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Daily News - 17 April 2001
Clintons here for a second honeymoon?
News reports today point out that Chelsea Clinton did not come with her parents on their Punta Cana holiday. The Clintons are staying in a paradise setting which could be perfect for a reconciliation or for agreeing on a separation, the New York Post speculates.
El Siglo newspaper says that the former President has scheduled a luncheon in Punta Cana with a group of businessmen and President Mejia. This would be the second time the President meets with Clinton.
El Siglo says that the couple stayed at the home of Frank and Haydee Rainieri, a 600 square meter residence with six rooms located on one of the best beaches in the area. The couple came with several friends. Clinton has spent time playing golf at the Punta Cana Golf Course with Pete Dye, the son of the designer of the Playa Dorada golf course.
President laments increase in fuel prices
President Hipolito Mejia described as "lamentable" the recently announced increase in fuel prices. He said the government does not have control over the international price of petroleum. Yesterday, passenger and cargo transporters announced fare increases. Meanwhile, the general manager of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery, Franz Spijker, criticized the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for increasing prices a day later than stipulated. He said this creates a billing problem for the refinery.
President Mejia doesn't agree with priests
President Hipolito Mejia told the press he has his own surveys and doesn't agree with the criticism of the Catholic priests, including the Archbishop of Santo Domingo Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, made during Easter sermons. Commenting on the opinions expressed by the Archbishop, the President said: "If he said that (the Archbishop), I respect it, but it is not like that. It was already said by another little priest ("curita"). He is a big priest ("curota"), a man of importance whom I respect, but things are not like that."
Mejia was interviewed after visiting his oldest son, Ramon, and daughter-in-law, Janet Rivera, at the Abel Gonzalez hospital. The couple had just given the President his first granddaughter. The President already has five grandsons.
Propane Gas distributors explain increase
The National Association of Propane Gas Distributors (Asonadigas) approved the 25% increase in propane gas prices. Raisa Rodriguez, president of the organization, said that what has happened is that the government has reduced the subsidy on propane gas sales. She said the authorities had previously announced the subsidy would be gradually reduced.
She said the government was forced to reduce the subsidy now because it needs more resources to cover its expenditures. The government was several weeks in arrears with the propane gas distributors, she said.
The measure has met with rejection from most sectors in the DR. The increase in fuel prices comes at a time when the population is barely recovering from the impact of the new tax package in January.
Ministry of Education staff census
The Ministry of Education announced a census of all personnel this month. Census seeks to guarantee work stability by implementing the public teacher career and the law of civil service. Vice President and Minister of Education Milagros Ortiz Bosch said the census will also help their training programs. She also expects knowing who is who on the Ministry payroll will lead to reduced confrontations with the public teachers union.
The Vice President also announced the investment of US$1.2 million in a program to improve schools' disaster preparedness. The Programa de Seguridad Escolar para Casos de Desastres en las Escuelas is funded by a loan from the Interamerican Development Bank.
Airport security center at Las Americas International
Major General Maximo Morel Marichal announced the construction of a training center for aviation security at the Las Americas International Airport. Morel said that the center will train aviation personnel, working closely with the Federal Aviation Agency of the United States and the International Civil Aviation Organization of the United Nations, as reported in El Caribe newspaper.
Negotiating the seat on the UN Security Council
El Caribe newspaper suspects that the true reason for the visit of Andres Rosenthan, personal aide of President Vicente Fox of Mexico, is that he came to request President Mejia's support of Mexico's efforts to be elected to the National Security Council. Reportedly, Rosenthal would have offered in exchange Mexico's support for the DR presiding over the General Assembly in 2003.
President Mejia at FTA summit in Quebec
President Hipolito Mejia is scheduled to be the first speaker on the topic of Strengthening Democracy during the Third Summit of the Americas to be held 20-22 April in Quebec, Canada. Thirty-four heads of state from the Americas are expected to participate. President Mejia is scheduled to leave here on Thursday, making a stop over in New York prior to arriving to Quebec. His talk will cover themes such as electoral reform, the media, transparency, human rights, administration of justice, public security and civil society.
Government doesn't agree with fiscal deficit
Frank Guerrero Prats, Governor of the Central Bank and Fernando Alvarez Bogaert, Minister of Finance, believe the year end fiscal deficit will be at most RD$1,000 million. Economists have said that at the present pace, tax collections will result in a RD$10,000 million fiscal deficit at year end. Guerrero said the forecast is for a 0.8% surplus of the Gross Domestic Product. He said one has to wait for the year's end to determine the fiscal deficit. He commented that tax collections in January and February are traditionally slow. He said that year end projections cannot be made on the income of these two months. Guerrero estimated that tax collections at year end should be around RD$60,000 million. The National Budget is RD$60,000 million. The government has requested that the Congress approve several international loans to compensate for the fiscal deficit and enable the government to keep the present spending levels.
Payments in arrears condoned by government
A Listin Diario news commentator reveals that efforts to collect moneys owed to the Banco Agricola, the government agriculture bank, suffered a major blow delivered by the government itself. He said that the Banco Agricola officers who recently celebrated increasing the rate of recovery on loans in arrears to the tune of RD$21 million were surprised when they received a notification from the Administrative Secretary of the Presidency informing them of the passing of Law 56-01 of 30 March.
This new law exempts farmers in arrears from the payment of commissions, arrear penalties and 50% of the interest rates. This new law also benefits those who have received loans from the Banco de Reservas, Fondo Fide and other institutions, says Luis Encarnacion in his column in the Listin Diario, "Sondeo."
Encarnación says that the old practice of official demagoguery affects the survival of an organization that should be a strong supporter of sustainable agriculture. He said the new measure is a blow as it came when the Banco Agricola officers were recovering the credit of the organization with international institutions and local banking. Officers at the Banco Agricola say they were not consulted and only heard of the new law when notified by the Administrative Secretary of the Presidency.
Parallel payrolls in government?
Santiago Moquete, former director of the Plan Nacional de Titulación de Terrenos del Estado, a plan to legalize(?) the possession of state property by thousands, has criticized the practice of maintaining parallel payrolls at Bienes Nacionales, the government department in charge of state property.
He said that his department employed a staff that was paid RD$600,000 or RD$700,000 a month but appeared on the Bienes Nacionales payroll as making RD$3,000,000 a month. He said that the parallel payrolls were to benefit political patronage.
He urged the commission that is investigating a recent scandal at the Bienes Nacionales department to investigate this matter also.
"I was the director of the plan, but my boss was Victor Tio Fernandez who took other decisions," said Moquete. Tio was recently arrested after TV journalist Nuria Piera revealed a scam at the department.
Moquete said the present situation is beneficial for the government as it allows it to restart the struggle against corruption.
Senator Clinton's support sought for Hispaniola Investment Fund
The Organizing Committee of the Annual Dominican Week in the US took advantage of the visit of US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to deliver a letter requesting her support in the Senate for the Hispaniola Investment Fund. The idea is to convert the foreign debt of the Dominican Republic with the U.S. Government into investments in Haiti and the Haitian-Dominican border zone.
The proposed debt conversion program is seen as beneficial to all three countries, the US, Haiti and the DR through debt equity swaps and debt-for-nature (?) swaps.
The US will benefit because it will exchange a sovereign foreign debt for corporate preferential shares with tangible assets, backed by private sector investments. This provides the US Treasury with better guarantees, lower risks and higher returns.
Haiti will benefit because it would receive fresh funds, at a lower cost than other alternatives, for much needed and highly profitable projects. This would promote economic growth and development in Haiti.
The DR benefits because Haitian economic development lessens their population's pressure to migrate to the Dominican Republic. Prosperity in Haiti is also seen as increasing the purchasing power of Haitians to buy Dominican products.
Haitians burn Dominican flag
El Siglo's news commentator Orlando Gil comments on the burning of a Dominican flag during a "gagá" ceremony by Haitian migrants during the Easter holiday. Gil says the incident is being written off as a minor one by Dominican authorities who will deport the Haitians involved in the burning, but no other penalties will be applied. He said that what is most serious is that the reasons for the burning have not been established.
Stop to building new hotels urged
The president of the National Hotel & Restaurant Association said he is seeking a consensus for a freeze on the construction of new hotel rooms in the Puerto Plata and Punta Cana areas. He feels these areas are already saturated.
Ramon Prieto, president of Asonahores, said that it is in the best interest of the hotel sector to stop the construction of new hotel rooms and dedicate efforts to increasing the demand for Dominican holidays. He explained there are around 52,000 hotel rooms in the DR, and last year the country had a 71% occupancy rate.
Prieto says that the demand has not been able to keep up with the fast pace of the increase in the inventory of hotel rooms, which is affecting the rates hoteliers can charge. He forecast that a reduction in the rate of increase in hotel rooms, will give hotels a breather so they can invest in their rooms, and thus be able to demand higher prices.
Furthermore, he pointed out that hotels generate more foreign exchange and more jobs than the construction sector.
He favors the construction of a different type of room as the country has too many of the same kind and that limits the market. He also favors exploiting new areas and continuing the development of ecotourism.
No more doubt that DR will host 2003 Pan Am Games
Jose Joaquin Puello, president of the Organizing Committee, said that Santo Domingo will host the Pan American Games in July 2003. He said that the Pan American Games authorities are convinced the DR is meeting the work schedule. Furthermore, he told Franklin Mirabal, sports editor of Hoy newspaper, that at this date no other country would be able to undertake the Games. He forecasts that the sale of the television broadcast rights would bring in US$25 million.
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