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Daily News - 10 April 2001
Clintons to vacation for nine days in Punta Cana
El Caribe newspaper reports that former US President Bill Clinton will have lunch with President Hipolito Mejia and a select group of Dominican businessmen at the home of Frank Rainieri and his wife in the Los Corales de Punta Cana development on the East Coast. The luncheon will take place on Saturday, 14 April and will be the only formal activity on the former statesman's agenda as this visit will be for rest and relaxation.
Clinton and his family are expected to arrive on Thursday, 12 April for a nine-day stay. While initially it was reported that they would stay at the villa of Oscar de la Renta, a personal friend of the Clintons in the same Los Corales area, El Caribe reports that the Clintons will in fact stay at the villa of Frank and Haydee Rainieri. The Rainieris are the chief executives of the Punta Cana Group development which includes the airport, golf course, real estate developments and resorts.
President justifies creating new government jobs
President Hipolito Mejia justified the creation of new government jobs on the grounds that the privatization of public enterprises eliminated thousands of job opportunities.
President Mejia denies the increase in government employees. "No, there has not been an increase. Everything has gone as planned," he said. But he explained, "Since we don't have the Dominican Corporation of State Enterprises (CORDE), nor the sugar company, then something had to be given to the poor," referring to the privatization of state enterprises. Past governments padded the payrolls of those institutions with people who were owed political favors.
The director of the National Budget, Ernesto Perez Cuevas, also justified the increase in government expenditures for personnel costs saying the new totals reflect the 10% increase in wages that took place in January 2001. He also says there have been increases in personnel needed for schools, hospitals and pharmacies. He said there are about 310,000 government employees of which 280,000 earn less than RD$5,500 a month.
Government jobs gobble up fiscal revenues
El Caribe newspaper points out that public investment has dropped 25% in the first two months of the year compared with the same period last year. The newspaper also says that in January 2001 there were 20% more government employees than in July 2000.
Last year, capital expenditures were 24% of the budget. During the first two months of 2001, this declined to 17%. This means that current expenditures are 83% of the total budget expenditures, of which the payroll is the biggest part.
El Caribe says the government payroll total in February 1999 was RD$900 million, in February 2000 RD$1,156 million and in February 2001 RD$1,1474 million without any significant pay increases. In an editorial, the newspaper says: "To increase taxes, as occurred a few months ago, primarily to be able to have more money to increase the government's payroll is not justified. In these times of international uncertainty and high petroleum prices, the norm needs to be austerity."
The newspaper says the practice of hiring unproductive employees to gain political favor lacks good judgement. It says that to sacrifice public investment in favor of increased employment could backfire for the government in the 2002 congressional and municipal elections.
Attorney General releases two prosecutors
Attorney General Virgilio Bello Rosa announced that the state prosecutors in El Seibo and San Pedro de Macoris provinces have been let go. They are being investigated for alleged irregularities. Andres Reyes de Azar of El Seibo was fired after it was proven that he allowed prisoners to leave the jails with their guards to visit their families.
Pastor Arismendy Palmero Guerrero of San Pedro de Macoris has been suspended for 30 days while under investigation for complaints that he and some others illegally took State Sugar Council lands.
48-hour declaration affects exports
Pedro Raful, the president of the Colchones Universal Industrial mattress company, has complained about a new ruling of the Customs Department that affects exporters. He said the new ruling that obliges exporters to notify Customs of an export 48 hours in advance threatens the flow of goods and could impede exporters from fulfilling their commitments. Raful says there are many times when a buyer will increase an order at the last minute. The new government measure is an obstacle to these last minute sales. He complained that high interest rates, the high cost of energy and the new taxes already harm the export sector's competitiveness.
Easy to verify Customs Brokers accusations
The Dominican Association of Customs Brokers (ADAA) has urged the Customs Department to audit its computerized system. The association says an audit of all shipping documents at Customs will confirm the allegations of corruption in the department. "The existence of ghost customs brokers and their ties to Customs Department officers and employees is easy to prove," says ADAA. "They only have to generate the stats of the customs declarations for the past seven months and determine the customs agents who carried out the dispatches or entry of merchandise and what the total duties paid were. This will also reveal who the beneficiaries and privileged parties were," says ADAA.
ADAA says that only the political will is needed to prevent corruption. It says an order is needed so the computer systems automatically reject all orders where a merchandise transaction violates the established norms.
ADAA also says the department is exaggerating when they say they have implemented a training program to prepare personnel in Customs Law and the changes in the new GATT agreements, Caricom and the Central American Free Trade Agreements.
Customs director denies accusations
Customs Director Vicente Sanchez Baret described as irresponsible and lacking all proof the accusations made by former Vice President Jaime Fernandez Mirabal regarding rumors of corruption in the Customs Department. He suggested the head of the Corruption Prevention Department appoint the former Vice President to the commission that will investigate corruption in his department.
He made the comments after former Vice President Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal urged the Corruption Prevention Department to investigate alleged irregularities at Customs. He spoke on the Seguimiento television program produced by Roberto Santana for Channel 13.
He said there are too many people commenting on the under-the-table negotiations going on at Customs. He was referring also to the Association of Customs Brokers claims of rampant corruption at Customs. The director of Customs has denied the accusation, urging the brokers to publish the names of those involved.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Virgilio Bello Rosa said he would follow up on the allegations. He said the government seeks to fight corruption at all levels.
Ministry of Environment seeks to reduce air pollution
The Ministry of Environment announced the installation of two mobile environmental labs to measure industrial gas emissions, thermal plant pollution and carbon monoxide levels produced by old vehicles and other sources of environmental contamination. Government statistics show there are two million vehicles on the road, more than half of which are motorcycles.
The new equipment will be purchased from Spain for US$3 million. The Ministry also announced it is completing procedures to import two units donated by Switzerland to measure oxygen, sulfide, and nitrogen oxide levels.
Jose Andres Rodriguez, Deputy Minister of the Department, said that most air pollution is caused by the many old cars that circulate on Dominican streets.
He announced his department is preparing a project to reduce pollution. Also participating in the project are the Police, the Ground Transportation Department (Direccion General de Transito Terrestre), the Weather Office (Oficina Nacional de Metereologia), other technical institutes and universities.
The Ministry will be holding a tender to choose a company to monitor vehicle pollution.
Rodriguez says that 60 to 70% of air pollution is caused by old cars, 10-15% by industry and the remainder by indiscriminate burning of garbage.
Motorcyclists blamed for noise pollution
A study carried out over a two year period by Japanese environmental contamination specialist, engineer Tasuko Kondo, shows that most of the noise is caused by the more than one million motorcycles on the road. El Siglo newspaper carries the report and the recommendation that the government enforce the law that obliges motorcyclists to use the mufflers that come with their motorcycles or repair them when necessary. The Japanese specialist carried out the report for the Instituto Dominicano de Tecnologia Industrial (INDOTEC) sponsored by the International Agency for Cooperation with Japan (JICA).
Indotec director, Frank Richardson said many motorcycle owners remove the mufflers because they like the loud noise.
Dialysis unit chief asks for new water pump
Fernando Bonnet, chief physician of the hemodialysis unit of the Luis Eduardo Aybar public hospital, urged the government to fund the purchase of a new water pump. He said the present water pump is not sufficient and the hospital has to spend RD$3,000 a day to buy water for the dialysis units.
Bonnet explains that 54 patients are on the hospital's list for treatment, but the water problem only allows them to treat 20 patients a day. "When a patient does not receive treatment, he dies," said Bonnet, explaining the urgency.
Berta Perez, public relations spokesperson for the unit, said that half of the patients coming to the unit are Haitians. She explained that the Haitians get the same treatment as the Dominicans. Each dialysis treatment costs the state RD$2,000 and patients need two or three treatments per week.
Dimargo loses law suit over Hostal Nicolas de Ovando
The Supreme Court of Justice ruled in favor of the Corporacion de Fomento de la Industria Hotelera y Desarrollo del Turismo (Corpohotel) in the Dimargo/Hostal Nicolas de Ovando case. The Supreme Court judgement puts an end to the Dimargo contract. Dimargo can now only claim a reimbursement for investments made in the colonial city hotel property. This leaves the way open for the completion of the hotel and its expansion, entrusted to the French hotel chain, Accor. The Hostal Nicolas de Ovando will operate under the Sofitel brand name.
Caribbean Sea: a Peace Zone?
Miguel Ceara Hatton, of the Association of Caribbean States, advocates that the Caribbean Sea be declared a Peace Zone. The 2.5 million square meter body of water, the second largest sea in the world, is an important navigation route for cruise ships, cargo ships, petroleum tankers and garbage transport ships. Ceara warns the regional governments of the high-risk potential of this kind of traffic. He said given the fact that tourism revenues represent the main source of income for 24 of 37 Caribbean nations, special attention should be given to the sea. He says the present international rulings are not enough to provide protection to the area. He said governments should consider the Caribbean Sea an essential part of their national security policies and the axis of their foreign policies.
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