DR1 Daily News - Monday, 9 April 2018

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President visits mango producers in Baní to offer support
President meets with mass transport big business to reach agreements
Central Bank governor says GDP grows more than expected
Electric vehicle charging stations on the way for DR
“I told you so”, in case of Camú River housing development
TSE annuls PRSC convention
Solar panels operate organic banana plantation irrigation system
33% of cases at Rehab Center are for traffic accidents
Committee to Protect Journalists backs Alicia Ortega
Farmer and son-in-law killed in Puerto Plata
Spanish citizen suspect of murdering 19-year old in Puerto Plata
Police rescues baby, suspected abductor identified
Farruko accused in Puerto Rico of money smuggling
Spanish citizen suspect of murdering 19-year old in Puerto Plata
Keep hydrated, even if not thirsty, says director Cedimat heart center
DR defeats Barbados to stay in Davis Cup Group I Americas


President visits mango producers in Baní to offer support
President Danilo Medina traveled to Baní on Sunday, 8 April 2018 to meet with mango exporters and offer government support. As reported by the Presidency, Medina committed to finance the construction of a packaging plant in the area and make available working capital for the export and local commercializing of the mangos.

The Presidency also committed low cost financing for the installation of a hydrothermal treatment plant to process mangos for export. The hot-water treatment process ensures killing the “fruit fly” that has diminished local capacity to increase exports.

As reported, the Presidency also committed to donate a tractor and truck to assist the smaller producers.

Medina and government officials met with representatives of the 162 producer-members of the Baní Association of Mango Producers (Abapromango). Abapromango expects to have available 535,500 boxes of 5 kilograms, of which 40% would be for export and 60% for the domestic market. Exports for 2018 are estimated at RD$70 million. If the above mentioned measures are implemented, exports could be much more.

Andrés Mejía Báez, president of Abapromango, celebrated the visit of President Medina. He said they had waited two years to get on the agenda of presidential visits. He said that there is an overproduction that can be industrialized. He said they have also made contacts with the Instituto Nacional de Bienestar Estudiantil (INABIE), the procurement agency for public school meal purchases.

President Danilo Medina declared 2018 is the Year for the Promotion of Exports and highlighted that by backing exporters the living standards of the Baní population is enhanced.

The Presidency reported around 6,300 hectares (100,000 tareas) are dedicated to mango production in the Baní area. These are distributed in 1,600 commercial plantations. The southern region is the most important mango producing region in the country. 85% of the local production comes from the southern provinces of Peravia (Baní), San Cristóbal, Azua, San Juan de la Maguana, Barahona and Bahoruco (Neyba).

There are over 200 varieties of mangos produced in the Dominican Republic, most harvested from March to August. Exports are shipped primarily to England, Germany, France, the United States and Caribbean islands. 60% of the exports are Keith variety mangos.

Mango is the third most commercialized Dominican fruit, after bananas and pineapples. The Dominican Republic is among the 20 largest mango exporters worldwide.

https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...ilejo-pequenos-productores-reciben-apoyo-para


President meets with mass transport big business to reach agreements
President Danilo Medina and the director general of the National Transit and Ground Transport Institute (Intrant), engineer Claudia Franchesca de los Santos, met for two hours on Friday, 6 April 2018 at the Presidential Palace with the kingpins of transport in the Dominican Republic. Among these, Antonio Marte and legislator Rafael Arias (Conatra), Juan Hubieres (Fenatrano), and Alfredo “Cambita” Pulinario (Mochotran). The transport czars, many times dubbed “the owners of the country”, over the years have maneuvered to secure major privileges and monopolize key transport routes for their own profit.

De los Santos said the details of the amendments to the passenger transport system were discussed. New systems and public transport corridors are being implemented this 2018. She explained that the Transit Law 63-17 establishes that ground transport is to be collectivized and buses will replace the multi-fare paying cars on these routes, she explained. Part of the plan is to offer new plans for the transporters to improve their fleets and gradually remove the single vehicle units serving mass transport that are in bad condition.

Also present at the meeting were Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo; Public Works Minister Gonzalo Castillo; deputy minister of the Presidency, Zoraima Cuello, and the director of the Metropolitan Bus Services Office (OMSA), Hector Mojica; and technicians Ihael Isa, Oneximo González and Antonio Brito.

https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias...tas-para-tratar-conversion-sistema-transporte


Central Bank governor says GDP grows more than expected
In the first two months of 2018, the GDP grew 6.7%, while accumulated inflation was 0.55%, says Hector Valdez Albizu, governor of the Central Bank. This is the result of 7% growth in January and 6.3% growth in February 2018. "These figures show a significant start to the year with great expectations for the first quarter," he said.

Valdez Albizu said the peso depreciated 2.1%, which is on target given it is the time of the year when companies stock their inventories, pay dividends and make due on letters of credit opened for imports carried out in November and December.

During a speech on occasion of the 38th anniversary of the opening of the Santiago office of the Central Bank he also announced a new financial research division was in the making.

He highlighted the importance of the northern region, the Cibao that has 14 provinces. The northern region has 54% of jobs in farming, 58% of those in mining and 44% of the jobs in export duty free zones. 37.3% of the bank branches in the country (532 branches) are located in the northern region.

https://www.bancentral.gov.do/notas...depreciacin-acumulada-al-3-de-abril-fue-de-21


Electric vehicle charging stations on the way for DR
The South Korea state-run Korea Electric Corporation (Kepco) continues to back a national effort to install electric vehicle charging stations in the Dominican Republic, a project that is valued at US$30 million. Kepco, in November 2017, signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Energy Commission (CNE). Another step forward to advance the project was taken on 2 April 2018, with the signing of an agreement to conduct electric vehicle infrastructure research and development in the country, led by a consortium of companies and universities. The consortium is led by PUCMM University, the largest Dominican private university, and ESD Engineering.

PUCMM has accepted the challenge to design an electric vehicle charging infrastructure operation system in the Dominican Republic based on international standards. Signing were Han Sang-kyu for Kepco, University rector Alfredo de la Cruz Baldera for the PUCMM and Sang Min Choi for ESD Engineering & Service.

In the PUCMM project, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is providing US$300,000 while the Kepco will share its EV charging infrastructure operation techniques to local companies and the university.

The system to be developed in the project will become the standard for the Dominican Republic. South Korean companies in the industry are expected to be able to get the upper hand in the country’s future projects for EV charging infrastructure construction.

At its widest point, the Dominican Republic is 265 kilometers, which means it is reachable with a fully charged vehicle. Kepco has said it intends to install 160 EV charging stations in three cities while collaborating with local communities in the renewable energy sector.

This is Kepco’s second EV infrastructure project in Latin America. The first was in Ecuador.

https://investigacion.pucmm.edu.do/...D=35&Web=3f3045bd-995e-46ab-bb0d-bebfcf5f5e2a


“I told you so”, in case of Camú River housing development
Reality hit government contractors that have persisted in building a housing project alongside the Camú River when rains caused flooding of the first floor last week. The contractors had been forewarned that Mother Nature would do her stuff.

The apartments are part of the Proyecto Lineal El Riito. The contractors say that a river wall will be built to contain the waters. Administrative Minister of the Presidency Jose Ramón Peralta defended the government housing project, saying in the area only 150 houses were affected and the waters only reached the first floor, or approximately 25 centimeters and did not cause damages to the infrastructure. He said the volume of the rains was extraordinary at 99 mm in one hour.

Opposition legislator, Agustin Burgos of the PRM, said the housing project violates Environment Law 64-00 that calls for 60 meters separation from water sources, he says. “Those apartments are in the river bed and last night that was proven with the unexpected flooding of the river,” he remarked.

He suggested that the housing project be converted to a river flooding research center for the Ministry of Environment.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...struir-obras-a-orillas-del-rio-camu-CI9578037
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/diputado-advierte-sobre-el-rio-camu-BI9578535


TSE annuls PRSC convention
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has annulled the conventions of two leading political parties in less than 30 days. The delegates from these parties had gathered to elect the party directors for the next four years, in preparation for the 2020 general elections.

On Friday, 6 April 2018, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) annulled the general assembly held by the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) on 17 September 2017. In that assembly, Federico Antún Batlle was reelected as president and Ramón Rogelio Genao as secretary general. In the ruling, the TSE established that the event violated the bylaws of the political party because it was organized by the same candidates.

In December of 2017, the TSE had already annulled the convention of the same party in which San Pedro de Macorís senator José Hazim had been elected president.

On 22 March 2018, the TSE had annulled the assembly of the PRD, the ruling party ally. The PRD had held a convention on 3 December 2017, in which Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas was reelected president of the party. The TSE said the convention was annulled for irregularities in the procedures that affect the principles of internal democracy and democracy.

In both cases, the holding of new conventions is called for.

http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/201...blea-del-partido-reformista.html#.WspYQ5Pwa9s
https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...do-este-ano-dos-procesos-internos-de-partidos


Solar panels operate organic banana plantation irrigation system
An organic banana producer, Inserca, located in Valverde, Mao province in the northwest, has installed solar panels to enhance their productivity. Panfri exports its production to Europe.

The company installed 2,000 solar panels. The supplier was Raas Solar. The project is the largest to run an irrigation system installed in the Dominican Republic or Central America.

The solar energy moves the irrigation system for the 2,050 tareas farm (1 tarea= 629 square meters).

The solar panels system provides power to engines of more than 200 HP coupled to vertical turbines to drive more than 4,500 gallons per minute at a distance of 2 km from the Mao River to the irrigation area.

Tony Frias of Inserca says they are paying for the system with the savings of more than 2,800 gallons of diesel per month, or around RD$514,000 a month, and RD$6 million a year.

Tony Frias of Panfri is pleased with the results so far. Carlos Grullón Mejía of Raas Solar says this sets a precedent for the farming sector.

http://www.ecored.org.do/raas-solar...nde-en-republica-dominicana-y-centro-america/


33% of cases at Rehab Center are for traffic accidents
With 54 years in service and 1,292 employees, the Asociación Dominicana de Rehabilitación (ADR) that began offering therapy for polio today mostly serves victims of traffic accidents and gang fights. The Dominican Rehabilitation Center (ADR) in 2017 cared for 1.2 million patients. Of these 200,000 had suffered injuries in traffic accidents, said first vice president of the ADR, Celso Marranzini in a visit he made to Diario Libre accompanied by his mother, ADR founder and president Mary Perez de Marranzini. Also present during the visit was executive vice president Arturo Perez Gaviño.

Marranzini during the visit to Diario Libre lobbied for an increase in the allotment received from the government. The ADR has 33 branches located nationwide and a prosthesis workshop serving all branches. Physiatry and rehabilitation services, education for children with special needs are offered at the branches.

“To some extent I think the government has measured the impact of the support of the organization. They know that without the ADR they would have a huge problem,” he said. Nevertheless, he revealed that the ADR receives the same RD$67 million allotment since 2007. Today the annual budget of the country’s largest rehabilitation center is around RD$1 billion. The ADR makes ends meet with fund-raising activities and donations.

https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion...son-por-accidentes-automovilisticos-NJ9579395


Committee to Protect Journalists backs Alicia Ortega
The threats to the life of investigative journalist Alicia Ortega continue to receive national and international attention. The journalist has been covering the murder case related to drug trafficking.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on authorities in the Dominican Republic to investigate threats made against Alicia Ortega, an investigative reporter with the national news channel Noticias SIN, and to take all necessary measures to ensure the journalist's safety.

During the April 2 edition of Ortega's weekly show "El Informe," the journalist said that her news station was informed that inmates in La Victoria prison had made threats against her. The threats were in response to a segment aired on Ortega's show the previous week about Matías Avelino Castro, who is detained in La Victoria while he stands trial for allegedly ordering the murder of journalist José Agustín Silvestre, according to news reports.

National Attorney General Jean Rodríguez wrote on Twitter yesterday that his office was opening an investigation into the threats and would offer Ortega protective measures.

"We are encouraged by the Dominican authorities' response to the threats against Alicia Ortega and call on them to act swiftly to ensure the journalist's safety and to identify and hold accountable those responsible for the threats," said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna. "We applaud the Dominican Republic's steps in bringing the alleged mastermind in José Silvestre's murder to trial, but authorities must demonstrate that all threats to journalists will be taken seriously."

Silvestre, a magazine director and television host, was shot dead in August 2011, according to CPJ research. Police in 2011 identified Avelino Castro, a hotel owner and alleged drug trafficker, as the alleged mastermind and had him extradited from Colombia in January 2017 to face charges in the case, according to reports.
https://cpj.org/2018/04/dominican-journalist-threatened-over-reports-on-mu.php


Farmer and son-in-law killed in Puerto Plata
Direct deposits may be the only way to go, even when paying for farm operations. A recent assault of a farmer, who is a former director of the Customs Agency in Puerto Plata, who had taken out the cash to pay his workers, makes this more apparent.

The robbery occurred in Altamira, where the thieves killed the man and his son-in-law who accompanied him. The deceased are 78-year old Pablo de Jesús Bisonó Cabrera and his son-in-law 35-year old Eliseo Darío Martínez Aquino who when passing through La Sierra were intercepted by several armed individuals who later fled.

Bisonó was director of Customs during the President Antonio Guzman government (1978-82) and had been professor at the PUCMM university in Santiago. He resided in Santiago.

The bodies were taken to Inacif in Santiago for the autopsy and the Police is investigating the double crime.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...aduanas-y-a-su-yerno-en-altamira-puerto-plata
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...duanas-y-a-su-yerno-en-puerto-plata-XD9577743


Spanish citizen suspect of murdering 19-year old in Puerto Plata
A Spanish citizen, David Toribio Vives, is suspect of having murdered his girlfriend, 19-year old Margot Lagares (Nico) who had been reported missing since Easter Tuesday, 27 March 2018. Reportedly Toribio was the father of her four-month old baby.

Ten days later, Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Dicrim) agents found the corpse in the cistern of the residence of Toribio in Perla Marina, a residential area between Sosúa and Cabarete, Puerto Plata. Assisting in the investigation were agents of the Air Force and Puerto Plata prosecutors.

Toribio had been arrested for questioning after the woman went missing, but was released by a Puerto Plata prosecutor hours later.

After the finding of the corpse, he is again sought by the Police. The corpse shows signs of violence, according to preliminary reports.

The mother of the deceased woman said that on Tuesday, she had accompanied her daughter to the entrance of the Perla Marina residential at 2am.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...terna-persiguen-a-su-pareja-de-origen-espanol
http://eldia.com.do/policia-persigue-espanol-que-presuntamente-mato-pareja/


Police rescues baby, suspected abductor identified
The National Police reported finding a baby in La Ureña, in eastern Santo Domingo, they have identified as the child abducted from a 16-year old.

The National Police had reportedly located one of two women suspected of stealing the three-day old baby from the 16-year old mother of the child.

The mother, Joanna Ramírez Montero, said she had agreed to meet suspect, 40-year old Evelyn Moronta Inoa at a park in Los Mina in Santo Domingo Este because the woman had promised to bring her gifts of diapers and milk. But instead, Ramírez says she was knocked out by a chemical substance and when she came back to her senses her baby was gone.

The Police has been asking for help in locating Moronta through the Police Tu Policia App or by phone to 849-882-7783.

The People Smuggling Department of the National Police and Santo Domingo province prosecutor, Olga Diná Llaverías are carrying out the investigations.

The authorities of the Los Mina Maternity Hospital confirmed to journalists from Diario Libre the birth of the healthy 7.5 lb child on 3 April 2018.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...-habrian-robado-a-una-recien-nacida-FD9577896
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/04/09/policia-recupera-a-la-bebe-que-le-fue-robada-a-su-madre/


Farruko accused in Puerto Rico of money smuggling
After performances in the Dominican Republic, 27-year old Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Carlos Efren Reyes Rosado (Farruko) returned to Puerto Rico and was arrested for violating the US$10,000 limit in undeclared cash. He was arrested in a joint investigation conducted by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) units.

Upon arriving to Puerto Rico, he turned in a customs declaration form indicating he was not carrying more than US$10,000. He was detained at Isla Grande airport in San Juan after arriving from the Dominican Republic on board a helicopter.

A subsequent search of his bags revealed he was carrying around US$51,802 in US currency in his luggage and in the soles of his shoes in his bags. He was arrested on the same day. He was released on a US$100,000 bond.

If convicted, the defendant faces a fine of no more than $250,000; five years in prison, or both; and forfeiture of the property involved in the offense. Reportedly, he could be subject to an ankle monitor and could be given permission to continue traveling. His upcoming international tour starts 19 April in Mexico City and ends in Los Angeles, USA on 30 June 2018.

According to the CBP website, you may bring into or take out of the country, including by mail, as much money as you wish. However, if you are transporting more than US$10,000, you will need to report it to CBP by completing the Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments (FinCEN Form 105).

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-reggaeton-singer-bulk-cash-smuggling


Keep hydrated, even if not thirsty, says director Cedimat heart center
The chief cardiologist at the Cedimat Heart Center recommends all in the Dominican Republic to avoid long sun exposure, exercising from noon to early afternoon, and to drink lots of liquids now that the summer heat seems to have been early in coming.

In an interview with Hoy, heart specialist César Herrera, alerted people to continue hydrating themselves, even when they are not thirsty or sweating. He said the heat causes blood pressure to rise. He said diabetics have to take special care at this time of the year. He said the heat accelerates the body’s metabolism, the body burns more energy, eliminates electrolytes faster, namely sodium, potassium and magnesium.

Herrera heads the team at the Cardiovascular del Centro de Diagnóstico, Medicina Avanzada y Telemedicina (CEDIMAT) in Santo Domingo, the country’s main heart facility.

http://hoy.com.do/cardiologo-pide-a-poblacion-hidratarse-y-evitar-el-sol/


DR defeats Barbados to stay in Davis Cup Group I Americas
The Dominican national tennis team defeated Barbados 4-0 at the Parque del Este tennis courts in eastern Santo Domingo on 6 and 7 April 2018 during the Americas I first round playoffs of the BNP Paribas Davis Cup.

The members of the Dominican Davis Cup team were Victor Estrella Burgos (ranked 160th), Roberto Cid Suberví (ranked 329th), José Olivares (ranked 909th), and Nick Hardt, captain Rafael Moreno. They matched the Barbados team made up by Haydn Lewis, Xavier Lawrence, Kaipo Marshal and Damien Applewhaite (team captain).

The win means the Dominican team continues in Group I of the Americas Zone through 2019.

https://www.listindiario.com/el-dep...ida-4-0-a-barbados-en-eliminatoria-copa-davis
http://live.daviscup.com/en/tie-detail.php/M-DC-2018-G1-AM-REL-BAR-DOM-01