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Daily News - 23 March 2001
Highway and road signs program under way
The Ministry of Public Works says it is implementing a program to put up signs on highways and main roads in the Dominican Republic. As of today, signs have been scarce and far apart. Travelers have had to ask and ask strangers to avoid getting lost on the way.
The Direccion General de Transito Terrestre is in charge of the program, as reported in El Siglo.
The Ministry at the same time is replacing cat eyes that have been removed. Cat eyes are the road reflectors which help drivers see the road at night or in heavy rainstorms.
The difficult task of charging for what was free for years
The Superintendency of Electricity is working closely with private power distributors to push ahead with the plan to get people living in low income barrios to pay for power. For the first time, residents in low income barrios are being billed for power. In the past, the service, though undependable, was subsidized by the government.
Now the private companies need the income but their first efforts to install meters and get paid have met with firm resistance. This is fueled in part because by tales of increasing charges levied on those who pay for power service in the DR. The people living in the barrios fear they will have to pay higher and higher bills.
Today there is a power surplus in the DR. This has resulted in the distribution companies breaking up the power circuits, isolating large areas where the majority of dwellers do not pay for the power service.
Unlike in the past, neighborhoods and city areas where people pay their bills are enduring very few blackouts. Areas where people do not pay, in turn, are suffering long blackouts. In the past, the lower income barrios received the least blackouts as the government kept the lights on for safety reasons.
Things are changing. After first efforts of the distributors have failed, the Superintendency has become their ally. That department is working with the barrio leaders to convince people that if they pay, blackouts will diminish. And quality of service will improve. The companies promise to replace the makeshift clandestine installations that have resulted in too many deaths. Jose Ovalles, Superintendent of Electricity, said that he has negotiated a RD$260 fixed charge (for a time period) in one large Santo Domingo neighborhood, La Zurza. There are some challenges in the area, though. For example how to install light posts in an area that is flooded everytime the Ozama River overflows. Ovalles explains that some of the people that have refused to pay for power service use water pumps to jet water up to upper apartment building floors from ground floors, have refrigerators, television sets, fans, and even some air-conditioners.
Meters to measure water consumption
The Santo Domingo Water Corporation (CAASD) says that the first 35,000 water meters out of a total of 300,000 are being installed in areas of high consumption. Julio Suero Marranzini, director of CAASD, said that consumers will now pay for the amount of water they consume. The meters and billing contract per consumption has been awarded to Triple A, a new company. The meters are being installed to motivate people not to waste water. He said that only 27% of residents in Santo Domingo pay for the service.
Supreme Court justices terms debated
The Listin Diario published a front page story with the comments of a group of leading Dominican jurists on the issue of a constitutional reform regarding the permanent status of Dominican justices. Ramon Tapia Espinal, Mario Read Vittini, Fernando Hernandez Diaz, Jottin Cury, Manuel Berges, Ricardo Ravelo, Alejandro Debes, Marino Vinicio Castillo, Juan M. Castillo Pantaleon, Leonardo Conde Rodriguez, Antonio Emilio Ornes, Leila Roldan and David La Hoz said that there are flaws in the way the judicial system was reformed in 1996 and recommend that pondered and thoughtful modifications be carried out.
They say it is an oversimplification to say that the appointment of the Supreme Court Justices for indefinite periods guarantees the independence, efficiency and impartiality of the judicial system. The jurists point out that in practice the decisions of low tier judges are affected by their obligation to the Supreme Court Judges their jobs. They point out that a justice of the peace, first instance or appeal court judge fear receiving an arbitrary sanction for contradicting the criteria of a Supreme Court judge. This is especially regarding important cases that may have been handled by the Supreme Court judges prior to their appointment as such.
They remind citizens that the Supreme Court judges were appointed as the result of political negotiations. Hatuey de Camps, president of the ruling PRD party, confirmed he participated in the negotiations. They say that the problem of political interference in the appointment of judges can only be avoided if there are changes in who makes up the National Council of the Magistracy and mechanisms are implemented so that an objective evaluation is carried out to select the candidates.
The jurists criticized the president of the Supreme Court of Justice who said that he would not heed any constitutional reform that would set a limit to the justices time on the job.
Teachers' union scam valued at of more than RD$15 million
Police investigations reveal that the accounting department scam discovered at the ADP public school teachers' union was more likely to be worth more than RD$15 million, not RD$3 million as originally disclosed. The scam makes apparent the lack of accounting controls in that organization.
The scam was discovered when by chance on 9 March a call from the bank confirming an RD$203,800 check was taken by Fernando Antonio Rodriguez, vice president of the union. When he asked the president of the ADP Olimpia Gonzalez about the check, she did not recall having signed one for that amount. Later it was established that the check had originally been signed for RD$3,800 to pay for the rent of tents for an ADP protest activity. Accounting department personnel added the extra "two hundred" after the check was signed.
The Police said the scheme had been successful since 1997. Suspects are Carmen Gregoria Gutierrez Sosa, secretary in the Finances Department, Ivelisse Francisca Saldaña Pontier, an accounting assistant and department messenger Virgilio Mejia Florencio who have been arrested. The scope of the fraud is being determined by the amount of purchases made by the accounting personnel. Among the purchases is a three-floor building, two residences, two pick ups and a car, home furnishings, credit card purchases including travel expenditures made by the suspects.
Lull in US sales cost many their jobs in DR
The president of the Dominican Association of Free Zones, Jose Clase confirmed nearly 10,000 jobs have been lost in the free zone industries since orders began to decline due to the overnight slowdown in the US economy. 98% of Dominican free zone orders come from US companies.
"If US sales are down, automatically our orders will be down," he explained.
Indeed the popping of the stock market bubble made investors feel poorer, and consumers more cautious in their spending.
Clase is optimistic economic measures being implemented will be successful. In the US, the Federal Reserve has been dropping interest rates to stimulate output and restore confidence.
Red flags point to high government spending
The former director of the National Planning Office, Rafael Camilo said that the government has to revise its income forecast and implement new austerity measures in its spending so that it can have a surplus to make investments while not affecting the macroeconomic stability. He said that during the first two months of the year government budgetary estimates have not been met, with February revenues coming up short by RD$500 million. But, government spending has been increasing, including payroll expenditures. He warned of a forthcoming major fiscal deficit if government discipline is not exercised, as reported in El Caribe newspaper.
He says the increasing government current expense levels are leaving little left over for investments and for the implementing of the promised "social relief package."
He said the government does not have a policy of organized public expenditure, and that the administration is announcing new public works without having first determined where the funds to build these will come from. This is leading the country to resort to international borrowing when the domestic spending should be financed by internal resources.
Red flags point to high government spending
The former director of the National Planning Office, Rafael Camilo said that the government has to revise its income forecast and implement new austerity measures in its spending so that it can have a surplus to make investments while not affecting the macroeconomic stability.
He said that during the first two months of the year
government budgetary estimates have not been met, with February revenues coming up short by RD$500 million. But, government spending has been increasing, including payroll expenditures. He warned of a forthcoming major fiscal deficit if government discipline is not exercised, as reported in El Caribe newspaper.
He says the increasing government current expense levels are leaving little left over for investments and for the implementing of the promised "social relief package."
He said the government does not have a policy of organized
public expenditure, and that the administration is announcing new public works without having first determined where the funds to build these will come from. This is leading the country to resort to international borrowing when the domestic spending should be financed by internal resources.
Economist urges government meet economic goals
Economist Eduardo Garcia Michel in the Listin Diario newspaper today urged the government to make adjustments in policies to maintain economic stability and lead the nation to economic recovery. He urged fiscal spending discipline so that economic reform measures can have their effect.
He explains the goals for year end are to grow 6.5%, with an 8% cap on inflation, and a 0.8% fiscal surplus, a US$100 million increase in net reserves, US$1,000 million in foreign investment, and a decline of 2-3 points in interest rates.
The economist says that the President needs to heed those who are telling him the cruel truth about the economy and not just the things he wants to hear.
Economist objects to issuing sovereign bonds
Economist Eduardo Garcia Michel, in the Listin Diario, explained the reason why it makes little sense for the nation to issue sovereign bonds at this time.
Garcia Michel says that to increase the nation's indebtedness in foreign currency of the nation only to increase the spending capacity of the government is not reasonable nor convenient. He highlights that the government has just increased taxes to achieve the same objective.
"What it has to do is efficiently manage those resources and eliminate generalized subsidies," he says.
He thinks the issuing of sovereign bonds is untimely because: 1) International markets are very volatile now and do not guarantee an attractive placement regarding good terms or interest rates. 2) The government has more than US$700 million pending to be disbursed from international organizations for long term investment projects. He feels priority should be given to disbursing those resources prior to implementing a sovereign bond initiative. 3) The issue would represent a substantial burden on the younger generations, when it only promises to increase government spending. 4) The debt service levels, already high, will only increase. Garcia Michel warns that without a more rational use of government spending there will be no guarantees of adequate use of debt. He explained that there is no restriction on how the government can use currency generated by the sovereign bonds that has to be paid in hard currency.
He concludes, "At the end, without the bonds the country could have a magnificent year, but with the bonds and bad policies, it would sink."
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