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The census Technical Secretary of the Presidency Rafael Calderon and the director of the National Statitsics Office, Luis Hernandez, insist that the 8th National Population and Housing Census was an all around success. The extent of its success, however, is yet to be seen. News reports say that thousands of Dominican homes were not polled. Among the reasons cited is the fact that thousands refused to answer the questions, alleging that the information would be used by the government to raise their taxes or power bills. Others took advantage of the long weekend to go on holiday, as was apparent by the long lines of cars that returned to the cities on Sunday. Several of the volunteers deliberately worked at a snail’s pace after their promised remuneration of RD$500 was reduced to RD$250 or was not paid on time. But many thousands more welcomed the pollsters into their homes and patiently answered the 67 questions. Teams of supervisors will be sent out this week to poll the homes that were omitted during the first three days. And the Gallup research organization is assisting the efforts to ensure the most accurate reading of the data compiled. The government has promised the first preliminary results in a month and the official results by mid 2003. The last poll was conducted in 1993. |
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Talking about what? The so-called National Dialogue opens today at 10 am at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in Santo Domingo. Monsignor Agripino Nuñez says that about 20 organizations will be participating, including political parties, union representatives, civil society groups, and business organizations. The agenda for the talks, however, had not been set. Diario Libre reports today that among one of the ideas proposed is a compromise whereby the opposition parties would accept to reduce the margin of percentage needed to win the presidency in a first round, in exchange for the government’s influence to persuade the judges of the Central Electoral Board to resign. The opposition parties and the civil society criticized the Senate’s choice of judges on the grounds that they were partial to one faction of the ruling PRD party, that of President Hipolito Mejia. The president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Ramon Morel Cerda, has said outright that he will not resign. President Hipolito Mejia himself will open the discussions and said he favored an open agenda with the exception of the Central Electoral Board debate, which he said corresponds to another sector. The president of the Senate, Andres Bautista Garcia, insisted that the decision of the senators is irrevocable and cannot be changed by the talks to take place today. |
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Making the negotiations transparent Listin Diario points out that the government has not yet published the terms of the contracts renegotiated with the power companies as it had promised to do. Minister of Finance Jose Lois Malkum had said repeatedly during the four-month negotiation period that it would make these negotiations transparent by releasing the new contracts to the press. The newspaper points out that this has not yet been done. Meanwhile, consumers are bearing the weight of near 100% increases in power bills following the renegotiations. In the past, lack of transparency in the power negotiations have led to onerous terms that have contributed to Dominicans having to pay one of the highest power rates in the world today. |
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The senator who is not a senator Amable Aristy Castro was elected to the Senate in the May 2002 congressional elections, running on the PRSC ticket, but he can’t make up his mind whether to be a senator or not. At present he holds the influential position of Director of the Dominican Municipal League, which controls the purse strings of city governments. According to a news item in Diario Libre, Aristy could delay another three months in making up his mind. He seeks to be re-elected to his post with the Dominican Municipal League (JMD) but those elections are slated for 26 January. At that time he would decide whether to continue in the Senate. Meanwhile, he has sent a letter to the Senate asking to donate his wages and other economic benefits to charity institutions. Aristy’s ambivalence was criticized in an interview with El Caribe by fellow senator Jose Hazim. Hazim alleges that Aristy wants to leave his doors open. If he is not re-elected to the JMD he could still become a senator if he does not resign that post. It is the first time an elected officer has gone an entire term without attending a session for unjustified reasons. |
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Dissident PLD senator to Parliament President Hipolito Mejia appointed dissident PLD senator Manuel Osias Alciniegas of Monte Cristi as a member of the Central American Parliament. Alciniegas will receive a monthly salary of US$6,000 and the generous coverage of his travel expenses. |
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DR vies for Canadian business The Dominican Republic launched its first offensive to attract new investments in business, mining, energy, construction, telecommunications, banking and other fields with the visit of the first Dominican mission to Canada. The Dominican-Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Trade Facilitation Office of Canada sponsored the mission on its visit to Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa from 14-18 October. "We want to repeat the success of 20 years ago, when we brought the first tourism mission to Canada," said Fernando Rainieri, president of the Chamber of Commerce and head of the mission. Today, the Dominican Republic is the preferred Caribbean destination of Canadian tourists. Adam Blackwell, Ambassador of Canada, who accompanyied the mission, said that the plan is to take tourism one step further in order to evaluate business opportunities. He said that the discussions are especially appropriate now that Free Trade Agreement talks have begun. "My job now is to make it known that the Dominican Republic is more than a beautiful beach - it is also a very good place to do business," he said, as he introduced the mission to attendants of the first business workshop. There are several Canadian firms doing business in the Dominican Republic, including Falconbridge, Yogen Fruz, Placer Dome, Vancouver Airport Services, Bell Helicopters, and Scotiabank. Jim Meek, Scotiabank’s senior Vice President of international banking, highlighted the business climate in the DR throughout the event. "The Dominican Republic is our favorite country in Latin America right now," he said, mentioning the major expansion plans underway in the country. During the workshop, the Trade Facilitation Office presented its programs available to assist Dominicans interested in exporting to Canada. The Trade Facilitation Office also coordinated one-on-one meetings with Dominican businessmen and Canadian companies interested in doing business. Likewise, Export Development Canada, the International Trade Centre and the Canadian Commercial Corporation presented programs available to Canadians interested in exporting to and doing business in the Dominican Republic. Former ambassador of Canada to the Dominican Republic, Bruno Picard, also attended mission activities in Toronto. Picard is the director of the Cabinet and Parliamentary Liaison Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. His predecessor, Louis Guay, also accompanied the mission during meetings in Montreal and Ottawa. Guay is senior advisor of International Affairs and Intergovernmental Affairs. Now with the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement, many more new opportunities are open to both countries. |
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Quebec mission to DR The director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Industry & Commerce of the Canadian province of Quebec announced during the business workshop of the Dominican-Canadian Chamber of Commerce that his office will prepare a follow-up Quebec mission to the Dominican Republic. Gaston Jacques spoke during the opening session of the workshop that took place in Montreal on 16-17 October. He said that Quebec exported 26 million Canadian dollars to the Dominican Republic in 2001, compared to 11 million Canadian dollars in 1994. With the support of the Dominican-Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Embassy of Canada in the Dominican Republic, he expects business to grow even further. At present the primary export of the Dominican Republic to Canada is chocolate products, which accounts for 38% of total exports. In return, Canada sells construction materials, paper and agroproducts. Jacques wants to diversify this trade and foresees a definite possibility of increased trade of energy, construction, infrastructure, mining and agroproducts. Jacques says the trade scenario will be considerably enhanced by the signing of the Free Trade Agreement next year between Canada and the Dominican Republic. "There will be strong advantages for many products, and strengthened advantages for others," he said. |
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President Jimmy Carter expected in December Orlando Gil reports that former US President and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter will visit the Dominican Republic in December for a series of events related to his humanitarian organization, the Carter Center. |
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RD$1-million award for reforestation effort The Fundacion Brugal honored this year the Asociacion para el Desarrollo de la Provincia Espaillat. The organization won prize money of RD$1-million for its work to plant trees in the Cordillera Septentrional and finance small business. Other organizations winning prizes of RD$400,000 were Muchachos y Muchachas con Don Bosco (Education category), National Botanical Gardens (Environmental Protection), SSM Incorporated (Social Work), and the Casa de Arte of Santiago (Arts & Culture). This is the 14th year in which these awards have been handed out. |
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La Isabela airport could open in December 2002 El Caribe newspaper reports that the Aeropuerto Internacional La Isabela (AILI), currently under construction in El Higuero, north of Santo Domingo, could be ready in time for winter’s peak traffic. The government has invested RD$1.04 billion in the terminal, which is almost double the amount the private sector spent to build the Santiago or La Romana airport terminals. Reportedly, the Fernandez administration invested RD$600-million in the construction of the terminal, but Aerodom reports having had to invest an additional US$22-million, or RD$440-million. Aerodom, which also operates the Las Americas (Santo Domingo) and Gregorio Luperon (Puerto Plata) airports, will manage the newest facility, slated to replace the Herrera International Airport located in the center of Santo Domingo. Aerodom says it expects the airport to be operational by 15-20 December. The La Isabela terminal was criticized by small airplane companies, saying it is too far north of Santo Domingo to become a prevalent and popular terminal. El Caribe reports that a press release from the Ministry of Public Works says that 95% of construction has been completed. But the supervisor for Aerodom, Holando Gesualdo, said that only 80% of the construction is finished. He said that the building is almost completed, the air-conditioning systems have been installed, but important equipment has yet to be installed in the control tower. He said the runway still needs additional pavings of asphalt and work needs to be done on the airport ramps. The parking lot of the airport, which will have a 1,000-vehicle capacity, is also in need of further construction. The airport will have a runway that will be 1,600 meters long. He explained this means it will be able to receive small planes of up to ATR of 70 passengers, offering more facilities than those available at Herrera at present. He said the airport was designed for medium sized airplanes and private jets. Likewise, an Aerodom affiliate company, Civilcad, is responsible for building the five-kilometer accessway from Avenida Jacobo Majluta. The Avenida Jacobo Majluta is the most costly highway ever built in the Dominican Republic and is also in need of repairs. |
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Amaya Salazar painting for city obelisk Amaya Salazar’s faceless figures could become the next to decorate the Santo Domingo obelisk. This would be the third leading Dominican artist to be chosen for the important city landmark. Candido Bido and his doves were first in 1996, followed by Elsa Nuñez and the Mirabal sisters. El Caribe newspaper reports that one of the leading promoters of the idea is advertising agency wiz Freddy Ginebra, who is also the mastermind behind the Casa de Teatro, one of the city’s leading culture houses. El Caribe explains that the works of art by Bido, Nuñez and soon Salazar give new meaning to the obelisk that was built in 1937 to celebrate the change of the name of the capital city from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo, honoring then dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. El Caribe says that there is also a proposal in the works to change the name of the sea-bordering avenue that is nicknamed the Malecon from Avenida George Washington to Paseo Hermanas Mirabal. Roberto Salcedo, Mayor of Santo Domingo, has also voiced his approval of the idea. |
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Play Ball! Underdogs Gigantes del Cibao got off to a great start with an 11-2 Sunday defeat over the Aguilas Cibaeñas in the first game in the Cibao region at the Santiago ball field. The Listin Diario described the feat as similar to that of David and Goliath. This year’s tournament opened on Friday, 18 October in Santo Domingo, San Pedro de Macoris, and San Francisco de Macoris with the Licey, Estrellas and Aguilas winning their first games. The tournament is dedicated to Julian Javier, father of Stanley Javier, president of the Gigantes del Cibao, and one of the greatest legends of Dominican baseball of all time. The regular series continues on Tuesday. After the first weekend the Estrellas Orientales lead, with the other five teams tied in second place. The following is the standing (games won and lost, percentage, games behind): Estrellas Orientales 3-0 (1000) Aguilas Cibaeñas 2-1 (667) 1 Escogido 3-1 (.333) 2 Azucareros 3-1 (.333) 2 Licey 3-1 (.333) 2 Gigantes 3-1 (.333) 2 |
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