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Daily News - 5 March 2001
Delta to fly soon to DR
The director of the Ministry of Tourism Marketing Plan for North America, Lilia Moliné announced that Delta Airlines will soon start flights to the Dominican Republic from Atlanta, Georgia, as reported in El Siglo newspaper. She said that 32% of travelers visiting the DR come from the US, 50% come from Europe. The DR has travel offices in Chicago, New York, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. She said the new authorities are working to increase travel from the US 20% this year. They hope to attract 356,774 more visitors from the US. Plans are to work closely to assist travel agents in selling the DR. She estimates they will be working with a US$7 million budget this year that will be used in addition for radio, television, press, billboard and Internet advertising. She admitted that travel to the DR from the US continues to be affected by the high fares of scheduled airlines.
National Park of the Este controversy
President Hipólito Mejia, admitting that a decree cannot modify a law, corrected his error in January, as newspaper reports revealed over the weekend. Reportedly, he sent to the Senate on 23 January a law that gives legality to what he proposes in two earlier decrees. The subject of controversy is the separation of an area of the National Park of the East for hotel development. Ecologists and hotel operators in the area have protested the separation of the two beach portions (20A and 24A) for their reported future sale to an Air Europa affiliate for the construction of 1,200 hotel rooms. The construction of the hotel is protested on grounds that it would affect the fragile bird and fauna breeding areas of Bayahibe (24 hectares) and La Magdalena (415 hectares) in the province of La Altagracia and the cave of Jose Maria with its 1,200 pre-Columbus time pictographs.
The Park of the East dates back to 1975 and was reaffirmed by President Mejía government only two days after entering office with Environmental Law 64-00 of 18 August 2000. But now President Mejia favors the development of the areas on grounds that tourism development is compatible with the ecology. "You can have mountains, rivers and hotels, but we do nothing having Indian pictographs in a cave if tourists do not visit the cave," said Mejia. Mejia has been enfatic that tourism development is a priority of his administration.
The January bill incorporates the content of decrees 657-00 of 30 August 2000 and 7 November 2000, which could be contested for lack of legality. News sources say that the Ministry of Environment was not consulted prior to issuing the decrees.
The Senate announced that the bill will be studied on Wednesday. Probably at that time the opinion of the Ministry of Environment will be heard.
In addition to opposition by ecologists and hotel operators in the area, the owners of adjacent property that continues to be part of the National Park of the East oppose the bill. The owners do not oppose the development. They oppose that only a part of the jointly owned property has been benefited by the exclusion from the National Park where tourism development is banned.
Lawyer Victor Livio Cedeño, son of one of the original owners of land adjacent to lot 20A, says that this would be fraud against all the other owners of the lot 20 that was expropriated in 1975 by the Balaguer government to create the National Park of the East. The other owners are the defunct company Casino Union Higueya, Elmudesi & Co., Jose Armenteros & Co., Jorge Hazim Hnos. & Co., Rafael Maria Gatón, Francisco Roldan and Pedro Rolando Cedeño.
Is Bahia de las Aguilas appropriate for mass tourism?
The government's announcement to expropriate beach property part of the Jaragua National Park on the southwestern coast is also making headlines. This is not the first time the lands make headlines. Tourism development of the lands were halted when the Leonel Fernandez administration debated the expropriation of the lands during the last months of the Balaguer administration supposedly to be distributed to low income farmers as part of a Dominican Agrarian Institute program.
The PLD government returned the lands to the National Park on grounds that they were part of a protected area and could not be used for farming purposes. But now, President Mejia has declared that the lands will be used to develop tourism projects to bring prosperity to the impoverished region. The government has not revealed names of the favored investors.
Ecologist Eleuterio Martinez in an interview for the Listin Diario newspaper says that the land of the paradise-like Bahia de las Aguilas should be used exclusively for eco-tourism projects, that is tourists should be allowed to come for day visits only. He feels that visitors should be lodged in hotels located in less fragile areas, such as in nearby Cabo Rojo to Pedernales, or the areas of Cueva de Abajo, Cabo Rojo, to Bahia Honda. He feels the park area should be preserved free of construction. The Listin Diario report lists other case alerts affecting national parks. These include the illegal occupation of a strip of the National Park of Monte Cristi, despite a move by the Ministry of Environment to dislodge the invaders, many influential government officers. Also the present government has announced the construction of a highway communicating the provinces of San Jose de Ocoa y Monseñor Nouel that would affect another park. It donated a strip of the Mirador del Sur Park in Santo Domingo for the construction of a church and school (this was allowed in the previous government, the new government legalized the construction). And the Mejia administration has authorized the construction of sports installations for the Pan Am Games at the Mirador del Este National Park, which was opposed by former President Joaquin Balaguer under whose government the park was built. Eleuterio Martinez in the Listin Diario says that another government decision that is lethal to the environment is the elimination of the propane cooking gas subsidy. Cheap propane gas meant less trees would be cut for cooking.
He also criticizes the governmental support to the Manabao-Bejucal-Taveras dam that would affect the ecology of Jarabacoa.
President Mejia favors constitutional reform
President Hipolito Mejia said over the weekend that he favors reforming the Constitution so that a 40-45% vote is needed to win the Presidency in a first electoral round. At present, 50%+ 1 vote is needed. In the 2000 election, President Mejia himself did not make the 50%, but was so near, his closest opponent conceded defeat.
President Mejia also favors again holding presidential election and the municipal and congressional election in the same year. As of 1996, these elections are held separately.
There is extensive national opposition to this reform particularly as
it is considered untimely given the more important matters on the
congressional agenda. Opposition is also strong because it is suspect that the reform will come with an extension of the term of the present congressional representatives.
El Siglo newspaper also carries a report with the concern of Aura Celeste Fernandez, former head of the Commission for the Reform of Modernization of Justice. Fernandez alerts that as part of the constitutional reform proposed by the Congress the Supreme Court of Justice would no longer be responsible for naming the judges. The judges would be named by the Consejo Nacional de la Magistratura, the body that appointed the Supreme Court judges.
President of Venezuela to visit on Friday
Hoy newspaper reports that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will make an official visit to Santo Domingo from Friday, 9 March to Sunday, 11 March. Venezuelan ambassador in the DR, Julio Portillo said that on the list of probable projects to be announced during the visit is the construction of a fuel refinery that would refine fuel to be distributed to Caribbean islands. The idea is to take advantage of the geographic location of the DR as center of the Caribbean to reduce the cost of distributing fuel to these islands. The ambassador also announced that President Chavez and President Mejia would match each other in a ball game to be held at the Ministry of Armed Forces play on Sunday, prior to the departure of Chavez.
The visit of President Chavez is a result of the proactive international efforts personally enacted by President Mejia in his travels abroad.
President Mejia rejects there is a stagnation of the economy
President Mejia rejects there is a paralysis of the economy as denounced by the president of the Herrera Association of Industries, Antonio Espín. Espín alerted that spending and sales are down as a result of recent government measures. Mejía called Espín a "pseudo-businessman." Mejia said that he will not allow anyone to set guidelines for his administration. He said he already has a Monetary Board made up by very prepared persons.
El Caribe publishes today comments by a member of the Monetary Junta, former governor of the Central Bank Carlos Despradel who advocates that the government should seek a decline in the rate of growth as a mechanism to control aggregate demand and force a decline in consumption without affecting key productive sectors that generate foreign exchange. Despradel said that the nation's high petroleum bill, about US$1,500 million a year, has placed the DR before a great dilemma: choose to maintain the present economic development or to keep macroeconomic stability. Despradel's thesis contrasts with that of many economists who advocate the importance of maintaining economic growth in order to keep the present number of jobs and create new ones, needs not to affect a negative effect on macroeconomic stability.
Governor of Central Bank explains strategy for more dynamic economy
The Governor of the Central Bank, Frank Guerrero confirmed that as of June 2001 the Central Bank will return non-institutional investors the money they have invested in certificates of participation at the Central Bank. He said the decision will increase the money in circulation, as these investors are most likely to deposit the money in commercial banks. This should in turn result in a much sought decline in interest rates. He said the bank announced plans for the use of more modern financial instruments for institutional investors.
He said in an interview with the Listin Diario that as of 31 December 2000, the bank had RD$4,367.6 million in certificates of participation, of which 42.5% were in the hands of non-institutional investors.
More of the traditional building policy
El Caribe newspaper reports that despite campaign propaganda to do otherwise, and a governmental promise to desist from the practice of allotting public works without tenders as of this January, this practice continues in the present administration. The newspaper says that only the Oficina Coordinadora y Supervisora de Obras del Estado allotted 360 works for RD$2,000 million in the first six months of government. The allotting of public works construction without holding tenders has been criticized as costing the state more. The practice results in overvaluing of public works and construction vices.
Hernani Salazar, director of the Oficina Coordinadora y Supervisora de Obras del Estado defended the practice saying that these negatives will not occur if there is adequate supervision.
Market Ordering Code needed urgently
The Dominican Republic representative before the World Trade Organization, Federico Alberto Cuello urged Congress to pass the Codigo de Ordenamiento de Mercado, a bill that establishes free competition practices. He said that the Dominican Republic authorities should be concerned with the expected merges of American Airlines and TWA and that of Iberia and Air Europa. He explains these mergers will eliminate the little competition there is at the moment. He said that air fares will increase as a consequence of the mergers.
He said that if the bill would be approved, the nation would have a legal instrument to oppose these mergers. He pointed to the case of the European Union successfully opposing the merger of British Airways and American Airlines.
He also alerts to the catastrophic consequences an American Airlines strike would have on the DR given the dominant position of AA in the local market.
Candidates to secretary general of the PLD
The Partido de la Liberación Dominicana announced that its 300-member central committee has chosen the candidates for the post of secretary general of the party. These are Jose Tomas Perez (present secretary general), German, Norge Botello and Reynaldo Pared Perez. The 300-member central committee is scheduled to vote on Sunday, 12 March.
President of Banks favors Competitiveness Plan
The president of the Association of Banks of the DR, Jose Manuel Lopez told the Listin Diario that he favors the implementation of a National Competitiveness Plan. He said the plan has had the support of the Agency for International Development of the United States government. He said that the banks support the work of the Competitiveness Group and considered the plan an instrument that will promote a successful foreign trade policy. He said that it has been shown that the most competitive nations of the world have low inflation levels, competitive and stable exchange rates, interest rates similar to international market rates, and a climate of savings and investment is promoted.
Pan Am Committee president says they got their money
The president of the Organizing Committee of the Pan American Games, Jose Joaquin Puello announced that the committee has just received the January monthly allotment for RD$11 million. He said they expect to receive in coming days other allotments for RD$40 million to start remodeling and construction of sports installations needed for the Pan Am Games. He said the Organizing Committee is affected by the same delays that affect other government institutions.
Puello confirmed that Minister of Sports Cesar Cedeño is holding talks for the use of the Liga Mercedes baseball fields adjacent to the Quisqueya Park for the construction of installations for the games.
New fuel prices
Regular Gasoline: RD$35.02 (previously RD$34.86)
Premium Gasoline: RD$39.93 (RD$39.82)
Regular Diesel: RD$21.69 (RD$22.12)
Premium Diesel: RD$23.77 (RD$24.17)
Propane Gas: RD$17.91 (RD$18.67)
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