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Time to study the request of gasoline retailers The National Association of Gasoline Retailers (Anadegas) announced it would give the government another week to compensate the alleged losses suffered by retailers from evaporation and measurement discrepancies. ANADEGAS had threatened not to restock inventory unless the government authorized an increase in their profit margins. Juan Ignacio Espaillat, president of the association, told the Listín Diario that they would wait until after the Christmas holidays. The retailers say they are losing RD$1.18 billion a year. Meanwhile last week, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce announced fuel prices would rise to RD$39.10 per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline, RD$44.94 for premium unleaded gasoline, RD$23.42 for regular diesel and RD$458.55 per 100lb-tank of propane gas. Fuel prices are adjusted weekly in the Dominican Republic. |
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Government reaps millions The Customs Department reports that its collections have exceeded estimates for the first 11 months of the year. Vicente Sanchez Baret, director of the department, said that RD$1.4 billion more than had been budgeted has been collected, as reported in the Listin Diario. He said that collections are up despite a significant reduction in the import tariffs following agreements with the World Trade Organization. |
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Malecon strip to be pedestrian way City planners have decided to close the Malecon off to cars and turn it into a pedestrian access way on Sundays. As of the Sunday, 5 January 2003, the Avenida George Washington (Malecon from Maximo Gomez to the Obelisco-Parque Maria Eugenio de Hostos) would be closed to all vehicles. The idea behind the plans is to encourage families to walk, ride bicycles, skate or picnic in the area and fully enjoy the Caribbean Sea-fronting boulevard. Domingo Contreras, spokesman for the municipality, said there are plans to convert other city avenues into pedestrian ways as well. “We are going to organize the city so that on Sundays, residents can leave their cars at home and take to the city for recreation,” he said. As reported in the Listin Diario, the planners hope to recover public spaces and convert Santo Domingo into a city for the people, not only for vehicles, said Contreras. He said the municipality also plans to reclaim sidewalks that have been taken over by vendors or for use as parking spaces. In order to best achieve these goals, the city government is working closely with neighborhood juntas. There are 499 registered city boards in the area of Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo currently has two pedestrian ways: the Third Mirador del Sur and the Calle El Conde. The Mirador del Sur becomes a pedestrian walkway from 5am to 9am and 4pm to 8pm everyday. And the Calle El Conde was successfully converted to a permanent pedestrians-only outdoor shopping mall during the city government of the present Minister of Tourism, Rafael Subervi Bonilla, in the early 80s. |
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Airlifting rice to Venezuela President Hugo Chavez sent the Venezuelan Air Force to pick up a first shipment of 200 tons of the 20,000 tons of rice the Dominican Republic would like to sell to them, reports Hoy newspaper. Because of the high cost of airfreight, airplanes are usually only employed to transport perishable foods, which is not the case in the rice venture. However, the airlift is being justified in view of the current political crisis in Venezuela. Miguel de Moya, president of the Association of Rice Factories, said that the first shipment is a sample being sent to Venezuela so that they may make a decision on subsequent purchases. De Moya said that the Venezuelan government could deduct the cost of the rice from monies owed to them by the DR for its petroleum purchases. The DR imports US$70 million per month in fuel from Venezuela. Minister of Agriculture Eligio Jaquez said that the shipment to Venezuela could help rice producers sell its surplus of production that this year reached 3 million quintals. Dominican rice has never been exported to Venezuela before, as Venezuela is a major rice producer itself. Jaquez said that the country is selling Venezuela the rice at US$238 per ton -- a price that is below world market prices -- but argued that the government has decided to subsidize the differential (RD$447 million), so that neither the producer nor the mills is affected. Rice sells locally for RD$540 per 125lb-bag and countrywide consumption is estimated at 675,000 quintals per year. The cost of producing rice in the Dominican Republic is admittedly high, therefore local consumers are obliged to pay higher prices than if rice were imported. The situation has remained this way because the rice producers are an influential group. Approximately 138,000 rice producers and 200 mills compose the Dominican rice industry, which has seen its production surplus increase. This year, the surplus reached three million quintals, while last year the excess was reported at two million. |
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Supreme Court sought to overrule nationality decision Deputies Pelegrin Castillo and Jose Ricardo Taveras feel the Supreme Court of Justice should overrule a judgement rendered by Judge Samuel Arias of the Fifth Civil and Commercial Court. They say the decision could set a very costly precedent for the Dominican Republic. On 4 December, Arias ordered the civil registrar’s office to issue Dominican nationality to two sons of Haitians living illegally in the Dominican Republic on grounds that they were allegedly born in the Dominican Republic. The deputies say that, if upheld, the decision would encourage hundreds of thousands of illegal Haitians to follow suit, thereby creating an unmanageable social burden for the Dominican Republic far beyond what is already being undertaken by the country. Until this decision was issued in the Dominican court, only Haitians that had obtained legal residency in the Dominican Republic would qualify to register any offspring born on Dominican soil as Dominican nationals. The Haitian constitution grants Haitian nationality to the children of Haitians regardless of where they are born, but does not recognize dual citizenship. The problem is compounded because most Haitians do not have any legal identification or documentation whatsoever. Pelegrin denounced the increased complacency of the Mejia administration on the matter and accused it of bowing to foreign pressures as a result of the series of events focusing on government corruption and the involvement of high-ranking officials in drug smuggling operations. He said this has led the government to surrender to the will of the United States to resolve the economic problems of Haiti by transferring the burden of the problem to the Dominican Republic. “Taking into account the state of inviability of Haiti and the imperialist attitudes of the United States and other large nations in regards to the two nations that share this island, we may expect an exponential increase of the number of Haitians making the exodus to our country,” he forecast. He also said that based on the mere fact of having given birth to a child on our side of the border, many would seek the right to residency and Dominican nationality, eventually resulting in a forced fusion of the island with consequential social and political crises that the cultural differences would entail. |
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Disputing the kite has flown away The coordinator of the Proyecto Presidential Hipolito (PPH), Minister of Agriculture Eligio Jaquez, disputed the opinion of the president of the ruling PRD (Partido Revolucionario Dominicano) that the movement to re-elect President Hipólito Mejía had flown away like a kite (“se fue en banda como una chichigua”). Hatuey de Camps, president of the PRD, and the strongest opponent of Mejia’s bid to seek re-election, had just recently used the expression. Jaquez acknowledges that several members of the PRD seek to vie against Mejía with regards to the presidential PRD ticket. Among those that seek the appointment are Minister of Tourism Rafael Subervi Bonilla, Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch, president of the PRD Hatuey DeCamps, and lawyers Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero and former Santiago senator, Jose Rafael Abinader. A Sunday news story in El Caribe says that the past effusiveness of the followers of President Mejia has been missing from recent inaugural events attended by the President. But Jaquez emphasized that President Mejia would run again. “If we [the government] end well, this is the great challenge, then getting re-elected will be the grand prize the Dominican people hand to the PRD, more than to Hipolito,” Jaquez told El Caribe. |
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President’s son defends his honor In paid full-page advertisements published in most of the leading morning newspapers, Ramon Hipólito Mejía Gomez, son of President Hipólito Mejía, denies his involvement in the contraband garlic-and-onion scandal that came to light on the Haitian border. Titled “Letter to Rosalia”, the paid advertisement is a letter the President’s son writes to his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Rosalia. A leading importer of fruits and local vegetable producer prior to his father’s winning the Presidency, Mejía Gomez says that he plans to leave his daughter a legacy of honor, where his actions will set him apart from damaging imputations. Mejía Gomez says he has not benefitted from any special concessions from the government and has played by rules of free market trade. The son of the President also writes that he stands by his father’s actions. |
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Pan de agua doubles in price The cost of the traditional small loaf of bread called pan de agua will increase from RD$1 to RD$2 as of 26 December, announced the largest association of bakeries, the Union de Medianos y Pequeños Industriales de la Harina. In defense of their decision, the bakeries say that the cost of their ingredients have risen: flour by 100 percent; white sugar by 19 percent; cream by 25 percent; eggs by 12 percent; corn meal by 12 percent; baking powder by 20 percent; and milk by 6 percent. Propane gas and electricity are other factors influencing the price rise, as each has gone up by as much as 50 percent. A spokesman for the union of bakers said that last year they were paying RD$300 for a bag of flour that now costs RD$600. |
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Focus on Dominican cuisine in Puerto Plata Dominican cuisine was dressed up for the gala event of the Puerto Plata Festival and the gastronomical contests held last week. El Caribe newspaper says that the Hodelpa hotel obtained the most awards overall, taking home 11 honors. Hotel Playa Naco won the most first places, 3 of a total 40. El Caribe reports on some of the main winners: Hotel Playa Naco won first place in the Sancocho category with its Chambre de Guandules con Coco. The sancocho, a traditional stew of beans, tubers and meats, is the national dish. Hacienda Resorts came in second and third with Sancocho de Gallina and Chambre de Frijoles. Hotel Gran Ventana won for Best Presentation with its Sopa Doña Angustia. In the Hors d’Oeuvres category, the Hotel Playa Naco won again with Paté de Pato. Puerto Plata Village was next, offering Lambí Marinado con Jugo de Chinola and the Hodelpa hotel came in third with Terrina de Pan de Frutas -- the same dish that also garnered the Hodelpa its Best Presentation award. In the Poultry and Fowl category, Hacienda Resorts won with its guinea fowl stew, Mi Hacienda. In seafood, Puerto Plata Village won with Camarones Enyucados en Salsa de Mango y Lechosa. Best Presentation was led by the Hotel Playa Naco, with a Mero Asado en Salsa de Albahaca. In the Meat category, Hotel Gran Ventana took first-place with a Guiso de Chivo Salvaje. Best Presentation went to Hodelpa for its Filete de Cerdo Braseado. Hodelpa also won first in Rices with a Chambre de Guinea Isabel de Torres. In the Dessert category, the Hotel Gran Ventana won first prize with its Majarete Ilumida. |
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Aeromar celebrates its first year of operation Aeromar Airlines is celebrating its first year flying to New York. The Listin Diario reports that the airline transported 100,000 passengers to New York from Santo Domingo, Santiago and Puerto Plata last year. In a press conference in New York City to mark the first year celebration, NYC General Manager Fernando Jiménez said that they chose the worst moment to start -- right after the tragic events of 9/11 and the AA587 crash. He said at the start they only had a Boeing 727 with capacity for 170 passengers, which resulted in lots of luggage getting left behind. Little by little, however, the situation improved and today, Aeromar passengers fly on a 757 and a 767 with increased capacity for 200 and 232 passengers respectively and more luggage. The company pays commission to the travel agencies and has a special plan to encourage senior travelers. He announced that for 2003 there are plans to start a frequent flyer club and incorporate first-class seats. “The monster (competitors American Airlines) we challenged with service, with moro, mangú and Dominican flight attendants who cared for the passengers in a special way,” said Ryan Polanco, vice president of the airline. He said that Aeromar showed that a Dominican airline could give good service and maintain it. He said the company’s goal for this year is to transport 200,000 passengers. |
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Better days ahead for tourism industry The president of the Council for Tourism Promotion of the Hotel & Restaurant Association, Enrique Eduardo de Marchena, told the Listín Diario that while 2002 will go down in Dominican tourism history as the most difficult of years, the trend is for a definite turnaround. He said that the 32 percent increase in the flow of visitors in November, according to Central Bank statistics, hints that better days are ahead. He is an advocate for an increase in promotions abroad that would encourage travelers considering a Dominican vacation. Julio Llibre, President of the local hotel chain, Coral Hotels, told the Listín that lots of what happens next year will depend on international developments. Minister of Tourism Rafael Subervi Bonilla is forecasting a 5 to 10 percent increase compar |
