundreds of points of sale nationwide.
Domínguez Brito said that most of the charcoal produced in the country is exported to Haiti where 75% of households still use it to cook their food.
"It is not a matter that we are going to leave in a folder, it is not a matter of operations. It is a whole array in which we are putting a lot of energy, a lot of will and a lot of surrender… a test that we will surpass for the sustainability of the country. So we ask for support and trust," he told Diario Libre reporters.
See the impressive photos of deforestation and charcoal ovens and read more at:
https://www.diariolibre.com/medioam...oblema-social-economico-y-ecologico-LI7947940
https://www.diariolibre.com/medioambiente/la-quema-de-carbon-no-quedara-en-carpeta-BK7963377
Investigation on use of documentation of the deceased
The president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Julio César Castaños Guzmán, has set in motion an investigation following the complaints by former judge Juan Miguel Castillo Pantaleón, that data from Dominicans who have died at the Luis Eduardo Aybar and Francisco Moscoso Puello public hospitals is being recycled to provide documentation for Haitian immigrants.
Given the complaint by the immigration expert Castillo Pantaleón, Castaños Guzmán instructed the national director of the Civil Registry, Dolores Fernández, to carry out an exhaustive investigation of the cases at the Unit of Late Declarations to trace death certificates registered in the hospitals to see if there is any evidence of such a practice.
He assured that the investigation would be carried out as quickly as possible and reiterated that the children of non-resident foreigners in the country should be registered in the Foreigners’ Book at the JCE.
On the afternoon talk show on 101.3 “La Z”, Domingo Páez said the director of the civil registry office at the Francisco Moscoso Puello hospital had confirmed there were irregularities he himself had been investigating over the past several months. There are only four employees in the civil registry office at the Francisco Moscoso Puello office.
In the 1980s and 90s, the civil registry offices were known as a public market for obtaining for pay civil documentation for thousands of undocumented Haitians. The US Embassy in the Dominican Republic at the time pressured to end the market when hundreds of Dominican baseball players were also “benefited” by irregular birth certificates in order to be signed by MLB teams.
Likewise, this led to the instituting of the Foreigners Book in hospitals, where the offspring of mothers who are foreign nationals are first registered. Afterwards, birth certificates are issued, not so the Dominican nationality.
Despite the recognized irregularities in the civil registry issuing of documents, the government granted a widespread amnesty in the cases of fraudulent documentation following strong international pressure.
There is now the concern the lack of controls at the civil registration offices in public hospitals may be again resulting in a market for issuing of fraudulent documentation.
http://jce.gob.do/Noticias/presidente-jce-dispone-investigacion-por-denuncia-de-fraude
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...nvestigara-denuncia-sobre-documentacion-falsa
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...gara-denuncia-sobre-usurpacion-identidad.html
Gildan celebrates their best students
Gildan, the Canadian textile manufacturer, recognized 150 elementary school students who had an outstanding year in 2016-2017. The company has sponsored several public schools every year for the past nine years. The recognized children study at eight public elementary schools located in Guerra, Bayaguana, Batey Esperanza in San Pedro de Macorís and Boca Chica. Gildan has operations in all three of these communities.
As part of its Educando, social corporate responsibility program, the company distributed over 2,500 school supply kits including backpacks, notebooks, pencil crayons, rulers, and more. The students also received coupons for store shopping.
Lajun complains about Ministry of Environment actions
Lajun Corporation, the company that manages the Duquesa garbage dump, has complained that the Santo Domingo East City Hall has not paid its monthly fee for the last three months, leading to a 10% decrease in the annual income of the company.
The company said in a press release that it was the most poorly paid garbage dump in the world. The company accuses Environment Minister Francisco Domínguez Brito of forcing them to accept garbage without payment.
Lajun also accuses the Ministry of Environment of other problems that are currently affecting other garbage dumps in the country that, the company says are the result of poor management practices at the Ministry.
The Ministry has ordered the suspension of the contract and actions be taken to find a replacement.
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...to-domingo-de-armar-plan-para-desacreditarlos
Cigarettes confiscated in Haina Port
The Customs Agency has confiscated a contraband shipment of around 10 million cigarettes with a value of RD$33 million during a raid at the docks in Haina Port. This is the seventh lot of illegal cigarettes of the Capital brand that Customs and the intelligence agencies have confiscated at Haina, the Caucedo Multimodal port and the Las Americas International Airport cargo terminal.
This latest haul came from Manzanillo in Panama and was camouflaged in a freight container along with plastic blinds.
No one has yet been arrested in connection with the case that is still under investigation.
http://hoy.com.do/aduanas-decomisa-contrabando-de-cigarrillos-por-33-millones-de-pesos/
Watchman killed in Bavaro
A 65-year old watchman was killed during an attack on an exchange house in Bavaro. The assailants threatened the administrator and made off with two million pesos.
The victim was identified as Florencio Guerrero Reina, who was from La Romana and worked in the Rafa bureau de change, according to Colonel Marino Carvajal of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The cause of death was blows to the base of the skull that produced a brain hemorrhage.
The assailants also robbed the victim of his cell phone and shotgun before threatening the administrator, Néstor Guerrero, forcing him to open the safe and give them the keys to his vehicle that was later found abandoned on the Coral Highway.
Several individuals have been detained as part of the investigation.
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...-por-muerte-de-vigilante-de-65-anos-en-bavaro
Bartolo Colón has beaten all 30 MLB teams
Sports writer Bill Baer figured out that Minnesota Twins’ starter, 44-year old Bartolo Colon (Cy Young in 2005) is only the 18th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to have earned a victory against all 30 MLB teams in a career. Colon completed the 30th team on Sunday, 20 August 2017, when he was the pitcher of record when the Twins defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-5. Colon pitched sixth innings of the game, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks, along with six strikeouts.
As reported, it was not easy to get the 30th victory. He had failed to earn the win in his previous four attempts against the Diamondbacks in 2006, 2015 and two last season. There currently are only nine active pitchers in the Majors close to beating all 30 teams.
Diario Libre reports that with his win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colón is only five games behind Juan Marichal’s record for the most wins of a Dominican pitcher in Major League Baseball. He will have at most eight more opportunities to seek the wins because the Twins have 39 games to go. In his seven games with the Twins, he has three wins and two losses.
http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/08/20/bartolo-colon-has-now-beaten-all-30-major-league-teams/
http://www.foxsports.com/north/gall...areer-highlights-minnesota-twins-facts-071817
http://www.twincities.com/2017/08/1...n-providing-levity-wisdom-in-twins-clubhouse/
https://www.diariolibre.com/deporte...-marichal-y-a-denis-esta-temporada-LL7962793j
Dominicans score first victory at Girls’ Volleyball U18
Playing in Rosario, Argentina, on 20 August 2017, the Dominican Republic team defeated Peru 3-1 (25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23) during the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U18 World Championship. The top scorer for the game was Madeline Guillen, with 22 points. The DR had lost its first two games to Turkey and Japan.
The DR next plays China at 9am on 22 August. Peru would go on to defeat China (3-1) after losing their first two games. The Dominican Republic is playing in Pool D against Turkey, Japan, Peru and China.
http://u18.girls.2017.volleyball.fivb.com/en/resultsandranking/round1
Electoral campaigning to stop
Charcoal-making revisited
Investigation on use of documentation of the deceased
Gildan celebrates their best students
Lajun complains about Ministry of Environment actions
Cigarettes confiscated in Haina Port
Watchman killed in Bavaro
Bartolo Colón has beaten all 30 MLB teams
Dominicans score first victory at Girls’ Volleyball U18
Big turnout for first day of school
President Danilo Medina was present for the official first day of school ceremony at the Politécnico Doña Rosario Rojas de Contreras in Monte Plata. With him was Minister of Education Andrés Navarro. The technical education center is part of the Ciudad del Conocimiento, where two pre-school centers, two elementary schools, and the polytechnic center are located.
Some three million students are returning to school at daycare, elementary and high schools nationwide after the summer vacations.
What was news this year was that there was a good attendance for the first day of school, especially in Greater Santo Domingo.
Minister of Education Navarro said the big challenge ahead is the implementation of the government’s Digital Republic project in the schools. Navarro announced they will be delivering a million computers at schools.
Meanwhile, media reports claimed that many public teachers in the eastern region of the country did not attend their schools on Monday, 21 August 2017, and instead marched dressed in black in support for colleagues who have been dismissed by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education has insisted that those removed from the payroll were not teachers.
In El Seibo, the teachers gathered in front of the district office and then marched with placards through the town, saying they would not accept being ridden roughshod by the Ministry.
In Hato Mayor it was a similar situation where teachers demonstrated, expressing their frustration that some teachers had been removed from the Ministry’s payroll for political reasons and had not been replaced.
In Villa Hermosa, in La Romana the Juan Bosch school opened without teachers but instead with the local education authorities and local politicians.
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...-seibo-marchan-de-negro-y-no-inician-docencia
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...gar-a-maestros-bloqueados-de-nomina-JK7963931
Electoral campaigning to stop
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) is concerned about what they call premature electoral campaigning being carried out by presidential hopefuls, especially since the general elections are not scheduled until 2020.
The JCE in a press release says the campaigning is too early and outside of the purview of electoral law. There are 2-1/2 years to go for the municipal elections and two years and nine months for the election of the President, Vice President and legislators.
In a press release signed by the JCE judges, the election-organizing entity, states calls for the parties to put a stop to this premature practice of some aspiring candidates. The JCE is in charge of the timing and costs of campaigns. Nevertheless, the electoral law does not contain penalties for early campaigning.
In recent weeks, former President Hipólito Mejía and former PRM presidential candidate Luis Abinader have reportedly held PRM activities focusing on their intention to run again in 2020. On Sunday, 20 August 2017, Mejia was in La Romana and Abinader was in Barahona, both at meetings with party members.
Likewise, regarding the ruling PLD party, followers of former President Leonel Fernández have also being campaigning for him and there is a video circulating in social media pushing for President Danilo Medina to run again for President in 2020. Likewise, the Medina administration spends millions every month of taxpayers’ money to promote the achievements of the government. Medina supporters want him to again change the Constitution so he can run for a third term.
http://eldia.com.do/la-junta-insta-a-suspender-campana-electoral-adelantada/
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...de-cese-proselitismo-mas-anos-elecciones.html
Charcoal-making revisited
Diario Libre journalists went west over the 16 August holiday to learn more about charcoal-making operations on the border with Haiti. Haiti is a major importer of the charcoal made in the Dominican Republic, leading to major deforestation and destruction of animal and bird habitats.
The reporters employed a drone to photograph many of the charcoal ovens near the Enriquillo Lake that is part of the Parque Nacional Lago Enriquillo e Isla Cabritos, both also part of the Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo Biosphere Reserve, now expanded to include areas in Haiti.
The Ministry of Environment says that every week Ministry staff seizes dozens of bags of charcoal, ovens are destroyed and people are stopped from starting new ovens. Responding to the report in Diario Libre, Domínguez Brito said the Ministry has declared war on charcoal production from the prevention of illegal logging, to the persecution of those who produce the charcoal and cracking down on the underground marketing chain at hundreds of points of sale nationwide.
Domínguez Brito said that most of the charcoal produced in the country is exported to Haiti where 75% of households still use it to cook their food.
"It is not a matter that we are going to leave in a folder, it is not a matter of operations. It is a whole array in which we are putting a lot of energy, a lot of will and a lot of surrender… a test that we will surpass for the sustainability of the country. So we ask for support and trust," he told Diario Libre reporters.
See the impressive photos of deforestation and charcoal ovens and read more at:
https://www.diariolibre.com/medioam...oblema-social-economico-y-ecologico-LI7947940
https://www.diariolibre.com/medioambiente/la-quema-de-carbon-no-quedara-en-carpeta-BK7963377
Investigation on use of documentation of the deceased
The president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Julio César Castaños Guzmán, has set in motion an investigation following the complaints by former judge Juan Miguel Castillo Pantaleón, that data from Dominicans who have died at the Luis Eduardo Aybar and Francisco Moscoso Puello public hospitals is being recycled to provide documentation for Haitian immigrants.
Given the complaint by the immigration expert Castillo Pantaleón, Castaños Guzmán instructed the national director of the Civil Registry, Dolores Fernández, to carry out an exhaustive investigation of the cases at the Unit of Late Declarations to trace death certificates registered in the hospitals to see if there is any evidence of such a practice.
He assured that the investigation would be carried out as quickly as possible and reiterated that the children of non-resident foreigners in the country should be registered in the Foreigners’ Book at the JCE.
On the afternoon talk show on 101.3 “La Z”, Domingo Páez said the director of the civil registry office at the Francisco Moscoso Puello hospital had confirmed there were irregularities he himself had been investigating over the past several months. There are only four employees in the civil registry office at the Francisco Moscoso Puello office.
In the 1980s and 90s, the civil registry offices were known as a public market for obtaining for pay civil documentation for thousands of undocumented Haitians. The US Embassy in the Dominican Republic at the time pressured to end the market when hundreds of Dominican baseball players were also “benefited” by irregular birth certificates in order to be signed by MLB teams.
Likewise, this led to the instituting of the Foreigners Book in hospitals, where the offspring of mothers who are foreign nationals are first registered. Afterwards, birth certificates are issued, not so the Dominican nationality.
Despite the recognized irregularities in the civil registry issuing of documents, the government granted a widespread amnesty in the cases of fraudulent documentation following strong international pressure.
There is now the concern the lack of controls at the civil registration offices in public hospitals may be again resulting in a market for issuing of fraudulent documentation.
http://jce.gob.do/Noticias/presidente-jce-dispone-investigacion-por-denuncia-de-fraude
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...nvestigara-denuncia-sobre-documentacion-falsa
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...gara-denuncia-sobre-usurpacion-identidad.html
Gildan celebrates their best students
Gildan, the Canadian textile manufacturer, recognized 150 elementary school students who had an outstanding year in 2016-2017. The company has sponsored several public schools every year for the past nine years. The recognized children study at eight public elementary schools located in Guerra, Bayaguana, Batey Esperanza in San Pedro de Macorís and Boca Chica. Gildan has operations in all three of these communities.
As part of its Educando, social corporate responsibility program, the company distributed over 2,500 school supply kits including backpacks, notebooks, pencil crayons, rulers, and more. The students also received coupons for store shopping.
Lajun complains about Ministry of Environment actions
Lajun Corporation, the company that manages the Duquesa garbage dump, has complained that the Santo Domingo East City Hall has not paid its monthly fee for the last three months, leading to a 10% decrease in the annual income of the company.
The company said in a press release that it was the most poorly paid garbage dump in the world. The company accuses Environment Minister Francisco Domínguez Brito of forcing them to accept garbage without payment.
Lajun also accuses the Ministry of Environment of other problems that are currently affecting other garbage dumps in the country that, the company says are the result of poor management practices at the Ministry.
The Ministry has ordered the suspension of the contract and actions be taken to find a replacement.
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...to-domingo-de-armar-plan-para-desacreditarlos
Cigarettes confiscated in Haina Port
The Customs Agency has confiscated a contraband shipment of around 10 million cigarettes with a value of RD$33 million during a raid at the docks in Haina Port. This is the seventh lot of illegal cigarettes of the Capital brand that Customs and the intelligence agencies have confiscated at Haina, the Caucedo Multimodal port and the Las Americas International Airport cargo terminal.
This latest haul came from Manzanillo in Panama and was camouflaged in a freight container along with plastic blinds.
No one has yet been arrested in connection with the case that is still under investigation.
http://hoy.com.do/aduanas-decomisa-contrabando-de-cigarrillos-por-33-millones-de-pesos/
Watchman killed in Bavaro
A 65-year old watchman was killed during an attack on an exchange house in Bavaro. The assailants threatened the administrator and made off with two million pesos.
The victim was identified as Florencio Guerrero Reina, who was from La Romana and worked in the Rafa bureau de change, according to Colonel Marino Carvajal of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The cause of death was blows to the base of the skull that produced a brain hemorrhage.
The assailants also robbed the victim of his cell phone and shotgun before threatening the administrator, Néstor Guerrero, forcing him to open the safe and give them the keys to his vehicle that was later found abandoned on the Coral Highway.
Several individuals have been detained as part of the investigation.
http://listindiario.com/la-republic...-por-muerte-de-vigilante-de-65-anos-en-bavaro
Bartolo Colón has beaten all 30 MLB teams
Sports writer Bill Baer figured out that Minnesota Twins’ starter, 44-year old Bartolo Colon (Cy Young in 2005) is only the 18th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to have earned a victory against all 30 MLB teams in a career. Colon completed the 30th team on Sunday, 20 August 2017, when he was the pitcher of record when the Twins defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-5. Colon pitched sixth innings of the game, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks, along with six strikeouts.
As reported, it was not easy to get the 30th victory. He had failed to earn the win in his previous four attempts against the Diamondbacks in 2006, 2015 and two last season. There currently are only nine active pitchers in the Majors close to beating all 30 teams.
Diario Libre reports that with his win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colón is only five games behind Juan Marichal’s record for the most wins of a Dominican pitcher in Major League Baseball. He will have at most eight more opportunities to seek the wins because the Twins have 39 games to go. In his seven games with the Twins, he has three wins and two losses.
http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/08/20/bartolo-colon-has-now-beaten-all-30-major-league-teams/
http://www.foxsports.com/north/gall...areer-highlights-minnesota-twins-facts-071817
http://www.twincities.com/2017/08/1...n-providing-levity-wisdom-in-twins-clubhouse/
https://www.diariolibre.com/deporte...-marichal-y-a-denis-esta-temporada-LL7962793j
Dominicans score first victory at Girls’ Volleyball U18
Playing in Rosario, Argentina, on 20 August 2017, the Dominican Republic team defeated Peru 3-1 (25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23) during the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U18 World Championship. The top scorer for the game was Madeline Guillen, with 22 points. The DR had lost its first two games to Turkey and Japan.
The DR next plays China at 9am on 22 August. Peru would go on to defeat China (3-1) after losing their first two games. The Dominican Republic is playing in Pool D against Turkey, Japan, Peru and China.
http://u18.girls.2017.volleyball.fivb.com/en/resultsandranking/round1
