DR1 Daily News next update on Monday
Child marriages keep Dominicans poor
Birthing mafia is too much for Dominican public hospitals
Labor Minister favors changing the law to benefit foreigners looking for jobs
Nearly 8,000 scholarships a year awarded by MESCYT
Minerd and ADP agreed to review cases
Senators approve major income increases for themselves
Country would be better off with 10 senators
Yet another proposal to legalize abortions in the DR
Santiago’s Monument will soon have an elevator
JAD and USDA work on improving Dominican competitiveness
Pope names Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader new nuncio to DR
Las Americas Highway electric cables stolen again
Commonwealth Roundtable promotes trade with Caricom
Gallup: Hypertension affects 30% of Dominicans
More checks needed to government payrolls
Patrols to stop clandestine motorcycle races
Audrys Nin Reyes wins gold in vault in university games
DR1 Daily News next update on Monday
The next DR1 Daily News update will be published on Monday, 28 August 2017. Headline news for the previous Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be compiled for that Monday issue.
Breaking news can be followed 24/7 in the Forums. See the Forum at http://www.dr1.com
Child marriages keep Dominicans poor
A third of girls in the Dominican Republic marry before the age of 18, according to a World Bank/Unicef study. The “Economic Impact of Child Marriages and Early Unions in the Dominican Republic” study was presented on Wednesday, 23 August 2017 at the Presidential Palace in an event organized by the Office of the Vice President Margarita Cedeño. The study was financed by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among others.
The study indicates that the elimination or reduction of child marriages would reduce poverty by around 30%. The study says that eliminating child marriages would mean savings of US$4.8 billion for the country by 2030 and an increase in income for women of US$1,133.
During the event, Rosa Elcarte, Unicef representative in the Dominican Republic, recommended Dominican authorities promote a national plan to eradicate child marriages. She highlighted during the presentation that more than one in 10 girls in the Dominican Republic are married or living with a partner before their 15th birthday. The DR has the highest rate of child marriages in the Americas.
Local statistics indicate that 11.7% of women currently between 18 and 22 years old reported that they had married or lived with a man before they turned 15.
"This is incredibly tragic," Elcarte says. She says the rate of child marriage in the Dominican Republic is similar to that in some sub-Saharan African nations.
The Chamber of Deputies recently approved changes to the Civil Code that eliminates provisions that made legal child marriages.
https://vicepresidencia.gob.do/vice...icana-segun-estudio-del-banco-mundial-unicef/
Birthing mafia is too much for Dominican public hospitals
The director of the National Health Service (SNS), Nelson Rodríguez Monegro, says Haitians pay RD$5,000 to RD$10,000 for birthing tours to the Dominican Republic. He said public hospitals are full of the foreign mothers coming to give birth.
Rodríguez Monegro says the women are attracted by the quality of the birthing facilities in the Dominican Republic when compared to those they would receive in Haiti. The biggest draw, nevertheless, he says, is that here they do not have to pay for the services.
Furthermore, he said the birthing cartels offer the women the possibility of continuing to reside in the country.
He said the hospitals on border provinces, such as Independencia, Dajabon and Pedernales, report more births to Haitian mothers than to Dominican nationals.
Rodríguez Monegro alerted that so far this year there has been a considerable increase in the number of births to Haitian mothers. It is not possible that in the different controls on the roads from Haiti this can happen without complicity, he observes. He said it is not unusual that to a public hospital in Santiago on a single day 10 pregnant Haitian women ready to give birth arrive simultaneously.
http://eldia.com.do/las-haitianas-llegan-al-pais-en-tours-a-parir-en-los-hospitales/
Labor Minister favors changing the law to benefit foreigners looking for jobs
Minister of Labor José Ramon Fadul told reporters from El Nacional that given the constant violations to the labor law in regards to foreign employment in construction and agriculture, the time may have come to change the law instead. The labor law in the Dominican Republic allows for a company to contract only 20% foreign labor. But it is not unusual for the employment in farm and construction projects to be the reverse, 20% Dominican and 80% foreign.
Despite the observation about it being time to change the law, during his interview with Danny Alcantara, Oscar Medina and Luisin Mejia on the Hoy Mismo on Color Vision, Channel 9, the Minister called for the Migration Agency to act with greater vigor in regulating foreigners in the country.
Several sectors, including the labor unions, have called on the government to apply the norms established by the labor law.
http://elnacional.com.do/gobierno-favorece-mas-extranjeros-puedan-trabajar-rd/
Nearly 8,000 scholarships a year awarded by MESCYT
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science And Technology (MESCYT) has granted nearly 40,000 scholarships to worthy students for studies abroad in the sciences, engineering, technology, health, education and environment. Minister Alejandrina German told reporters from El Nacional that just this year they have granted 7,521 scholarships at the superior technical level, university level and the postgraduate level in some 34 institutions of higher education with a commitment of more than RD$297 million.
She said that from 2012-2016 MESCYT granted 31,967 scholarships. So far this year, 2,511 scholarships for Masters, PhD’s, and postdoctoral studies have been granted in universities in Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Puerto Rico, Italy, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and other countries, an investment of RD$2.4 billion. Over 20,000 scholarships were granted to study English.
She said the Ministry is giving priority to the sciences and education when granting the scholarships.
http://elnacional.com.do/gobierno-otorgo-39-mil-becas/
Minerd and ADP agreed to review cases
The Ministry of Education (Minerd) and the Dominican Association of Professors (ADP) again agreed to review the cases of teachers whose pay has been blocked as the result of recent audits carried out in the Ministry. Nonetheless, the president of the ADP, Eduardo Hidalgo, warned that demonstrations that have been carried out around the country will not stop until solutions have been found to the 3,000 claims made by persons who have not been able to collect their wages.
Hidalgo made this announcement after having attended a meeting with the director of the Minerd cabinet, Julio Santana. Hidalgo said that during the meeting, carried out during a vigil by educators in front of the Ministry, they established the creation of commissions from the union and the Ministry in order to initiate the reviews.
The ADP says that 80% of the nearly 4,000 teachers whose paychecks have been blocked by Education, are fulfilling their duties in the schools. According to a recent audit of the Ministry of Education it was unknown where nearly 4,000 “professors” actually provided their service and therefore their pay was put on hold.
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...ro-estos-continuaran-movilizaciones-CX7981620
Senators approve major income increases for themselves
The National Senate yesterday, 23 August 2017, fast-tracked a bill that provides significant wage increases and other benefits and increases the Senate budget in the 2018 National Budget to US$2.6 billion. The initiative was presented by president of the Senate Reinaldo Pared Pérez (PLD-National District). The senators had done the same in 2016, in time for the preparation of the 2017 National Budget.
Morning talk show hosts observed upon reading about the increase that the country would be better off without the very costly 32 senators.
Country would be better off with less senators
Expert in Dominican politics, Rosario Espinal writes in Hoy that in this little three-quarter or half-island there are too many politician-government officers, and what is worse, too many people accustomed to living off politics. All these politicians in a country where the traffic chaos, nor the collecting of garbage, garbage dumps, holes in the sidewalks, basic matters seemingly cannot be solved.
Rosario Espinal is a professor of Sociology at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and a highly regarded analyst of Dominican politics.
She mentions the deputies who were named to the Ministry of Foreign Relations making RD$150,000 a month as advisors to this Ministry - and let’s not forget about the VIP retirees of the government with exorbitant retirement checks for having worked a few years at a government post.
She writes: The Senate is useless and costs millions. Its role? To fill up the treasure chests of the senators, who all aspire to be forever on the job.
She highlights that in the rest of Central America there is only one legislative house. The reason: they are not federal republics, and neither is this country, but we are tiny nation with a thousand provinces.
She says that half of the 31 provinces do not produce much, have little population, and are poor. Increasing the number of provinces has only served to make more political positions available for political activists.
“Ten provinces would be more than enough for a country with 48,000 square kilometers,” she writes.
She observes there are 158 municipalities, most unnecessary, deficient and precarious. She mentions that there are cities in the world that have the population of the entire country. New York, for instance, has a single mayor. She stresses that the Dominican municipalities have been created so that more elective and administrative jobs are available for politicians, so that these “employees” become loyal supporters of local, regional and national politicians.
She writes that in the central government there are 23 ministries, and a large number spend so much on payroll that there is little left over for programs to benefit the people.
“Alas, small countries as this one, could perfectly manage with much less personnel at all government levels, and of course, with less resources. But the opposite is done, departments and departments are added and the demands to employ more people are inexhaustible, and the demands for pension payments, even of people who have not worked in the state are uncountable. Soon the Dominican State will swallow the Dominican collectivity, and both will be shipwrecked. Meanwhile, let the party continue!”
http://hoy.com.do/eliminen-el-senado-20-provincias-100-alcaldias-y-10-ministerios/
Yet another proposal to legalize abortions in the DR
The Gender Commission of the Chamber of Deputies submitted a bill that would decriminalize abortions when the pregnancy puts the mother’s life at risk, or if it is the result of either rape or incest, or when the fetus has no possibility of surviving outside the uterus.
Magda Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the commission, told the assembly that “more than 70% of the population is in agreement with the decriminalization of abortion in these three cases because it is something they understand.”
Ginette Bournigal, a deputy representing Puerto Plata for the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), told reporters that she regretted that the country has still not approved the decriminalization of these abortions “because they fear the Church.”
After learning about this new initiative, the Magaly Pineda Feminist Forum remarked that the criminalization of abortion “is a condemnation of women, especially those who live in poverty (…).”
The divergent positions of the representatives of the Dominican population regarding abortion, an issue that has divided the legislators, once again delayed the approval of a new Penal Code that legislators have been discussing for years.
The Penal Code was approved in 2014, but it has been vetoed on two occasions by President Danilo Medina because it criminalizes abortion in all its forms. The present Penal Code is more than 130 years old.
According to 7dias online news service, the Dominican Republic is one of the countries in the region with the highest index of deaths related to pregnancies, with 106 deaths per 100,000 births. The average for the Caribbean region is 77 per 100,000 births.
The local press also carried the recent news story that the Chile Constitutional Court voted on Monday, 21 August 2017, to lift the country’s total abortion ban, now allowing women to seek an abortion under limited circumstances – when their life is in danger, when a fetus is unviable or when a pregnancy results from rape. As in the Dominican Republic, in Chile abortion bans are a leading cause of maternal deaths because they force women and girls to undergo dangerous backstreet procedures.
In Latin America and the Caribbean now only six countries have blanket abortion bans. These are the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Suriname.
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...despenalizar-aborto-republica-dominicana.html
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...o-facilitaria-la-aprobacion-del-cpd-CA7983994
Santiago’s Monument will soon have an elevator
The administrator of the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration in Santiago de los Caballeros, José Manuel Atuñano, has announced that “at the latest within a month” a modern elevator will be functioning at this important city monument. The elevator is essential for emergency situations and so that persons with disabilities and children can reach the top of the city landmark.
Antuñano said that all of the parts for the new elevator are now on hand and that on the 29th of this month the installation will begin.
The Monument, a major landmark and symbol of the city of Santiago, has been without this service for more than three years. Initially the work was supposed to have been done by National Assets Agency (Bienes Nacionales) but now the Ministry of Culture has decided to take on the project by itself.
It was announced that visitors will only be allowed into the facility from Friday until Sunday and from 9am to 7pm.
The elevator was purchased at a cost of RD$2 million, donated by the Association of Cigar Producers (Pro-Cigar).
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...nto-a-los-heroes-de-la-restauracion-DY7980522
JAD and USDA work on improving Dominican competitiveness
The Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) together with the Ministry of Economy, and the United States Department of Agriculture have put together a Program to Strengthen Operational and Analytical Capacities of the Program of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This innovative program will consist of 15 nationwide sessions to train technicians and professionals in the integrated management of pests and ensure food safety and quality, aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable exports.
Osmar Benitez, the executive president of the JAD, said that this is an essential step to ensure food safety and quality assurance for Dominican fruits and vegetable exports. He told reporters from the Diario Libre that “the markets are getting stricter on the control of insects and other food safety issues in export products, including pesticide residues, and for this reason we have to be aware of the importance to offer training to our exporters on these issues.
In 2015, the agricultural GDP was some RD$165 billion, representing 5.4% of the total GDP. The sector employs nearly 600,000 persons. Farm exports produced more than US $750 million between local exporters and the free zones. This represented 7.9% of the total DR exports.
Among the main farm exports are bananas and cacao with the Dominican Republic being a leader in the export of these products.
Exports of products manufactured from agricultural product represent US$1.7 billion, more than 18% of total exports.
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...ad-exportaciones-frutas-y-vegetales-ax7981064
Pope names Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader new nuncio to DR
Pope Francisco has named a replacement for Monsignor Jude Thaddeus Okolo. This is 66-year old Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader whose previous post was Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan.
Ghaleb Bader entered in the minor seminary in Beit Jala, a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank in 1963. He was later ordained a priest in Amman, Jordan in 1975. He became vicar of the Christ the King parish in the same city in 1976. He would move on from his role as parish priest in 1979, to begin a career as a canonist, and participated in the Arabic translation of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. He would preside the Ecclesiastical Court of Jerusalem in 1988. He then became parish priest of the Annunciation parish in Amman, and presided the Ecclesiastical Court of Amman. In 1998, he left his curial task to devote himself exclusively to his role as chairman of the tribunal.
He was appointed Archbishop of Algiers by Pope Benedict XVI on 24 May 2008, and was consecrated bishop in that same year.
Archbishop Bader also served as an advisor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue from 1996 to 2001.
On 23 May 2015, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader as Titular Archbishop of Mathara in Numidia and Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan, his previous post prior to his new appointment to the Dominican Republic.
Las Americas Highway electric cables stolen again
Unknown persons stole 450 meters of electricity cable used to feed energy to the lights along Las Americas Highway. The theft is being investigated by the National Police and the Criminal Investigation Division (Dicrim).
According to engineers, the aluminum cables were stolen early this week, just days after they were installed to light up the Las Americas Highway at the entrance to Boca Chica, shortly before the inauguration of the Boca Chica overpass.
Some investigators told the Diario Libre that it was possible that the cables were stolen in order to facilitate nighttime motorcycle races.
The head of a merchants association in Boca Chica, Enrique Felix, called the action “sabotage to our tourism.” He said it also represents a major inconvenience to the members of the Santo Domingo Yacht Club.
As a result, more than 2 km of the highway is darkened, precisely at the pedestrian crossing in Andres and Boca Chica.
According to the newspaper this is the 10th time that people have stolen electricity cable on the Las Americas Highway over the last seven years.
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...ctrico-de-la-autopista-las-americas-HX7981687
Commonwealth Roundtable promotes trade with Caricom
The president of the Commonwealth Roundtable in the Dominican Republic, Fernando González Nicolás highlighted the importance of taking measures to stimulate exports and investments with Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean. He said the English-speaking Caribbean (Caricom) is a US$30 billion market. He made the recommendation when speaking at the “How to Do Business with Jamaica Workshop” organized by the Commonwealth Roundtable. He said the Dominican Republic only exports US$180 million to Caricom countries.
González recommends organizing more trade missions with government and private sector participants to Caricom countries and hosting in Santo Domingo more events to attract investors from the region.
He also recommended a more active role of the commercial departments at the Dominican embassies in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago and an increase in regional fairs.
During the event, the president of the Dominican Association of Exporters, Alvaro Sousa said that Jamaica is a great potential market for Dominican produce.
Gallup: Hypertension affects 30% of Dominicans
A recent study on the occurrence of hypertension in the Dominican Republic reveals that some 31% of the Dominican population suffers from this illness. The researchers surveyed 2,015 persons nationwide.
Of this number, 68.5% were hypertensive and 60% taking medication. This means that 60% of Dominicans who suffer from hypertension are not being treated. The study also revealed that women were more hypertensive than men.
Regarding the consumption of energy drinks, the study showed that the population with the greatest prevalence for consuming these drinks is between 18 and 34 years of age.
With regards to smoking, 12% of the population smokes and more women were found to smoke than the men. 15% of young persons between 18 and 24 years of age used hookahs. This apparatus and its ingredients besides affecting the heart can also transmit contagious diseases. The study was financed by Senasa, the National Health Insurance Program and was carried out by Gallup.
More checks needed to government payrolls
The executive vice president of the Institutionality and Justice Foundation (Finjus), Servio Tulio Castaños Guzmán, recommended closer inspection of the government payroll after evidence provided by the Ministry of Education that found more than 3,900 teachers collecting wages without offering the service. Around 30% of the National Budget goes to cover the bulging central government payroll.
Finjus called for audits and a purge to the payrolls as part of an effort to reduce corruption and improve democratic governance.
In a statement, Finjus expresses concern for the enlarging of the government payroll and how this affects the availability of funds for social services.
Recently, a similar situation was revealed in the Ministry of Foreign Relations where it is known the minister has over 50 advisors without these persons having experience in foreign or international relations. The beneficiaries were members of the same political party as the new Minister of Foreign Relations who had previously been legislators. They were named as advisors with wages of RD$150,000 at the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
https://www.metrord.do/do/noticias/...-ante-agigantamiento-de-nominas-publicas.html
Patrols to stop clandestine motorcycle races
The director of the Metropolitan Transport Authority (Amet-Digesett) announced motorized patrols will be deployed to prevent tunnels and avenues of the capital city from being used for clandestine motorcycle and car racing. General Frener Bello Arias of Amet said that the measure is part of efforts to prevent thoughtless individuals of putting in danger the lives of people who travel at night or in the early morning hours. He said that they are expanding the so-called “Eagle” patrols will prevent motorcycles, heavy vehicles and cargo trucks and multi-passenger vehicles transit on the overpasses, tunnels and underpasses in the city.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...uevas-unidades-para-evitar-carreras-nocturnas
Audrys Nin Reyes wins gold in vault in university games
Dominican gymnast, Audrys Nin Reyes, scored 14.783 points to win the gold medal in the Artistic Gymnastics vault competition of the 29th Summer Universiade taking place in Taipei, Taiwan. The runner-ups were Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine and Andrei-Vasile Muntean of Rumania.
The 22-year old Dominican male gymnast is studying for a career in physical education at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD). Nin had previously won the in vault at the World Challenge Cup in Osijek, Croatia.
Also competing for the Dominican Republic in Artistic Gymnastics, Yamilet Peña Abreu, who studies at the Ibero-American University (Unibe) was ranked sixth in women’s vault.
El Dia newspaper reports that with the gold won by Nin, the DR now totals three medals, with the other two being silver, both in weightlifting. The DR is currently in 22nd place after four days of competition. South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are heading the list of medal winners with 17, 15 and 12 golds each.
The Summer Universiade is organized every two years by the International University Sports Federation. The Summer Universiade consists of 14 compulsory sports and up to 3 optional sports chosen by the host country.
http://www.fisu.net/results/summer-universiade/29th-summer-universiade-taipei-city-2017-main-results
http://www.fisu.net/results/summer-universiade/29th-summer-universiade-taipei-city-2017-main-results
http://eldia.com.do/gimnasta-audrys-nin-logra-el-oro-en-salto-en-universiada-de-taipei-2017/
Child marriages keep Dominicans poor
Birthing mafia is too much for Dominican public hospitals
Labor Minister favors changing the law to benefit foreigners looking for jobs
Nearly 8,000 scholarships a year awarded by MESCYT
Minerd and ADP agreed to review cases
Senators approve major income increases for themselves
Country would be better off with 10 senators
Yet another proposal to legalize abortions in the DR
Santiago’s Monument will soon have an elevator
JAD and USDA work on improving Dominican competitiveness
Pope names Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader new nuncio to DR
Las Americas Highway electric cables stolen again
Commonwealth Roundtable promotes trade with Caricom
Gallup: Hypertension affects 30% of Dominicans
More checks needed to government payrolls
Patrols to stop clandestine motorcycle races
Audrys Nin Reyes wins gold in vault in university games
DR1 Daily News next update on Monday
The next DR1 Daily News update will be published on Monday, 28 August 2017. Headline news for the previous Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be compiled for that Monday issue.
Breaking news can be followed 24/7 in the Forums. See the Forum at http://www.dr1.com
Child marriages keep Dominicans poor
A third of girls in the Dominican Republic marry before the age of 18, according to a World Bank/Unicef study. The “Economic Impact of Child Marriages and Early Unions in the Dominican Republic” study was presented on Wednesday, 23 August 2017 at the Presidential Palace in an event organized by the Office of the Vice President Margarita Cedeño. The study was financed by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among others.
The study indicates that the elimination or reduction of child marriages would reduce poverty by around 30%. The study says that eliminating child marriages would mean savings of US$4.8 billion for the country by 2030 and an increase in income for women of US$1,133.
During the event, Rosa Elcarte, Unicef representative in the Dominican Republic, recommended Dominican authorities promote a national plan to eradicate child marriages. She highlighted during the presentation that more than one in 10 girls in the Dominican Republic are married or living with a partner before their 15th birthday. The DR has the highest rate of child marriages in the Americas.
Local statistics indicate that 11.7% of women currently between 18 and 22 years old reported that they had married or lived with a man before they turned 15.
"This is incredibly tragic," Elcarte says. She says the rate of child marriage in the Dominican Republic is similar to that in some sub-Saharan African nations.
The Chamber of Deputies recently approved changes to the Civil Code that eliminates provisions that made legal child marriages.
https://vicepresidencia.gob.do/vice...icana-segun-estudio-del-banco-mundial-unicef/
Birthing mafia is too much for Dominican public hospitals
The director of the National Health Service (SNS), Nelson Rodríguez Monegro, says Haitians pay RD$5,000 to RD$10,000 for birthing tours to the Dominican Republic. He said public hospitals are full of the foreign mothers coming to give birth.
Rodríguez Monegro says the women are attracted by the quality of the birthing facilities in the Dominican Republic when compared to those they would receive in Haiti. The biggest draw, nevertheless, he says, is that here they do not have to pay for the services.
Furthermore, he said the birthing cartels offer the women the possibility of continuing to reside in the country.
He said the hospitals on border provinces, such as Independencia, Dajabon and Pedernales, report more births to Haitian mothers than to Dominican nationals.
Rodríguez Monegro alerted that so far this year there has been a considerable increase in the number of births to Haitian mothers. It is not possible that in the different controls on the roads from Haiti this can happen without complicity, he observes. He said it is not unusual that to a public hospital in Santiago on a single day 10 pregnant Haitian women ready to give birth arrive simultaneously.
http://eldia.com.do/las-haitianas-llegan-al-pais-en-tours-a-parir-en-los-hospitales/
Labor Minister favors changing the law to benefit foreigners looking for jobs
Minister of Labor José Ramon Fadul told reporters from El Nacional that given the constant violations to the labor law in regards to foreign employment in construction and agriculture, the time may have come to change the law instead. The labor law in the Dominican Republic allows for a company to contract only 20% foreign labor. But it is not unusual for the employment in farm and construction projects to be the reverse, 20% Dominican and 80% foreign.
Despite the observation about it being time to change the law, during his interview with Danny Alcantara, Oscar Medina and Luisin Mejia on the Hoy Mismo on Color Vision, Channel 9, the Minister called for the Migration Agency to act with greater vigor in regulating foreigners in the country.
Several sectors, including the labor unions, have called on the government to apply the norms established by the labor law.
http://elnacional.com.do/gobierno-favorece-mas-extranjeros-puedan-trabajar-rd/
Nearly 8,000 scholarships a year awarded by MESCYT
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science And Technology (MESCYT) has granted nearly 40,000 scholarships to worthy students for studies abroad in the sciences, engineering, technology, health, education and environment. Minister Alejandrina German told reporters from El Nacional that just this year they have granted 7,521 scholarships at the superior technical level, university level and the postgraduate level in some 34 institutions of higher education with a commitment of more than RD$297 million.
She said that from 2012-2016 MESCYT granted 31,967 scholarships. So far this year, 2,511 scholarships for Masters, PhD’s, and postdoctoral studies have been granted in universities in Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Puerto Rico, Italy, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and other countries, an investment of RD$2.4 billion. Over 20,000 scholarships were granted to study English.
She said the Ministry is giving priority to the sciences and education when granting the scholarships.
http://elnacional.com.do/gobierno-otorgo-39-mil-becas/
Minerd and ADP agreed to review cases
The Ministry of Education (Minerd) and the Dominican Association of Professors (ADP) again agreed to review the cases of teachers whose pay has been blocked as the result of recent audits carried out in the Ministry. Nonetheless, the president of the ADP, Eduardo Hidalgo, warned that demonstrations that have been carried out around the country will not stop until solutions have been found to the 3,000 claims made by persons who have not been able to collect their wages.
Hidalgo made this announcement after having attended a meeting with the director of the Minerd cabinet, Julio Santana. Hidalgo said that during the meeting, carried out during a vigil by educators in front of the Ministry, they established the creation of commissions from the union and the Ministry in order to initiate the reviews.
The ADP says that 80% of the nearly 4,000 teachers whose paychecks have been blocked by Education, are fulfilling their duties in the schools. According to a recent audit of the Ministry of Education it was unknown where nearly 4,000 “professors” actually provided their service and therefore their pay was put on hold.
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...ro-estos-continuaran-movilizaciones-CX7981620
Senators approve major income increases for themselves
The National Senate yesterday, 23 August 2017, fast-tracked a bill that provides significant wage increases and other benefits and increases the Senate budget in the 2018 National Budget to US$2.6 billion. The initiative was presented by president of the Senate Reinaldo Pared Pérez (PLD-National District). The senators had done the same in 2016, in time for the preparation of the 2017 National Budget.
Morning talk show hosts observed upon reading about the increase that the country would be better off without the very costly 32 senators.
Country would be better off with less senators
Expert in Dominican politics, Rosario Espinal writes in Hoy that in this little three-quarter or half-island there are too many politician-government officers, and what is worse, too many people accustomed to living off politics. All these politicians in a country where the traffic chaos, nor the collecting of garbage, garbage dumps, holes in the sidewalks, basic matters seemingly cannot be solved.
Rosario Espinal is a professor of Sociology at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and a highly regarded analyst of Dominican politics.
She mentions the deputies who were named to the Ministry of Foreign Relations making RD$150,000 a month as advisors to this Ministry - and let’s not forget about the VIP retirees of the government with exorbitant retirement checks for having worked a few years at a government post.
She writes: The Senate is useless and costs millions. Its role? To fill up the treasure chests of the senators, who all aspire to be forever on the job.
She highlights that in the rest of Central America there is only one legislative house. The reason: they are not federal republics, and neither is this country, but we are tiny nation with a thousand provinces.
She says that half of the 31 provinces do not produce much, have little population, and are poor. Increasing the number of provinces has only served to make more political positions available for political activists.
“Ten provinces would be more than enough for a country with 48,000 square kilometers,” she writes.
She observes there are 158 municipalities, most unnecessary, deficient and precarious. She mentions that there are cities in the world that have the population of the entire country. New York, for instance, has a single mayor. She stresses that the Dominican municipalities have been created so that more elective and administrative jobs are available for politicians, so that these “employees” become loyal supporters of local, regional and national politicians.
She writes that in the central government there are 23 ministries, and a large number spend so much on payroll that there is little left over for programs to benefit the people.
“Alas, small countries as this one, could perfectly manage with much less personnel at all government levels, and of course, with less resources. But the opposite is done, departments and departments are added and the demands to employ more people are inexhaustible, and the demands for pension payments, even of people who have not worked in the state are uncountable. Soon the Dominican State will swallow the Dominican collectivity, and both will be shipwrecked. Meanwhile, let the party continue!”
http://hoy.com.do/eliminen-el-senado-20-provincias-100-alcaldias-y-10-ministerios/
Yet another proposal to legalize abortions in the DR
The Gender Commission of the Chamber of Deputies submitted a bill that would decriminalize abortions when the pregnancy puts the mother’s life at risk, or if it is the result of either rape or incest, or when the fetus has no possibility of surviving outside the uterus.
Magda Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the commission, told the assembly that “more than 70% of the population is in agreement with the decriminalization of abortion in these three cases because it is something they understand.”
Ginette Bournigal, a deputy representing Puerto Plata for the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), told reporters that she regretted that the country has still not approved the decriminalization of these abortions “because they fear the Church.”
After learning about this new initiative, the Magaly Pineda Feminist Forum remarked that the criminalization of abortion “is a condemnation of women, especially those who live in poverty (…).”
The divergent positions of the representatives of the Dominican population regarding abortion, an issue that has divided the legislators, once again delayed the approval of a new Penal Code that legislators have been discussing for years.
The Penal Code was approved in 2014, but it has been vetoed on two occasions by President Danilo Medina because it criminalizes abortion in all its forms. The present Penal Code is more than 130 years old.
According to 7dias online news service, the Dominican Republic is one of the countries in the region with the highest index of deaths related to pregnancies, with 106 deaths per 100,000 births. The average for the Caribbean region is 77 per 100,000 births.
The local press also carried the recent news story that the Chile Constitutional Court voted on Monday, 21 August 2017, to lift the country’s total abortion ban, now allowing women to seek an abortion under limited circumstances – when their life is in danger, when a fetus is unviable or when a pregnancy results from rape. As in the Dominican Republic, in Chile abortion bans are a leading cause of maternal deaths because they force women and girls to undergo dangerous backstreet procedures.
In Latin America and the Caribbean now only six countries have blanket abortion bans. These are the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Suriname.
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...despenalizar-aborto-republica-dominicana.html
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...o-facilitaria-la-aprobacion-del-cpd-CA7983994
Santiago’s Monument will soon have an elevator
The administrator of the Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration in Santiago de los Caballeros, José Manuel Atuñano, has announced that “at the latest within a month” a modern elevator will be functioning at this important city monument. The elevator is essential for emergency situations and so that persons with disabilities and children can reach the top of the city landmark.
Antuñano said that all of the parts for the new elevator are now on hand and that on the 29th of this month the installation will begin.
The Monument, a major landmark and symbol of the city of Santiago, has been without this service for more than three years. Initially the work was supposed to have been done by National Assets Agency (Bienes Nacionales) but now the Ministry of Culture has decided to take on the project by itself.
It was announced that visitors will only be allowed into the facility from Friday until Sunday and from 9am to 7pm.
The elevator was purchased at a cost of RD$2 million, donated by the Association of Cigar Producers (Pro-Cigar).
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...nto-a-los-heroes-de-la-restauracion-DY7980522
JAD and USDA work on improving Dominican competitiveness
The Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) together with the Ministry of Economy, and the United States Department of Agriculture have put together a Program to Strengthen Operational and Analytical Capacities of the Program of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This innovative program will consist of 15 nationwide sessions to train technicians and professionals in the integrated management of pests and ensure food safety and quality, aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable exports.
Osmar Benitez, the executive president of the JAD, said that this is an essential step to ensure food safety and quality assurance for Dominican fruits and vegetable exports. He told reporters from the Diario Libre that “the markets are getting stricter on the control of insects and other food safety issues in export products, including pesticide residues, and for this reason we have to be aware of the importance to offer training to our exporters on these issues.
In 2015, the agricultural GDP was some RD$165 billion, representing 5.4% of the total GDP. The sector employs nearly 600,000 persons. Farm exports produced more than US $750 million between local exporters and the free zones. This represented 7.9% of the total DR exports.
Among the main farm exports are bananas and cacao with the Dominican Republic being a leader in the export of these products.
Exports of products manufactured from agricultural product represent US$1.7 billion, more than 18% of total exports.
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...ad-exportaciones-frutas-y-vegetales-ax7981064
Pope names Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader new nuncio to DR
Pope Francisco has named a replacement for Monsignor Jude Thaddeus Okolo. This is 66-year old Ghaleb Moussa Abdallah Bader whose previous post was Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan.
Ghaleb Bader entered in the minor seminary in Beit Jala, a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank in 1963. He was later ordained a priest in Amman, Jordan in 1975. He became vicar of the Christ the King parish in the same city in 1976. He would move on from his role as parish priest in 1979, to begin a career as a canonist, and participated in the Arabic translation of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. He would preside the Ecclesiastical Court of Jerusalem in 1988. He then became parish priest of the Annunciation parish in Amman, and presided the Ecclesiastical Court of Amman. In 1998, he left his curial task to devote himself exclusively to his role as chairman of the tribunal.
He was appointed Archbishop of Algiers by Pope Benedict XVI on 24 May 2008, and was consecrated bishop in that same year.
Archbishop Bader also served as an advisor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue from 1996 to 2001.
On 23 May 2015, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader as Titular Archbishop of Mathara in Numidia and Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan, his previous post prior to his new appointment to the Dominican Republic.
Las Americas Highway electric cables stolen again
Unknown persons stole 450 meters of electricity cable used to feed energy to the lights along Las Americas Highway. The theft is being investigated by the National Police and the Criminal Investigation Division (Dicrim).
According to engineers, the aluminum cables were stolen early this week, just days after they were installed to light up the Las Americas Highway at the entrance to Boca Chica, shortly before the inauguration of the Boca Chica overpass.
Some investigators told the Diario Libre that it was possible that the cables were stolen in order to facilitate nighttime motorcycle races.
The head of a merchants association in Boca Chica, Enrique Felix, called the action “sabotage to our tourism.” He said it also represents a major inconvenience to the members of the Santo Domingo Yacht Club.
As a result, more than 2 km of the highway is darkened, precisely at the pedestrian crossing in Andres and Boca Chica.
According to the newspaper this is the 10th time that people have stolen electricity cable on the Las Americas Highway over the last seven years.
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...ctrico-de-la-autopista-las-americas-HX7981687
Commonwealth Roundtable promotes trade with Caricom
The president of the Commonwealth Roundtable in the Dominican Republic, Fernando González Nicolás highlighted the importance of taking measures to stimulate exports and investments with Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean. He said the English-speaking Caribbean (Caricom) is a US$30 billion market. He made the recommendation when speaking at the “How to Do Business with Jamaica Workshop” organized by the Commonwealth Roundtable. He said the Dominican Republic only exports US$180 million to Caricom countries.
González recommends organizing more trade missions with government and private sector participants to Caricom countries and hosting in Santo Domingo more events to attract investors from the region.
He also recommended a more active role of the commercial departments at the Dominican embassies in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago and an increase in regional fairs.
During the event, the president of the Dominican Association of Exporters, Alvaro Sousa said that Jamaica is a great potential market for Dominican produce.
Gallup: Hypertension affects 30% of Dominicans
A recent study on the occurrence of hypertension in the Dominican Republic reveals that some 31% of the Dominican population suffers from this illness. The researchers surveyed 2,015 persons nationwide.
Of this number, 68.5% were hypertensive and 60% taking medication. This means that 60% of Dominicans who suffer from hypertension are not being treated. The study also revealed that women were more hypertensive than men.
Regarding the consumption of energy drinks, the study showed that the population with the greatest prevalence for consuming these drinks is between 18 and 34 years of age.
With regards to smoking, 12% of the population smokes and more women were found to smoke than the men. 15% of young persons between 18 and 24 years of age used hookahs. This apparatus and its ingredients besides affecting the heart can also transmit contagious diseases. The study was financed by Senasa, the National Health Insurance Program and was carried out by Gallup.
More checks needed to government payrolls
The executive vice president of the Institutionality and Justice Foundation (Finjus), Servio Tulio Castaños Guzmán, recommended closer inspection of the government payroll after evidence provided by the Ministry of Education that found more than 3,900 teachers collecting wages without offering the service. Around 30% of the National Budget goes to cover the bulging central government payroll.
Finjus called for audits and a purge to the payrolls as part of an effort to reduce corruption and improve democratic governance.
In a statement, Finjus expresses concern for the enlarging of the government payroll and how this affects the availability of funds for social services.
Recently, a similar situation was revealed in the Ministry of Foreign Relations where it is known the minister has over 50 advisors without these persons having experience in foreign or international relations. The beneficiaries were members of the same political party as the new Minister of Foreign Relations who had previously been legislators. They were named as advisors with wages of RD$150,000 at the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
https://www.metrord.do/do/noticias/...-ante-agigantamiento-de-nominas-publicas.html
Patrols to stop clandestine motorcycle races
The director of the Metropolitan Transport Authority (Amet-Digesett) announced motorized patrols will be deployed to prevent tunnels and avenues of the capital city from being used for clandestine motorcycle and car racing. General Frener Bello Arias of Amet said that the measure is part of efforts to prevent thoughtless individuals of putting in danger the lives of people who travel at night or in the early morning hours. He said that they are expanding the so-called “Eagle” patrols will prevent motorcycles, heavy vehicles and cargo trucks and multi-passenger vehicles transit on the overpasses, tunnels and underpasses in the city.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-repu...uevas-unidades-para-evitar-carreras-nocturnas
Audrys Nin Reyes wins gold in vault in university games
Dominican gymnast, Audrys Nin Reyes, scored 14.783 points to win the gold medal in the Artistic Gymnastics vault competition of the 29th Summer Universiade taking place in Taipei, Taiwan. The runner-ups were Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine and Andrei-Vasile Muntean of Rumania.
The 22-year old Dominican male gymnast is studying for a career in physical education at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD). Nin had previously won the in vault at the World Challenge Cup in Osijek, Croatia.
Also competing for the Dominican Republic in Artistic Gymnastics, Yamilet Peña Abreu, who studies at the Ibero-American University (Unibe) was ranked sixth in women’s vault.
El Dia newspaper reports that with the gold won by Nin, the DR now totals three medals, with the other two being silver, both in weightlifting. The DR is currently in 22nd place after four days of competition. South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are heading the list of medal winners with 17, 15 and 12 golds each.
The Summer Universiade is organized every two years by the International University Sports Federation. The Summer Universiade consists of 14 compulsory sports and up to 3 optional sports chosen by the host country.
http://www.fisu.net/results/summer-universiade/29th-summer-universiade-taipei-city-2017-main-results
http://www.fisu.net/results/summer-universiade/29th-summer-universiade-taipei-city-2017-main-results
http://eldia.com.do/gimnasta-audrys-nin-logra-el-oro-en-salto-en-universiada-de-taipei-2017/