|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See you next year! The staff of DR1 would like to thank its community members for making DR1 the special meeting place it is today. It is our wish that we all rise to meet the challenges that 2003 will bring and capitalize on the opportunities of the New Year. DR1 Daily News will not publish news updates during the first week of the holidays. The news for Monday, 30 December through Friday, 3 January will be compiled for the Monday, 6 January edition. Those interested in keeping abreast with current events in the DR over the holidays may do so by checking in on the DR1 Forums, where readers usually post the most important developments. DR1 has compiled a full list of activities and entertainment events taking place during the remaining days of Christmas and New Year celebrations. Please see http://www.dr1.com/calendar/index.shtml Best to all! |
|
Former US Presidents
vacation in DR Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter will be spending their holidays in the Dominican Republic. Carter, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize-winner, was scheduled to arrive on Friday, 27 December, accompanied by 26 friends and family members. For Clinton, this visit will mark his return-trip; the former American president discovered the Dominican Republic when he vacationed in La Romana and Punta Cana in January 2002, shortly after the end of his presidency. According to Diario Libre, both Carter and Clinton will be staying at villas in Casa de Campo, La Romana. |
|
President will take a
break for the rest of the year President Mejía will be taking it easy in the presidential vacation home located in Juan Dolio for the remaining days of 2002, in the company of his family and close friends. The President’s last official activity was his participation in a meeting with his party’s senators, in an effort to dissuade them from modifying the electoral reform bill. According to declarations from members of the leadership of the Roman Catholic clergy, the meeting was successful in obtaining a consensus from the senators. |
|
Higher gasoline prices The Ministry of Industry and Commerce announced price hikes for gasoline and diesel fuel as of next Saturday. The rise is being attributed to a shortage in supply due to the strike in Venezuela and the fear of an impending war with Iraq, among other uncertainties. A barrel of crude oil yesterday was selling for US$32.30, its highest price point over the last 12 months, and 60 percent more than the price for January this year, which stood at approximately US$20.00 per barrel. On a positive note, the Ministry confirmed that in spite of Venezuela’s strike the Dominican Republic will have enough oil to cover the demand for the next few weeks, thanks to the precautionary purchases made shortly after the strikes in Venezuela began. The benchmark used for the price of oil derivatives in the DR is the West Texas Index (WTI). |
|
Pop! Goes the peso: Part 2!! The Dominican government has been trying very hard to control the exchange rate (peso vs. US dollar), but the effort does not seem to be working. Last October, the government established a ceiling price for the trade at RD$20.40 per US$1, however, two weeks later the bubble burst, propelling the exchange to a rate well over RD$24.00 per US$1. Just a week and half ago, the government effected several changes to fortify the monetary policy in reference to the exchange rate. These changes established a new ceiling rate of RD$20.80 per US$1, assuming that the sovereign bonds and other supply factors would be received in time to save the day. Unfortunately, the strategy seems to be deteriorating again. First, the approval of the sovereign bond issuance has been stalled in congress. Secondly, banks have been out of dollars for the last four days, with the black market offering an exchange rate of RD$21.85 to US$1. Furthermore, some economists believe that the market has already absorbed all the “good news” it can handle for January of 2003, like increased figures for tourism and free zones, as well as the sovereign bonds. |
|
Foreign Direct Investments grew 3.3 percent Danilo del Rosario, head of the Office for the Promotion of Exports (OPI), announced during the holidays that the estimate for foreign direct investments in the Dominican Republic for 2002 is US$1.8 billion dollars, representing US$62 million more than last year, or a 3.3 percent increase. The amount has increased significance when compared to the rest of Latin America, whose average was a 40 percent drop. On a similar note, Jean Claude Moyret, vice president for France Telecom in the DR, encouraged businesses to recognize the strength of the Euro, since Europe is a very important source of direct investment. France Telecom is the top foreign company to invest in the past three years, with more than US$400 million invested. This year, the DR is ranked 29th in the world in the list of countries that receive foreign direct investments. |
|
Tobacco growers request that government pay up Hundreds of tobacco growers gathered in churches on Christmas Day in suburban towns of the city of Santiago to pray that the government pay them the estimated RD$120 million owed for their crops. Neither the government nor the farmers has been able to find a market for the oversupply of low-quality tobacco planted roughly two years ago. The government has already paid RD$200 million of the “debt”, however, Alberto Garcia, president of the National Federation of Tobacco Growers, asked the President to assist them by paying at least half of the RD$120 million. Garcia expressed that the growers are unable to pay their bills and are tired of waiting for the government to fulfill its promise. In an optimistic tone, he added that he knows President Mejia will help them because he was once a farmer himself. |
|
Minimum policy for motor vehicles increased The Superintendence of Insurance has established a new minimum policy and minimum liability coverage for motor vehicles with a resolution that will modify parameters established nearly half a century ago in 1955. For cars with engines of up to four cylinders, the new minimum policy cost will be RD$1,305 and SUVs and vans will pay a minimum of RD$1,740. For vehicles used in connection with public transportation, the cost of insurance will be 90 percent higher with a minimum liability coverage of RD$100,000 when only one person is injured and RD$200,000 for incidents in which two or more people are injured. |
|
Superintendence & Digenor checking electricity meters Hoy newspaper reports that Superintendent of Power Julio Cross says that tests to the meters installed by power distributors showed that many have defects that produce increased earnings for the power distributors. Cross said that of 145 meters randomly tested, 95 had operational problems that elevated the billing in favor of the power distributors. He said that in only seven cases did executives of Edesur-Union Fenosa admit the meters were defective. Cross told Hoy newspaper that they were not yet categorizing the meters as fraudulent, but that the percentage of defective meters was very high and the defects always worked in favor of the power distributors. Inspectors from the National Direction of Quality Norms and Systems paid a visit to the measurement labs of EdeEste power distribution company, where they were apprised of the standards and methods used by the power retailing company in order to secure reliable measurements of power consumption. The power distributing companies have replaced hundreds of thousands of power meters and much of the population distrusts the accuracy of the new meters. This situation has spurred the creation of companies that install parallel power meters, whereby consumers can confirm the accuracy of the official reading by installing a second meter. |
|
Senators still oppose electoral reform bill Senator Cesar Diaz confirmed yesterday that he will not vote for the new electoral bill as passed by the Chamber of Deputies. Yesterday, the front page of the Listin Diario told that the Senate would approve the new electoral bill without any changes. Nevertheless, some senators, such as like Cesar Diaz, are of a different opinion. “President Mejia, Agripino Collado (Catholic Church’s representative) and Andres Bautista (president of the Senate) have their own agenda, and I am not part of it,” said Cesar Diaz. “Congress voted on this matter months ago, and it is obvious that someone or some group is trying to twist things around. It is in violation of the Constitution and I will be no part of that!” New changes in the electoral reform bill have caused turmoil in Congress, after the PRD-majority Senate elected judges to the Central Electoral Board (JCE) that opposition members say will be unfairly partial to the ruling PRD party. The Chamber of Deputies, in which the PRSC and PLD hold a small majority, has conditioned its approval of the US$600 million sovereign bond placement on the ratification of changes to the electoral bill that would considerably reduce the control of the Central Electoral Board’s president, Manuel Ramon Morel Cerda. President of the Chamber of Deputies Rafaela Alburquerque postponed the passing of the bill to Monday, 30 December, to give the senators time to pass the JCE reform bill first. |
|
Noise and lights for Christmas at what price? Listin Diario reports that more than 14 children were seriously injured in fireworks explosions over the holidays. The public hospital Luis Eduardo Aybar received 14 children with serious burns due to the unsupervised use of the explosive devices. While the popular firecrackers were prohibited during the Fernandez government, Mejia’s administration has been very lenient in controlling their sale. The only measure in place is that vendors should not sell to those under 18-years old. This year, the fireworks shacks are conveniently located throughout all the cities to insure maximum sales and the explosives are impressive. |
|
Three Dominicans test positive in El Salvador doping Three Dominican medal-winners in the XIX Central American and Caribbean Games held in El Salvador have tested positive for doping. Boxer Elio Enai Rojas (57 kilos/125 lbs. lightweight category), who had won gold in boxing, and Lorena de la Rosa, who won two silvers as a runner, tested positive. President of the Dominican Olympic Committee said the athletes found guilty could be penalized with a two-year ban on international competitions. This means the athletes will most likely not be able to participate in the August 2003 Pan American Games to take place in Santo Domingo. Boxer Rojas tested positive for a substance called Lasix, a diuretic he used to lose weight. De la Rosa’s test sample showed traces of an anabolic hormone known as nandrolona. During the El Salvador games, a total of 12 athletes tested positive for prohibited substances. The Dominican Republic’s adjusted tally for medals at the XIX Games now stands at 129 medals (34 gold, 36 silver and 59 bronze). |
|
Baseball standings Teams W L Diff. Aguilas 32 17 --- Estrellas 27 22 5 Gigantes 26 23 6 Escogido 26 23 6 Licey 20 29 12 Azucareros 16 33 16 |
|
|
|
Discussing incentive travel in Punta Cana The Society of Incentive Travel Executives (SITE) will host SITE University next 10-13 June in Punta Cana. The event will take place at the Melia Caribe Tropical and promises to deliver new insights, techniques and information to travel executives booking incentive travel. Brenda Anderson, president of SITE was in the Dominican Republic last week to coordinate the meeting. For more information, email hq@site-intl.org or call 312-321-5148. |
|
|
|
Puerto Plata booked for the holidays Puerto Plata hotels are fully booked for the New Year holidays, according to Hans Dannenberg, the new director of the Puerto Plata Hotel Association. He forecast a record winter season for the Puerto Plata region. Dannenberg said that new charter flights from Air Canada Vacations and Columbus Air began flying into Puerto Plata International Airport as of last week. To mark the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Puerto Plata last week, 40 journalists arrived on the inaugural flight of Columbus Air. The journalists participated in the city park celebrations as well as a cultural tour of the Victorian houses of Puerto Plata. Dannenberg explained that the Puerto Plata Hotel Association is working to integrate the people of Puerto Plata with the tourism industry, and the 500th anniversary celebrations proved how successful this effort could be. 31-year-old Dannenberg was appointed to the post of Director of the Hotel Association this past November on the merits of his vast experience working with the aviation and hotel industries in the Dominican Republic. He has held prestigious posts in Dominican tourism offices in Florida, Texas, Paraguay, Colombia and Turks & Caicos. The new offices of the Puerto Plata Association of Hotels are located at Casa Olivares, Calle Beller 72, esq. Villanueva. The association comprises 20 hotels, of which 14 are located in Playa Dorada. The association will also be working closely with the hotel associations of Sosua, Cabarete, Rio San Juan and Luperon, in order to establish a great federation that will work to consolidate and increase all travel to the north coast. To contact the association, call 809-261-1335 or 809-261-4441 - Fax 809-320-0872 - or mobile phone 809 879-5008. Email is hansahpp@hotmail.com |
|
|
|
Christmas Concert The gala concert of the Cathedral Choir is again slated for Christmas Day, 25 December. The choir will be accompanied by members of the National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Maestro Jose Delmonte. Delmonte announced that Dominican folklore songs have been included in this year’s program of 24 Christmas carols. The concert is free and will begin at 8pm, however, those interested in obtaining a good seat should arrive no later than 7pm. The Santo Domingo Cathedral is located in front of Columbus Park in the Colonial City. |
|
|
|
Baseball Standings Teams W L Diff. Aguilas 31 17 --- Estrellas 27 21 4 Gigantes 26 22 5 Escogido 25 23 6 Licey 19 29 12 Azucareros 16 32 15 |
|
|
|
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008. DR1. All Rights Reserved. |
