DR1 Daily News - Wednesday, 24 January 2018

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May 3, 2000
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President Medina is in Switzerland
GoldQuest mine would turn San Juan from farm district to mining district
City mayor gives Honda concessionaire 30 days to restore sidewalk
Japan donates equipment for Civil Defense
More soldiers sent to the Haitian border
The Museum of Natural History exhibits elephant tusks
Over 100,000 articles confiscated from airline passengers
Punta Cana bus company rejects competition
Guiliani Security consults with Abinader on femicides
What the heck? A Dominican tanker in North Korean waters!
Omsa director appeal delayed indefinitely
Dominican singer dies in traffic accident
Police hunt for killers
18 months pre-trial custody for military accused of drug smuggling
Estheticians get three months pre-trial custody
Aguilas take the lead in Dominican Baseball Championship
Funglode Film Festival opens 24 January 2018



President Medina is in Switzerland
President Danilo Medina arrived to Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday, 23 January 2018 to participate in the 48th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (23 to 26 January 2018). The theme is “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.” Medina is one of six Latin American heads of states invited to the meeting that promotes global collaboration.

President Medina is accompanied by the Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo; Administrative Minister of the Presidency, José Ramón Peralta and Hacienda Minister Donald Guerrero, and government spokesman, Roberto Rodríguez Marchena. Also part of the Dominican delegation is the president of the National Business Council (Conep), Pedro Brache.

https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...a-48-reunion-foro-economico-mundial-EJ9029897


GoldQuest mine would turn San Juan from farm district to mining district
The controversial decision of the Ministry of Energy & Mines to authorize the request for mining exploitation by Gold Quest in San Juan de la Maguana in the Cordillera Central mountain range is receiving support and criticism.

The Romero Project would be carried out in Hondo Valle, San Juan de la Maguana. The San Juan de la Maguana province is known as “the granary of the south” for its intense farm production. Ecologist Luis Carvajal, of the Academy of Sciences, says the concession is just a first of a series of others that have been requested for mining operations from Padre las Casas in Azua to the border with Haiti in the south, to Restauración, Elías Piña and all the way to the Monción Dam in the north. He said this would be “opening doors to disaster.”

Carvajal said this would be turning the San Juan farm valley into a mining district. He said the discussions need to focus on the land use for the area. He said his position is that the central mountain range area needs to be preserved for its primary role for the strategic security of the country that is to protect the supply of water. He highlighted the mine would be built next to the San Juan and La Guama rivers and above the Sabaneta Dam, major sources for farming irrigation and drinking water.

Carvajal says that the operation of the mine is not yet a given. He says all there is so far is the announcement on behalf of the Ministry of Energy & Mines to try to convince the population on the pluses and promises of a project that has not been discussed through the required channels.

Geologist Osiris de León defended the project on grounds that exploitation will be underground with no risk to the environment. He said it is a very different project than the open mining pits that have caused ecological devastation in Cotuí, Bonao and Cabo Rojo, Pedernales. De León explained that while the Ministry of Energy & Mines has given its green light, the Ministry of Environment has yet to grant the environmental license. The Ministry of Environment stated it has not yet received the required documentation for the environmental license. Likewise, the Presidency needs to authorize the exploitation.

On Monday, 22 January 2018, Minister of Energy & Mines Antonio Isa Conde defended the exploitation of the mine saying it would generate 40% of earnings in revenues for the state and another 5% for the San Juan de la Maguana area. The mine is estimated to have a seven-year life span and generate benefits for the Dominican state of US$561 million of which US$224 million would remain in the country. He said some 800 jobs would be created during the two-year construction period, and another 200 jobs during the operation of the mine. Isa Conde says GoldQuest has committed to not contaminate the waters of the San Juan and La Guama rivers or subterranean waters in the area.

http://eldia.com.do/concesion-goldquest-convierte-a-san-juan-en-provincia-minera/
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...-mina-oro-san-juan-concita-apoyo-rechazo.html
https://www.diariolibre.com/medioambiente/articulo-MF9034284


City mayor gives Honda concessionaire 30 days to restore sidewalk
National District Mayor David Collado walked the stretch between Gracita Alvarez and Luis Lembert streets on Av. John Kennedy taken over many years ago by the Honda concessionaire in the Dominican Republic, Agencia Bella when the later expanded its location and installed the Bellapart Art Museum. Collado was accompanied by city government executives including director of Planning, architect Amin Abel.

Collado told the media that the city government is giving the company 30 days to reach a friendly definite solution. Collado visited the site to supervise the pedestrian crossing placed to protect pedestrians until the perimeter wall is taken down to restore the sidewalk space.

The irregular construction had been protested for years under former Mayor Roberto Salcedo with no results. Mayor Collado began his term in August 2016. The mayor said that the city government is working so that pedestrians no longer need to risk their lives by walking in the highly transited John F. Kennedy roadway due to the lack of adequate sidewalk space.

Collado said: "The law empowers us to intervene in spaces when the lives of passers-by are in danger, as in this case. And it is better to intervene now and not when there is a student or a mother run over by one of the many vehicles that pass through this avenue.”

Collado said the city government is also working on recovering other public spaces to allow pedestrians to move freely. He mentioned actions taken on sections of Av. Jiménez Moya and Av. Winston Churchill.

http://hoy.com.do/david-collado-oto...resa-para-readecuar-su-verja-que-ocupa-acera/


Japan donates equipment to Civil Defense agency
The government of Japan donated to the Dominican Civil Defense six motorcycles, two Hino trucks and four Nissan Urvan pickups, three of which are equipped with special vehicle extraction equipment. The equipment is to be used to strengthen the risk mitigation and rescue efforts of the Civil Defense.

Japan also donated 64 multi-functional tents, four scuba diving equipment and six trauma stretchers for rescue operations. Japanese experts came to provide training for the best use of the equipment. The estimated cost of the donation is US$2.5 million.

The donation was delivered on Tuesday, 23 January 2018 by Japan Ambassador in the Dominican Republic Hiroyuki Makiuchi and received by the director of the Civil Defense, Army General Rafael Antonio Carrasco Paulino.

http://www.do.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_es/NP2015DC.html


More soldiers sent to the Haitian border
Defense Minister Rubén Darío Paulino Sem has announced that hundreds more soldiers will be sent to the Haitian border to prevent the illegal entry of Haitians to the Dominican Republic.

He said that 291 soldiers would be sent to Dajabón, 150 to Elías Piña, 100 to Jimaní and another 100 to Pedernales. He went on to say that already the extra men have delivered results with a tripling in the numbers of Haitians returned to Haiti for attempting an illegal entry. The Defense Minister said in addition the Migration Agency had deported more than 5,000 Haitians from different provinces who were in the country illegally.

He was speaking following the statement by the director of the Department of National Investigations (DNI), Admiral Sigfrido Pared Pérez, who called for Dominican politicians to consider the border as essential to national security. Pared Pérez warned that the border needed more resources for migratory controls.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...-641-soldados-a-la-frontera-a-frenar-ilegales


The Museum of Natural History exhibits elephant tusks
After four ivory tusks were confiscated for their illegal entry to the Dominican Republic, they are now on exhibition at the Museum of Natural History Professor Eugenio de Jesús Marcano (MNHN). The tusks measure two 70 and 80 inches, and another two 80 and 98 inches. The Customs Agency (DGA) donated these to the museum that is located in Plaza de la Cultura, Santo Domingo.

The tusks were being smuggled in through the Cibao International Airport in Santiago in 2013 without the corresponding Ministry of Environment permits. The tusks were confiscated on grounds that the Dominican Republic is a signatory nation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

https://elnuevodiario.com.do/207417-2/


Over 100,000 articles confiscated from airline passengers
The director of the Specialized Corps of Airport Security and Civil Aviation (CESAC), Brigadier General Aracenis Castillo de Cruz, says that more than 100,000 articles have been confiscated from passengers during 2017 prior to these boarding their flights. He said that the confiscations happened during inspections of 15 million items of luggage and the checking in of 6,929,598 passengers. He said that CESAC had also been involved with other organizations in at least 80 cases of confiscation of drugs.

http://hoy.com.do/cesac-mas-de-cien...ecomisados-durante-inspecciones-de-equipajes/


Punta Cana bus company rejects competition
In the afternoon of Tuesday, 24 January 2018, officers of the APTPRA bus company that has had a monopoly on regular passenger bus service to the Punta Cana area announced after a meeting with National Transport Institute (Intrant) officers that it would hold on its work stoppage to give time to talks with Intrant. A recent resolution by the National Transport Institute (Intrant) authorized the Metro bus company to regularly transport passengers to Cap Cana and has created a transport conflict in the eastern part of the country. The Association of Bus Owners for Public Transport in the Province of La Altagracia (APTPRA) has warned that only the reversal of the Metro route authorization would stop the strike.

The APTPRA bus company had announced a full work stoppage for Wednesday, 24 January 2018 to protest the authorization. The company up to now has maintained a monopoly on commuter bus transport between Santo Domingo and Punta Cana.

APTPRA spokesman, Manolo Ramírez had said the work stoppage would be indefinite until the Intrant reversed the route authorization. The Intrant authorized Metro to provide regular passenger bus service from Cap Cana, in southern Punta Cana, to the National District four times a day. Up to this year, Metro had only been able to transport light cargo (packages) to the Punta Cana area.

Manolo Ramírez, head of the Association of Tourist Transport company, warns that they are ready to maintain the strike, threatening to even affect the Punta Cana International Airport. He had threatened some 3,000 transport vehicles would be removed from service from 6am on Wednesday, 24 January, affecting ground transport in the whole eastern region.

Already, on Monday, 22 January 2018, the APTPRA transport workers in the area blocked the Coral Highway and broke windows in Metro buses that had begun to serve the route following the Intrant permission.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...ste-dejan-sin-efecto-llamado-a-paro-MA9031538
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...porte-en-region-este-crea-conflicto-GI9028778


Guiliani Security consults with Abinader on femicides
Former presidential candidate for the leading opposition political party, the PRM, Luis Abinader announced hiring the counsel of Guiliani Partners for recommendations on solutions for the rising number of femicides in the Dominican Republic. This extends the consulting on citizen safety that Guiliani Partners has offered to Abinader, a 2020 PRM presidential candidate hopeful.

The announcement was made in a press conference with the participation of Guiliani Partners Global Security Services officers John Huvane and George Boyle. The specialists called for a proactive rather than reactive approach by government. Upon making the presentation, Abinader highlighted that femicides are epidemic in the country.

http://www.giulianisecurity.com/about/
http://hoy.com.do/giuliani-partners-asesorara-a-luis-abinader-en-aportar-soluciones-a-feminicidios/


What the heck? A Dominican tanker in North Korean waters!
According to the Japanese government, a Japanese patrol plane spotted contact between North Korean and Dominican Republic tankers in the East China Sea, raising suspicion of a possible transfer of cargo in violation of UN sanctions on the North. The aircraft took photos of the scene near Shanghai on Saturday as it was patrolling for illicit transfer of refined oil at sea by North Korea.

The information was passed on to the US government, Japan’s key ally in global efforts to impose tough economic sanctions on North Korea. Last September, the United Nations’ Security Council passed a resolution prohibited the ships of UN member states from engaging in the transfer of any goods or items to North Korean-flagged vessels at sea.

At the request of the United States, Japanese vessels and patrol aircraft have engaged in patrolling the sea near Japan to look for possible cases of oil smuggling from late 2017.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...ominican-tankers-making-contact-off-shanghai/


Omsa director appeal delayed indefinitely
The appeal by the former director of the public transport bus company Omsa, Manuel Rivas, who is in jail accused of corruption and ties to the assassination of UASD law professor Yuniol Ramírez has been suspended with no definitive date for the next hearing. The appeal was to be heard in Santo Domingo but was delayed as the Supreme Court of Justice has first to rule on the recusal asked for by the plaintiffs.

Ramón Ramírez, brother of murdered Yuniol Ramírez, has stated that some of the judges have strong ruling party political ties that could mean they would allow Rivas to be released. The family has asked the Supreme Court to move the case to the National District. It is being heard in northern Santo Domingo court after the body was found in northern Santo Domingo. But crime investigations determined Ramirez was killed in the National District and it was not until afterwards that the corpse was taken and dumped in the river where it was found.

Lawyer Carlos Salcedo, who is defending Rivas, has suggested that the family of Ramirez is using delaying tactics, for unknown reasons.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...-exdirector-de-la-omsa-manuel-rivas-BB9030553


Dominican singer dies in traffic accident
Dominican singer, Kelman Ventura died on Monday, 22 January, as confirmed by his manager on social media. He had begun his artistic career after winning the 9 x 9 Roberto (today Mas Roberto) reality show “Buscando el exito.”

Arianna Abate said: “With an indescribable sadness I have to confirm that our Kelman has left us. Please respect our pain at this moment, I will give you all of the information you require later. Now, there is just a river of tears”.

Ventura, became well known having won first place in the “Buscando el exito” singing concert and died following a traffic accident on the Coral Highway near the Colon sugar factory in San Pedro de Macorís, going towards Boca Chica.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...an-ventura-en-accidente-de-transito-DJ9029104


Police hunt for killers
The Central Office of Criminal Investigations (Dicrim) of the National Police are looking for a supposed band of assassins who carry out assaults on city streets and are accused of killing two police and army officers to take their fire arms. The members of the supposed band are 25 year old Argenis Cruz Orozco, Reynaldo Ambiorix Valdez Luciano (Enriquez) aged 21, Manury Antonio Andujar Valenzuela, 25, and Eddy Nathanael Alcántara Acevedo aged 29.

They are thought to be responsible for the deaths of Army First Lieutenant Domingo Delgado, aged 66 near kilometer 17 of the Duarte Highway and retired second Lieutenant from the National Police, Papio Rodríguez Camarena in Los Alcarrizos. The National Police urges the public to contact them at 809-682-2151 extensions 2456, 2442, 2437, 2439, and 2170 for leads on finding the men.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...-busca-presunta-peligrosa-banda-de-asaltantes


18 months pre-trial custody for military accused of drug smuggling
La Romana court judge Vicky Chalas ruled 18 months in preventive custody against former military suspected of being accomplices in a recent drug transfer operation at the La Romana International Airport. They are accused of violating the money laundering law, the drug law and airport security law.

It has been reported that the shipment of 500 kilos in cocaine was flown here on 23 October 2018 on board the HK4909G of Colombian registry for transshipment abroad. The arrest orders were issued against former colonels Domingo Cruz Figuereo Heredia of the Air Force, and Robert Antonio Ramírez Pimentel of the Army; former Police lieutenant Andrés Lorenzo Castillo Padilla and former military recruit Emmanuel Cruz Espinal. They are being sent to the New Model Jail in La Romana.

http://hoy.com.do/a-prision-por-18-...nte-vinculados-a-alijo-de-droga-en-la-romana/


Estheticians get three months pre-trial custody
A Santo Domingo court ordered three months preventive custody to sisters Pamela and Serena Stefani, accused of rendering services that seriously affected the health of 24 women. The women sued the physicians for mal practice, especially in the cases of performing hidrolipoclasia procedures. The medical specialists were sent to Najayo Women’s Jail. El Caribe reports that the women were nutritionists by profession and had not carried out the required plastic surgery specialization studies to carry out the esthetics procedures that caused the problems to their clients.

The Stefani Esthetic clinic located in Paraiso neighborhood was closed last year by the Ministry of Public Health after irregularities were detected by the Ministry.

The investigation so far has determined that the doctors used misleading promotions attracting customers with promises of short aesthetic processes that were non-invasive, without surgical procedures, or traumas that did not correspond to the procedures that actually were carried out with the problematic outcomes.

The interventions were carried out in the Center for Regenerative and Orthomolecular Medicine Dr. Stefani, as well as at the Stefani Stetic Center S.A. Medical Group, both located in the Ensanche Paraíso sector.

The 24 women grouped together to hire different lawyers to sue the sisters Pamela Stefani and Serena Stefani, who presented themselves as doctors in medicine with specialties in cosmetic surgery.

The victims stated that the processes performed by the accused did not correspond to what they had been offered, and that they caused serious injuries to those affected.

In the investigations of the Public Prosecutor's Office, it was found that the Center for Regenerative and Orthomolecular Medicine, Dr. Stefani, had not been duly authorized by the Ministry of Public Health.

http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/01/...-acusadas-de-mala-practica-contra-20-mujeres/
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/01/20/doctoras-estafaron-damas-estan-presas/
https://www.metrord.do/do/destacado...s-coercion-doctoras-mala-practica-medica.html
http://elcaribe.com.do/2018/01/24/dictan-tres-meses-de-coercion-doctoras/


Aguilas take the lead in Dominican Baseball Championship
The Aguilas Cibaeñas shocked the Tigres del Licey fans who filled the Quisqueya Ball Park (capacity 11,000 fans) on Tuesday, 24 January 2018 with a 8-1 victory in the start of the playoffs of the Dominican Baseball Championship. This was game one of a 7-4 series that continues today at the Cibao Ball Park, the home club of the Aguilas that has capacity for 18,000 fans.

https://www.diariolibre.com/deportes/beisbol/articulo-FE9035205
http://www.lidom.com/home/aguilas-toman-delantera-en-la-serie-final/
http://estadisticas.lidom.com/Estadisticas/Inicio
http://www.lidom.com/home/calendario/
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/48-Dominican-Baseball


Funglode Film Festival opens 24 January 2018
The annual Funglode Film Festival opens on 24 January 2018 with events and films scheduled to be presented at the National Theater, Palacio del Cine Blue Mall, the in the Colonial City and the Real InterContinental Hotel on Av. Winston Churchill. A competition with participating films will run through 1 February, but afterwards the most popular films will continue to be shown until 9 February.

The festival is directed by Omar de la Cruz and is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in the category of Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festivals.

More than 60 films and 25 educational events (panels, master classes and workshops) are programmed. Also part of the 18th FCGD is the 4th Dominicana Film Lab and the 4th Co-Production Market Puerto Rico-Cuba-Dominican Republic. Parallel to the films showing, the 3rd Gastronomy Film Showing and the 6th Fashion Movies Showing will be held.

http://2018.festivaldecineglobal.org/