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Daily News - 24 March 2000
No home delivery for cedulas
The president of the Junta Central Electoral, Manuel Ramón Morel Cerda said that the press erroneously interpreted that voting and identification cards, or cedulas, would be delivered to citizens at their homes. He said that they will send mobile units to city neighborhoods where large numbers of voters live that have not picked up their cards. The idea is to make it easier for Dominicans to get their cedulas. According to Morel Cerda, 400,000 people have not retrieved their cedulas, while another 3.8 million already have theirs.
International observers come for election simulacrum
The president of the Junta Central Electoral, Manuel Ramón Morel Cerda said that representatives from the Organization of American States, the Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Electoral para América Latina (CAPEL), the International Foundation of Electoral Systems and the Carter Center will be in the DR to observe the election simulacrum scheduled for this weekend.
President Leonel Fernández has declared of "national interest" the pre-identification and verification process to take place this Saturday, 25 and Sunday, 26 March nationwide. The Junta Central Electoral, the body in charge of organizing the presidential election of 16 May 2000, is urging that all voters visit their pre-assigned voting station to verify their voting card data. There are more than 11,500 voting stations nationwide. The JCE has issued new voting cards and wants to make sure these and the voting lists of the stations are correct. Citizens that registered by 31 January 2000, but have not been able to obtain their final identification and voting card, or cedula, are especially being encouraged to visit the voting tables. The government urged all employers give their personnel the necessary time off, and announced free OMSA public bus service throughout the weekend during the hours the stations will be open.
PRD campaign final starts Sunday, 9 April
The PRD said that the final push of its electoral campaign starts Sunday, 9 April and that their campaign concludes Sunday, 14 May. According to a news item in Hoy newspaper, the PRD internal polls show their candidate leading with a 51.3% preference of voters, followed by Joaquín Balaguer (PRSC) with 24% and Danilo Medina (PLD) with 20%.
Peña Gómez's offspring campaign for opposing party
José Francisco Peña Guaba and Angela Peña, offspring of the late PRD leader José Francisco Peña Gómez visited the National Palace yesterday separately. Peña Guaba met with Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temístocles Montás, while his sister met with Secretary of the Presidency Alejandrina Germán. Peña Gómez's offspring both announced their support to the candidacy of Danilo Medina of the PLD after not finding the political space they wanted in their father's party.
Poll shows Hipólito would win second round vote
El Siglo newspaper Penn, Schoen & Berland poll shows that in a second electoral round, Hipólito Mejía of the PRD would win the election regardless of whether his contender were Joaquín Balaguer of the PRSC or Danilo Medina of the PLD. The survey shows that if Mejía were to run against Balaguer, the results would be PRD 48%, and PRSC 42%. If he were to run against Medina, the results would be PRD 53% and PLD 35%. Interestingly, in the unlikely scenario of a Balaguer vs. Medina confrontation, the vote would be 45% Balaguer and 28% Medina, according to Penn, Schoen & Berland.
The same poll showed that if the election took place today, Hipólito Mejía of the PRD would receive 44% of the vote, Joaquin Balaguer of the PRSC 24% and Danilo Medina of the PLD, 23%. The survey took place nationwide 7 to 15 March. Some 1,400 potential voters were polled.
JCE president promises fast results following election
The president of the Junta Central Electoral, Manuel Ramón Morel Cerda promised that the presidential election not only will be transparent and open, but the general public will know the results very rapidly due to the new computer systems being installed. Companies working on these systems are Price, Datocentro and Codetel. He spoke at this week's American Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Improvisation shows at new Higuero airport
Hoy newspaper's Coctelera column speculates on the thoroughness of ground studies carried out prior to the building of the Isabela Airport in El Higuero, north of Santo Domingo. The newspaper page two columnist says that one of the arguments used by the government to build the new airport was that the Herrera airport's landing strip could not be expanded. They announced the El Higuero airport would have a landing strip of 7,500 feet. The newspaper says that off-the-record sources indicate that it will only be 5,500 feet because builders have met with the obstacle of a small river that impedes the expansion. The note says that trying to reach the 7,500 feet the contractors have been using fill in from the Falconbridge ferronickel mine in Bonao.
Furthermore, the columnist says his sources tell him that even with all the work and money in the world, there is no way the airport will be finished in three months as the government has said. The columnist says it will more likely be completed in ten months.
The El Higuero airport will replace the Herrera airport, which primarily serves domestic traffic.
President shuffles his people around
President Leonel Fernández shuffled government posts yesterday. He appointed Iván Brugal Velázquez, who was deputy minister of Foreign Relations as the new president of the National Council of Superior Education. He replaces Ana Silvia Reynoso de Abud who was appointed president of the Presidential Council for Culture. There she in turn replaces, Cayo Claudio Espinal who was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Relations as a deputy minister.
Gedeón Santos was appointed deputy minister of Foreign Relations for administrative affairs, replacing Brugal Velazquez
Franklin Dominguez, who was director of Bellas Artes, was appointed advisor to the Executive Branch for Cultural Affairs. Bruno Rosario Candelier is the new director of Bellas Artes.
Harley Davidson bikes for Municipality patrol
The Municipality of Santo Domingo announced its new motorized police corps will begin work during Easter Week. The new force will be riding 10 modern Harley Davidson motorbikes that were donated to the city of Santo Domingo by the city of Taipei, Taiwan. They will work in coordination with the National Emergency Commission on occasion of preventive measures implemented for Easter Week, a peak vacation time for Dominicans. The city patrol force will be assigned to the Las Americas Highway.
Meliá Bávaro sold to Best Hotels
El Siglo newspaper cites a Bloomberg News Services report that says the Meliá Bavaro was sold to Best Hotels of Tarragona, Spain by Sol Meliá, S.A. The sales price was US$61 million, according to the item. The Meliá hotel chain still has two other properties in Punta Cana, the Tropical and the Caribe. It also has the Palma Real real estate development in the same area Punta Cana area and is also completing a 27-hole golf course to service Punta Cana area guests. Meliá operates the Meliá Juan Dolio and the Meliá Santo Domingo in the DR.
The Meliá Bávaro is a low density resort in the middle of the Punta Cana-Bavaro-Macao beach strip. It has 750 rooms and was the first hotel built by Meliá in the DR in 1991.
The Bloomberg news item explains that the chain is selling properties in areas where it has a strong presence to help finance its expansion in other areas.
New route to get to the Pico Duarte
El Caribe newspaper highlights the efforts of the National Parks Department to improve ecotourism excursions in the DR. Director of National Parks Omar Ramírez announced efforts are advanced so that his department can open a new trail up to Duarte Peak, the highest in the Caribbean. Last year, 3,500 foreign and Dominican tourists made their way up to the 3,175 meter peak. The most used routes are the Mata Grande-San José de las Matas or Jarabacoa-Manabao-La Ciénaga routes. But the National Parks Department says that a new route, through the Parque José del Carmen Ramírez will be a shorter 28-kilometer hike.
Don't buy gasoline over the weekend
Participation in a gas strike across the United States is being promoted also in the DR. The strike is a general protest against the present high prices of fuel. The promoters are asking drivers to not purchase any gasoline from Friday, 24 March to Sunday, 26 March. The purpose of the strike is to influence decision makers within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC will be meeting on 27 March to discuss higher production. The high cost of petroleum has had a negative effect on the Dominican economy. Since the differential between the cost of gasoline and the price sold (minus intermediary fees) is a major revenue-producer for the Dominican state. Its reduction has caused a series of government spending austerity measures that have had an effect even on bank lending rates that have increased.
Distance learning program for Santiago Free Zone employees
The Santiago Industrial Free Zones Association signed an agreement with CENAPEC, the long distance learning center, to help their workers get their high school degrees. CENAPEC will be providing tutors to assist the workers in their studies, and the Free Zones Park will be providing the meeting areas and offering employees on-site facilities to reduce time taken away from productive activities. The three-year program is expected to benefit 23,000 of 47,000 workers that do not have high school degrees. Miguel Puente of Cenapec and Angel Rosario of the Santiago Free Zones Association announced the program.
Sergio Vargas tours to tell the story of merengue
The remaining dates of the worthwhile seeing Sergio Vargas, "Había una vez un merengue," the story of merengue music on tour, sponsored by Baninter, are:
24 March. Parque Estadio Julián Javier. San Francisco de Macorís.
25 March. Parque Duarte. La Vega.
26 March. Parque Municipal Altagracia. Villa Altagracia.
Beauty pageant, Patricia Pereira and Fausto Rey
Shows to look forward to this weekend are:
The selection of the Dominican candidates to the Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. Friday, 24 March at 8:30 pm at the Teatro La Fiesta of the Hotel Jaragua. Participation of 21 candidates from throughout the DR.
Patricia Pereira in concert ("Plenilunio") this Friday, 24 March and Saturday, 25 at Casa de Teatro, 9 pm. Accompanying her, Tisana Azul.
Fausto Rey in concert, a replay of his successful comeback show on Saturday, 25 March. Teatro La Fiesta, Hotel Jaragua, 9 pm. Tel. 221-1435, 412-4610
Cattle, farm and industrial fair opens at Feria Ganadera
The nation's leading exhibition of cattle ranching, farming and industrial production is scheduled to open this Saturday, 25 March lasting through 2 April at the Feria Ganadera on the Malecón. The Feria Nacional Agropecuaria, Industrial, Educativa y Ecológica 2000 is a sale-exhibition of local produce. A new attraction this year is a flower producers competition.
Paul Taylor Dance Company in Santo Domingo
The Paul Taylor Dance Company (www.ptdc.org) will perform in Santo Domingo 24 and 25 March at the National Theater. The group will perform in a benefit for the Fundacion Mir in La Romana. Fundación Ritmos por la Danza brings this company to Santo Domingo. The company has toured 650 cities in 60 countries and was appointed cultural ambassador of the United States in the program Millennium Council of the White House.
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