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Daily News - 30 January 2001
Congress sent back to work
President Hipólito Mejía convened Congress back to work on Thursday, Friday 1. Top on the 11-point priority list of what is pending are the Caribbean and Central American free trade agreements. Other projects for the 26-day legislature are the general electricity bill, the social security bill, loans for social assistance programs to the sugar cane cutters communities in the East.
Traffic allowed on Luperon and Independencia avenue overpasses
The Ministry of Public Works authorized traffic at the new overpasses and ramps at Luperon and Independencia 30 de Mayo avenues. The official opening of the works has been left for mid February. It is estimated that about 40,000 vehicles will use the ramps daily.
Public market sent to Centro de los Heroes
The Municipality of Santo Domingo ordered that the market that had operated at the western end of the Mirador del Sur-Cayetano Germosen parks/Avenida Luperon be relocated provisionally to in front of the Municipality in the Centro de los Heroes government offices building complex. The move was made after requests from the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Environment. The market was affecting the park area. And the opening of the ramps and overpasses of Luperon and Independencia avenues, also made urgent the move of the market. News reports say it is likely the market will be eventually relocated to a site on the Malecón at the Feria Ganadera.
New hotel in San Francisco de Macoris
President Hipolito Mejia was present at the formal opening of the 50-room Hotel Las Caobas in the northcentral city of San Francisco de Macorís. A Rancho Steak House restaurant is on the premises. The hotel is located in the Urbanizacion Almanzar, Los Ciruelitos, San Francisco and is said to be San Francisco's first full service hotel.
Pan Am Health Organization urges earthquake drills
The representative of the Pan Am Health Organization said that organization will help prepare of an evaluation of the preparedness for natural disasters of the larger hospitals of the country, if its cooperation is needed. Socorro Gross said, in an interview for the Listin Diario, that the organization can provide technical cooperation to carry out the studies. But she said the Dominican Republic has very fine seismologic engineers that can carry out the necessary evaluations. She said that it is important that drills be held at the principal hospitals to prepare these for emergency situations caused by earthquakes, fire or hurricanes. The Dominican Seismology Institute alerted recently in a news report in the Listin Diario, that the structure of the Hospital Jose Maria Cabral y Baez, the leading hospital of the central region, would not resist a major earthquake if it is not reinforced appropriately. The local experts have equated the structure of that hospital to that of the Materno Infantil in Mexico City that collapsed during an earthquake.
Attention is again being focused on preparedness for earthquakes in view of the earthquakes in India and El Salvador. A major earthquake is said to affect the DR every 50 years. Since one has not occurred in 50 years time, experts alert to the need to take measures to prevent major disasters. The central part of the country is said to be the most vulnerable to a destructive earthquake as under it runs a major fault.
Cardinal criticizes quality of public school teachers
Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez alerted the country on the deficiencies of the educational system and urged an evaluation of the professors especially in the public system. The Cardinal alerted that if the country does not have centers that can form the men and men of the future for the nation's well being, it will have to increase the number of cells in jails. Minister of Education Milagros Ortiz Bosch said that her department recently funded the Institute for the Formation of Teachers (Instituto de Formación Magisterial), created by the Law of Education 66-97 with RD$20 million. The Institute was created to hold courses to improve teaching ability and educational levels of professors already employed.
Newspaper criticizes taking out loans to buy transport vehicles
El Caribe newspaper today criticizes the decision of the Mejia administration to increase the nation's foreign debt to purchase 7,000 vehicles for public transport. These include 600 new buses for OMSA service. The newspaper says that the decision is contradictory, especially since the Mejia administration has been critical to similar moves by the past Fernandez administration. "The government of Dr. Fernandez erred by taking on debt with suppliers, foreign government export agencies and the foreign private banking in a not responsible manner But the present government it appears is going about things in the same manner and the proportion of payment of the foreign debt in 2005 that will be attributed to engineer Mejia could be even greater," reads the editorial.
The newspaper is especially critical regarding the purchase of vehicles for taxi service. It says that while these vehicles are reportedly "credit sales", in the past two years the experience has been that even when the debt is managed by private banking the recovery of the money is very low.
The newspaper urges that the President of the Republic, the Monetary Junta and the board of the Banco de Reservas act fast to avoid this situation.
Exchange rate increases
The Central Bank announces an exchange rate of RD$16.66 for this week. But while commercial banks were buying at that rate, the spread between the purchase price and the sales price of dollars has been widening. Commercial banks were selling dollars last week for upwards of RD$17.56.
Hoy newspaper reports that the Central Bank is preparing to inject the market with dollars, in order to reduce the pace of the devaluation of the peso.
Regional Ministers of Economy and Commerce meet here
The Board of Ministers of Economy, Industry and Commerce of Central America and the Caribbean, meeting in Santo Domingo over the long weekend, committed to carry out joint efforts to increase trade and investment in the region. They also highlighted the benefits for the area of the signing of the free trade agreements between the DR and the region.
Meanwhile, speaking at the meetings, the president of the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce, Jose Manuel Armenteros urged Congress to pass the free trade agreements.
Credibility of Corruption Department questioned
The Alianza Dominicana contra la Corrupción, a civic society group, requested that President Hipolito Mejia dismantle its Department for the Prevention of Corruption as latest events detract from the credibility of its work.
Recently, the director of the Department of Investigations, Police Captain and lawyer Frener Bello Arias resigned. The resignations of Ramon Evans, in charge of audits, and Norma Parra, in charge of the audit of the Civil Aviation Board, have also raised eyebrows as to internal conflicts within the organization.
The director of the department, Jesus Felix Jimenez has not offered an explanation to the press. Bello Arias told the press Jesus Felix Jimenez was the person to speak to about the problems within the organization.
Hoy newspaper, in its page two column, says that what people are saying is that the chief investigator could not resist pressures from outside to selectively incriminate former Fernandez administration officials.
Hoy newspaper says that Bello Arias was responsible for investigations regarding the case of the Programa de Empleo Minimo Eventual (PEME) and for including Diandino Peña, Haivanjoe Ng Cortiñas and Simon Lizardo in the case.
Under study by the department are the PEME, Civil Aviation-ICAO project, Inespre, IDSS, remodeling Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia Maternity Hospital, construction of the Jacobo Majluta avenue, National Lottery, management of the Municipality of Santo Domingo, among others.
Crash of small plane reveals more than was expected
The crash into Loma del Toro in the Septentrional mountain chain of a Aerocommander 500, registration HI 535SP has revealed much more than rescuers had initially expected.
In a press conference, Civil Aviation director Anibal Amparo García explained the many irregularities they found. The CAB suspects behind the flight was an organized group that routed illegal travelers to the US by air.
First, the pilot reported to the Puerto Plata International Airport Control Tower that he was traveling to Nassau, Bahamas accompanied by one person. He falsely identified himself as Julio Mejía (Julio Mejia was/is the owner of the totaled airplane).
When rescuers made their way up the mountain, instead they found whom were later identified as Rafael Perez Liriano (pilot), and six other passengers, Geronimo Valerio Peralta, Kenny Manuel Estevez Acosta, Andres Agomas Nuñez, Rafael Ramon Velez Guzman, Rafael Perez, Moreno Belen Puro and Santiago Robles. The government department suspects the airplane was on a run to transport illegal travelers to Bahamas, from where they would fly on to Miami.
Garcia attributed the crash to a miscalculation by the pilot. "When a pilot nears a landing area he has to descend. That mountain has a height of 4,300 feet and the pilot communicated he was going to descend to 2,500. He descended below what was normal and thus the crash," said García.
The real Julio Mejía and personnel at the Herrera Airport in Santo Domingo were arrested for investigations. Mejia reportedly showed proof that he had sold the airplane to one of the persons who died in the crash.
The plane had departed at 7:28 am from the Herrera Airport.
Deutsche Telekom interested in DR
El Caribe reports that Deutsche Telekom is interested in investing in the DR. The coming of Deutsche Telekom would add to the competition that has benefited consumers in the DR. Other leading players are Codetel, Tricom, Orange (France Telecom) and Centennial (Centennial Corporation).
El Caribe reports that the German telecommunication giant has been holding conversations with Ramon Gomez Diaz, owner of Telemicro, Channel 5. Company executives have visited to prepare a feasibility study.
Cool temperatures
The Weather Department alerted that the pleasantly cool temperatures being felt in the DR (minimums of 20 degrees Celsius) will continue to be felt for the next 48 hours. The sun was shining again on Monday, after days of cloudy skies over the long weekend. The Weather Department said that the cooler temperatures were due to the effects of a cold front that passed over the island bringing rain to the North Coast and chilly temperatures throughout.
Nobel Literature Prize winner to visit
78 Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize of Literature, will visit Santo Domingo, 19-20 February. He will visit to promote sales of his new book, "La Caverna." The author will make a presentation on Monday, 19 February at the Hotel Jaragua. In his new novel, the writer denounces the injustices of a world where millions live in poverty and there is not much remaining but to rebel.
In an interview with El Caribe newspaper, he explained that he writes to tell the reader to make a pause and reflect over the situation of the world, without detracting from the technological and scientific advances.
Aguilas win baseball championship
The Escogido Lions were the favorites to win this year. But for the fifth time in six years, the Aguilas Cibaeñas were to celebrate the victory. The Aguilas defeated the Escogido in their home stadium in Santiago, 4-1 to grab the 2000-2001 penchant. The series ended with four victories for the Aguilas versus only two for the Escogido.
The Aguilas will now travel to Culiacán, Mexico for the Caribbean Series that starts Friday, 2 February.
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