DR1 Daily News - Thursday, 14 December 2017

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DR1 Daily News next update on Monday
DR and France agree to protect whales
DR to hold presidency of SICA starting January 2018
French government takes on Metro
Dominican government is big spender in advertising
Fenatrado truck strike is over
Baby dies from burn wounds suffered at hospital
Fire at Marcelino Velez hospital leads to evacuation
Public Defenders to strike
Priest accused of child molestation let free in La Vega
Convict escapes in San Pedro
Lenin Ramirez is Anthony Santos’s manager, not Raul Gil
British sanky’s mom doesn’t want anything to do with him
Techy Fatule at the Coliseo Teo Cruz
Flash Night Run on 16 December
Panamerican Weightlifting Championships
Christmas art exhibition at Galeria 360


DR1 Daily News next update on Monday
The next DR1 Daily News update will be published on Monday, 18 December 2017. The Monday issue will compile headline news for the previous Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Breaking news can be followed 24/7 in the Forums. See the DR1 Forum at http://www.dr1.com


DR and France agree to protect whales
Environment Minister Francisco Dominguez Brito and Brune Poirson, Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, signed a technical collaboration agreement for better management and preservation of the National Marine Mammal Sanctuary in Samana, off the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic. The area is home to humpback whales that travel thousands of miles to breed in the warmer waters off the Dominican Republic.

The officials met in Paris, France where they are participating in the One Planet Summit on climate change.

This five-year agreement calls for the development of a survey on marine mammals and their activities in protected areas, the exchange of technical information, awareness-raising workshops on the importance of caring for these species and increasing good practices on the means of control and surveillance in these areas. The scope of the agreement is both regional and global.

The signing of the agreement is a collaborative effort of the Dominican Embassy in France and the French Embassy in the Dominican Republic. It also has the backing of the Agency for Biodiversity of France (AFB).

http://ambiente.gob.do/francia-dominguez-brito-firma-acuerdo-cuidar-santuario-mamiferos-marinos/


DR to hold presidency of SICA starting January 2018
The Dominican Republic retakes the Temporary Presidency of the Central American Integration System (SICA) for January-June 2018. President Danilo Medina travels Panama on Thursday, 14 December 2017, to receive the presidency from Panama at the gathering at the Westin Playa Bonita. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas and communications spokesman Roberto Rodriguez Marchena. This is the second time President Medina will hold the Pro Tempore Presidency.

Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado earlier had presented the guidelines the country will follow. This initiative includes programs that are part of the five pillars of the regional body – democratic security, disaster risk management and climate change, social integration, economic integration and institutional strengthening.

The SICA is an international organization created in 1991 as a framework for the integration of the countries of Central America -- Panamá, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Belize. There are 24 countries around the world that serve as regional or extra regional observers, while the Pro Tempore Presidency is rotated every six months. Belize will be next from July to December 2018.

http://www.mirex.gob.do/medios/noti...ica-rd-priorizara-agenda-estrategica-del-sica


French government takes on Metro
French ambassador in the Dominican Republic, Jose Gomez, in an interview with Listin Diario, spoke of the chaos in public transport and the need to limit the transit of vehicles or the city will grind to a halt. He also advocated limiting vehicular traffic to stop emissions that are contaminating the environment.

Gomez had praise for the Santo Domingo Metro, the soon to be in operation cable car over the Ozama River, and the OMSA buses, but said these had to be improved. He said the French government is assisting the Metro Office (Opret) on matters such as building larger Metro stations to manage more subway cars.

On the same matter, in its editorial on 14 December 2017, El Dia advanced the French government would be making a soft loan to the country to continue the expansion of line 2 of the Metro.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...r-frances-advierte-metro-no-aguanta-mas-gente


Dominican government is big spender in advertising
The Nielsen-IBOPE survey on advertising spending from January to November 2017 was dominated by advertisers sponsoring soap operas on TV. Among other findings: TV advertising declined 11% in 2017, compared to 2016. Advertisers spent RD$27.6 billion, accounting for 67% of the bulk of advertising campaigns. Advertising on the Internet is growing, from RD$633,516,560 in 2016 to RD$1,116,338,610 from January to November 2017. But company officers explained that the year 2016 was an electoral year with heavy investment in TV campaigns made by political parties.

Likewise, the survey shows the Dominican government is the biggest spender.

The biggest advertising campaigns by product or service were:
Dominican government: RD$2,437,237,564.
Telecom mobile: RD$2,202,828,089
Telecom institutional: RD$2,003,686,483
Dermatological products (anti-fungus): RD$880,097,638
Cinemas: RD$757,846,978
Concerts and festivals: RD$737,194,486
Soda companies: RD$581,102,642
Department stores: RD$575,758,224
Banks: RD$537,009,099.
Cable/Satellite operators: RD$518,784,769
Liquid supplements: RD$452,550,425
Condiments and seasonings: RD$450,522,465.
Beers: RD$443,522,465
Powdered milk: RD$404,042,735
https://www.diariolibre.com/revista/cultura/lo-mas-visto-de-lunes-a-viernes-por-tv-en-2017-JI8758193
https://www.diariolibre.com/revista/cultura/lo-mas-visto-de-lunes-a-viernes-por-tv-en-2017-JI8758193


Fenatrado truck strike is over
National Police Director, Major General Ney Aldrin Bautista, has announced that the National Federation of Dominican Transport (Fenatrado) has ordered its members to lift their forceful ban on merchandise transported to and from ports that had began last Monday, 11 December 2017. The latest conflict erupted when Malespin construction company, that is carrying out works in Montecristi, decided to use their own trucks and not contract the services of Fenatrado affiliates. Fenatrado truckers reacted blocking transit and impeding the flow of port cargo at Haina Port in Santo Domingo.

Police director Bautista said that he was informed of the decision following a meeting with the deputy police director and the president of Fenatrado but the government would continue to leave police officers at the docks.

Minutes before the decision, Bautista had guaranteed the National Business Council (CONEP) that they would have free access to their cargo transport across the country.

The Police and the Armed Forces announced they would protect cargo owners that choose to transport their own loads and not use the services of Fenatrado truckers.

According to Pedro Brache, Conep president, the strike caused delays of more than 9,000 containers waiting with a value of over US$400 million, including perishables.

Meanwhile, the president of the National Shippers Association (ANRD), Teddy Heinsen, called for the government to give thought to address the situation. He said that this week it was Montecristi, last week Cotui, also in Hato Mayor… “Fenatrado virtually controls the activities of all companies and we are effectively unable to transport our own cargo,” complained the president of the shippers.

He said on numerous occasions they have asked for the intervention of the Dominican state. He highlighted the government should think about the damages that the situation causes to the country, by not permitting importers and exporters to transport their cargo. He said government tax collection is interrupted, plants are stopped for lack of supply of raw materials and relationships with international trading partners and the competitiveness of local products and services suffer on a national and international level.

The 90,000 truckers affiliated to Fenatrado have maneuvered to control 80% of the 35 million tons of cargo transported to and from Dominican ports, as reported in Diario Libre. Fenatrado decides the rates and has imposed these by vandalism, with the past complacency of the Dominican government. The former president of Fenatrado, Blas Peralta is in jail sentenced to 30 years for murder of former UASD rector Mateo Aquino Febrillet during the 2016 general election when he sought to be named candidate to senator for San Cristobal.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...-en-los-puertos-pero-mantendran-la-vigilancia
https://www.listindiario.com/econom...ros-piden-poner-fin-a-los-abusos-de-fenatrado
http://eldia.com.do/la-fuerza-publica-protegera-las-cargas-que-salgan-de-los-puertos/
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...erdidas-gobierno-interviene-en-caso-CJ8784477
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...inado-por-el-sindicato-de-fenatrado-CN8780444


Baby dies from burn wounds suffered at hospital
Public Health Minister Altagracia Guzmán Marcelino says a Ministry of Public Health commission is investigating the circumstances in which a newborn baby died when a fire burned its crib in the premature unit at the hospital. A doctor also suffered burns.

The minister said the investigation is carried out by the Viceministerio de Garantía de la Calidad and the Dirección Materno Infantil y Adolescentes of the Ministry of Public Health that will report on what caused the tragedy at the Hospital de la Mujer, the maternity hospital of the Dominican Social Security Institute (IDSS).

The director of the Hospital de la Mujer, Felix Maria Dotel, told Listin Diario reporters that the baby was being attended by the doctor when the tragedy occurred.

The incident occurred around 10:30am. The baby had been born around 6am.

http://elcaribe.com.do/2017/12/13/m...cendiarse-incubadora-en-hospital-de-la-mujer/
http://elcaribe.com.do/2017/12/13/m...gar-muerte-de-bebe-en-maternidad-de-la-mujer/
https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...ulto-con-quemaduras-en-la-maternidad-del-idss


Fire at Marcelino Velez hospital leads to evacuation
Patients from the Intensive Care Unit at the Marcelino Vélez Santana Hospital were evacuated on the morning of Wednesday, 13 December 2017 when a fan caught on fire in the hospital pharmacy and the smoke reached the ICU.

The patients were moved the Cardio Neuro-Opthamology and Transplant Center (Cecanot) and the National Police Hospital. The situation was then controlled and is back to normal.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...e-intensivos-del-marcelino-velez-por-humareda


Public Defenders to strike
Public Defenders have announced a strike for today, Thursday 14 December 2017, across the whole country to demand wage increases.

Spokespeople for the Movement for Salaries with Dignity and the National Association of Public Defenders say they have had no answer from the National Office of Public Defense (ONDP) on their requested salary increases. They have accused ONDP management of not allocating the RD$80 million line item in the budget created for the salary increases. Due to the strike most hearings in penal courts will not take place as in 75% of criminal cases the defendants are represented by Public Defenders.

The group is asking for a 40% increase, saying they have a very heavy workload with one single defender having up to 400 active cases.

http://hoy.com.do/defensores-publicos-anuncian-huelga-para-manana/


Priest accused of child molestation let free in La Vega
The Public Prosecution Office in La Vega has said that it will appeal the decision of a La Vega court to allow the priest Miguel Florenzán Ulloa, to go free, even though he has been accused of having sex with minors.

Instead of coercive measures of jail time, the priest was allowed to make monthly appearances at court. The prosecutors had asked for a year in preventive custody but the judge said the accused had promised to be available whenever the authorities requested him.

The judge also explained that the Unit for Care for Victims of Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Crimes had launched an investigation into Florenzán Ulloa, who is a priest of the Order of Saint Augustine and who works in a private school in La Vega.

The priest was arrested on 9 December 2017 based on the statement of one victim but others are expected to come forward.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...-abuso-sexual-contra-menor-de-edad-en-la-vega


Convict escapes in San Pedro
The authorities are feverishly looking for an escaped inmate who had been sentenced to 10 years in jail in San Pedro de Macoris for robbery and who is part of the gang “The Ditch Assassins”. Tony Alberto Medrano was at the preventive jail in the court house when he escaped from the bathroom.

He was in jail accused of robbing a truck from Alcibiades Tavares the ex-governor of San Pedro in 2016 and being involved in the kidnapping and murders of several drivers two years ago. The drivers were later found in a ditch in a common grave in Juan Dolio.

The other members of the supposed band are Hugo Antonio Zorrilla Alfonseca, Radhamés Antonio Ramírez and ex sergeant Luz Divina Martínez and they are accused of killing Gary Wilson Rodríguez Castro, of the route Hato Mayor – Sabana de la Mar; David Polanco, of San Pedro Urban Transport and German Arredondo Quezada, who had a transport truck.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...os-verdugos-de-la-fosa-de-carcel-en-san-pedro


Lenin Ramirez is Anthony Santos’s manager, not Raul Gil
Lenin Ramirez has clarified that he is the manager of bachata singer Anthony Santos and Raul Gil, under arrest in New York, is but an artistic promoter. He said that Gil worked on event organizations with numerous artists from many countries and musical genres and in that capacity worked with Santos.

Ramirez distanced Santos from any wrongdoings attributed to Gil. He said that in 30 years of Santos impeccable career he has worked with many entrepreneurs and promoters, including José Tejada, Roberto Almonte, Jesus Araujo, Felix Cabrera, among others.

He said they are sorry for the situation Gil is undergoing. He is subject to deportation to the Dominican Republic. He said that Gil is a professional that has proven capable of staging excellent events.

https://www.metrord.do/do/entretenc...habla-proceso-judicial-promotor-raul-gil.html


British sanky’s mom doesn’t want anything to do with him
The Sun, the British newspaper, has followed the saga of 46-year old Glyn Bailey, who became famous in the Dominican Republic after the woman he had come all the way from the UK called for help from the authorities, saying she couldn’t afford to support him.

The media focused on the upside of this British sanky love story gone sour. Wilfa Soto Peguero of Cotui had been dating online with him in the hope that he could help her support her two daughters. Things went the other way around, and she ended up having to maintain the tourist who told her he had come just with a one-way ticket.

In a new twist on the story, Wendy Fitzpatrick, the 66-year old mother of Bailey, said she gave him the money for the airfare. She explains her son has not been able to keep a job or relationship. She said with the trip to the Dominican Republic, he has lost his subsidized housing and that she will not be allowing him to stay with her once he returns.

The Sun reports on how the former meat factory worker became a celebrity in the Dominican Republic after Wilfa posted a video online pleading for someone to take him off her hands. A meme was even creating showing that Bailey really was a prince charming, but was just testing his loved-one-to-be.

Soto later accused him of abuse, and he was sent to a hospital in Santo Domingo for psychological evaluation. The media has reported the British Consulate is assisting Bailey. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated: “Our staff in the Dominican Republic are offering assistance to a British man and are in contact with the local authorities.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5126332/broke-sugar-daddy-british-glyn-bailey-dominican-republic/


Techy Fatule at the Coliseo Teo Cruz
Dominican emerging singer, Techy Fatule is performing this Friday, 15 December 2017 at the Coliseo Teo Cruz in Santo Domingo. Showtime is 7:30pm. Tickets are for sale online at Uepa Tickets and at Supermercados Nacional and Jumbo stores. Jumbo is promoting 50% off on ticket prices for those purchasing RD$1,000 or more at the store.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techy_Fatule
Listen to her music at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1biMTLb_gyM


Flash Night Run on 16 December
The Sportline Flash Night Run, at the distances of 5K and 10K, will take place this coming 16 December at 7pm along the Malecon of Santo Domingo. Tickets to this fun event can be purchased online at sdctickets.do


Panamerican Weightlifting Championships
The Panamerican Weightlifting Championships will take place in Santo Domingo from 12-18 May 2018. The best weightlifters from the Americas will be participating, including Yuderquis Contreras and Candida Vasquez, winner of gold in the Toronto Panamerican Games.

The event is organized by the Dominican Weightlifting Federation with the support of the International Weightlifting Federation. The event will take place at the Weightlifting Pavilion of the Parque del Este sports venue.


Christmas art exhibition at Galeria 360
Venid y Adoremos is the name of the Dominican art exhibition commemorative of the Christmas time on display throughout the Galeria 360 mall. The participating artists are Alberto Houllemont, Pedro Gallardo, Lizette Mejía, Lucio Spitaleri, Emerén Haché, Osiris Gómez, Rosa Esther Lamarche, Pedro Veras, Ariel Soto, José Morillo (Galeria Bodden). The works are inspired on the Nativity scene, the Christ child and Christmas spirit.

The event is coordinated by artist Soraya Medina, vice president of the Association of Art Galleries (AGA). A percentage of the sales will go to help the Fundación Amigos Contra el Cáncer Infantil (FACCI) that helps children with cancer. The exhibition will be at the Av. John F. Kennedy mall through 7 January 2018 in its western hall.

https://www.metrord.do/do/entretencion/2017/12/13/exposicion-venid-adoremos-galeria-360-7-enero.html
 
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