DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 3 April 2018

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May 3, 2000
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President Medina visits the north coast
How many died in Easter Week?
Low attendance in public schools after Easter
Lines for diphtheria vaccinations
DR near the top for avocado production
Children escape from juvenile detention, one shot and killed
Major fire causes smoke out of Duquesa garbage dump
More closures of tunnels and elevated sections
Father Rogelio says he will always be a priest
Another delay for La Soga
Report on deportations
Rains on the way


President Medina visits the north coast
President Danilo Medina visited Samaná and Nagua and then Puerto Plata, Maimon and Altamira, ending his Sunday, 1 April 2018, tour at the local garbage dump there.
On reaching the open air garbage dump, he called Puerto Plata Mayor Walter Musa, to hear about the potential solutions.

During his road trip, the President was accompanied only by Major General Adán Cáceres Silvestre and four members of the Presidential Guard. He also visited Sabaneta de Yásica, Sosúa and El Pueblito beach in Sosua. In Puerto Plata he was received by Minister for Tourism for the north coast, Julio Almonte.

http://almomento.net/puerto-plata-danilo-supervisa-construccion-carreteras-zona-norte/


How many died in Easter Week?
According to unofficial statistics, Diario Libre reporters estimated that at least 39 people died in the country during Easter Week, which is almost double the official figure in 2017. In the Cibao area and the Northwest, 22 people died from Thursday to Sunday in different incidents, there were 11 deaths in the east and six in the south. The most alarming local death toll was in Cotui, where three people drowned and a motorist died in a traffic accident.

Nevertheless, according to the Emergency Operations’ Center (COE) however, the figure was 30 deaths in traffic accidents and drownings, 17 of which happened on the road and public beaches and bathing spots, and the other 13 in areas where bathing had been prohibited.

According to General Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the COE, there were 741 traffic accidents involving 843 people. Of the accidents 556 involved motorcycles, 145 light vehicles and 11 heavy vehicles. There were 287 collisions on highways and main roads and 454 on urban roads.

Méndez said that 4,063,260 people travelled on the roads, with more than 73,000 cases of roadside assistance having been reported.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...os-permitidos-y-13-en-zonas-vedadas-XB9535101
http://almomento.net/estiman-39-personas-murieron-en-republica-dominicana-en-semana-santa/


Low attendance in public schools after Easter
Many private schools have planned to return to regular classes as of Tuesday, 3 April 2018, but public schools resumed on Monday. Media reports are that attendance, nevertheless, was low.

Listin Diario reported that at the Francisco Xavier Billini, public elementary school in Cayetano Germosén Street, the principal, Emilia Félix said that less than 50 students had showed up for school out of a total number of 237. She explained that she had asked parents as well as students to attend school today. To encourage students to attend, she had announced a special program to award several computers to selected students. However, even this incentive did not seem to be enough to fill the classrooms and the principal was forced to postpone the activity.

In the General Antonio Duvergé school in the Honduras sector, there were around 50% of students according to director Ana María Corporán.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...anuda-la-docencia-tras-asueto-de-semana-santa


Lines for diphtheria vaccinations
The vaccination center at the Santo Socorro Children’s hospital has been full of people and children looking for a diphtheria vaccination following the epidemiological alert issued by the Ministry of Public Health.

The alarm has increased following the death of a Haitian child in the country, who had arrived that week from Haiti. It was confirmed he died of diphtheria. In addition, in Haiti, between January and March there have been 60 probably cases of diphtheria of which 20 have been confirmed.

http://eldia.com.do/decenas-de-personas-continuan-buscando-vacunas-contra-la-difteria/


DR near the top for avocado production
According to an official from the National Confederation of Agricultural Producers (Confenagro) Dominican exports of avocados were valued at more than US$30 million last year, and increase of more than 150% since 2006 when they were scarcely US$11 million in export sales. The data was shared by Confenagro during the meeting when the National Avocado Cluster was formalized. More than 50 avocado farmers attended.

Most Dominican avocados are shipped to the United States, Spain, France, Holland, Great Britain and Italy. World production is around 4.7 million tons and the Dominican Republic has around 8% of the production or 400,000 tons, making it second in the world in avocado production behind Mexico that accounts for 31% of the total. The DR is the twelve largest avocado exporter in the world.

Economist Hecmilio Galván, executive vice president of Confenagro, said that around 3,000 to 4,000 producers have more than 300 tareas, spread out in the provinces of San Cristóbal, Elías Piña, Pedernales, Bahoruco, San Juan, Ocoa, Azua and Barahona. There are also farms in Puerto Plata (Altamira), Moca (Villa Trina), La Romana, Hato Mayor and El Seibo.

The main varieties of avocado grown in the country are Carla, el Semil 34, and Hass (a small avocado with a purple skin).

http://almomento.net/rd-es-segundo-productor-mundial-aguacates-exporta-us30-millones/


Children escape from juvenile detention, one shot and killed
The Attorney General’s office has announced that they are looking for seven adolescents who escaped from the Integrated Center for Juvenile Delinquents known as “Ciudad del Niño” that is located in Caballona, Santo Domingo West.

A press release from the public prosecution service said that a security guard shot fatally shot one of the escapees.

The boy who died was Edwin Hernández, age 17 years, who was serving a six-year sentence for robbery and would shortly have been transferred to an adult jail when he turned 18. He fell from the perimeter wall having been hit by a bullet shot by a security guard, who had shouted at the escapees to stop.

Via a press release, the Public Prosecution service has opened an investigation into the incident.
Initial reports state that those who escaped were being held for murder, aggravated robbery as well as drug related offences.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...fugarse-de-centro-integral-hay-siete-profugos
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...-de-centro-para-adolescentes-en-sdo-XF9531303


Major fire causes smoke out of Duquesa garbage dump
Smoke billowed from the burning garbage at the Duquesa dumping grounds in northern Santo Domingo on Monday, 2 April 2018, in the early morning, affecting over two million persons who live within the Greater Santo Domingo area.
The same effects of the billowing smoke were then felt again on the early morning of Tuesday, 3 April.

Santo Domingo residents awoke on both days to the smog caused by the large fire at the Duquesa landfill. The cause of the fire has not been made public. The dump is the major repository of solid wastes for the capital city of the Dominican Republic.

In September 2017, The Ministry of Environment took over the dump. The Ministry reported via Twitter that firefighters were working on extinguishing the fire. “Our equipment is in the area,” stated the Ministry. Affected residents reported that there was some relief from the smoke by noon.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...de-por-varios-kilometros-de-duquesa-LB9535591
https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...da-que-afecta-sectores-del-gran-santo-domingo


More closures of tunnels and elevated sections
The Ministry of Public Works and Communications has once again announced the closure of tunnels and elevated sections in both directions, beginning yesterday, Monday 2 April 2018.
Today, Tuesday, the elevated section of John F. Kennedy Avenue with Doctor Defilló as well as the Las Americas tunnel will be closed for cleaning and collection of garbage, from 10.30 at night to 5 in the morning.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the elevated section on 27 February Avenue will be closed as well as the elevated section on John F. Kennedy with Núñez de Cáceres in order to replace broken tiles and check the electrics.

http://eldia.com.do/obras-publicas-cerrara-tuneles-y-elevados-por-mantenimiento-4/


Father Rogelio says he will always be a priest
Controversial Father Rogelio Cruz denied on Monday, 2 April 2018, that he had been expelled from the Salesian Order of the Roman Catholic Church. He said he has not received any notification from the order. “On 7 July 1990, I was told I would be a priest for life, and thus they can expel me and place impediments but nothing can stop me from being a priest,” he told the press, as reported in El Dia.

He attributed the fake news campaign and the discredit to his name to the mining companies and groups of power and said they are responsible for anything that can happen to him. Father Rogelio Cruz has held a strong and active stance against mining operations in the Dominican Republic.

As reported, his Salesian Congregation ordered him to take a retreat in La Ceja, Colombia. Cruz has resisted taking the retreat, and has said that the move is being orchestrated by the mining companies that want to remove him from the country.

http://eldia.com.do/padre-rogelio-cruz-niega-haya-sido-expulsado-de-la-orden-salesiana/


Another delay for La Soga
The review of coercive measures for the former police Lieutenant, Fernando de los Santos, better known as 'La Soga', has been postponed to 11 May 2018. He returned to a Santiago court today which handed down three months in preventive custody in November 2017, supposedly as he was linked to the deaths of Elvis Valerio and Luis Roberto Torres in 2011. He appeared in court on 19 March, but the case was delayed as the relatives of one of the victims were not in court and several witnesses had not been summoned.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...posponen-audiencia-de-la-soga-para-11-de-mayo


Report on deportations
In 2017, the Migration Agency has detained and deported 57,687 Haitians who were in the country illegally. The report also said that some 8,912,728 people entered the country and 9,086,548 left via airports, ports and land. The report covered the period from 1 January 2017 to 1 December 2017. Among those deported are 57,687 Haitians, 30 Venezuelans, 87 Indians, 31 Cubans, 14 Chinese, 11 Brazilians and 14 Colombians, who all had an irregular migratory status.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...as-de-57-mil-haitianos-repatriados-en-el-2017


Rains on the way
The National Meteorological Office (Onamet) has announced that due to the approaching of a medium and high level weather front, over the western part of Haiti, there will be rains along with electrical storms in the north east, southeast, north and the Central Mountain range. In addition temperatures will be pleasant, especially during the night, due to the wind from the northeast. These conditions will continue for a couple of days as the weather front crosses the country.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...uada-provocara-aguaceros-en-horas-de-la-tarde