President Hipolito Mejia has come out in favour of building hotels on national park property. As reported in Hoy newspaper, the President says he agrees with being flexible with the use of the protected areas and that the bill to modify the law to allow hotel construction has the support of 90% of the senators. "The hoteliers have served themselves with the big spoon, and now anything that could affect their interests they do not want to be carried out - but Congress will decide," said President Mejia.
TheMinistry of Tourism also views the initiative to infringe on the park limits as valid, based on the grounds that similar action has been taken in previous administrations. Minister Miguelina Ortiz said that on 29 September 2000, then-Tourism Minister Rafael Alfredo Bordas issued a provisionally conditioned no-objection letter for the construction of the Gran Palace Bayahibe Beach Resort, by Globalia, a Spanish company whose affiliate Air Europa flies to the Dominican Republic from Spain. Ortiz said that as far back as 1976, then-President Joaquin Balaguer excluded a large section from protected status, bestowing its use to Wayne Fuller, a US investor. Currently, 39 ecological organizations, the National Association of Hotels & Restaurants and the Tour Operator's Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development oppose the severing of any sections of protected parkland on grounds that this is prohibited by Environmental Law 64-00 which was passed in 2000 and seeks to avoid further violations to park area.
See http://dr1.com/travelnews/archive/2004/tnews020304.html
Environment Minister Frank Moya Pons gave instructions to his ministry's attorney general to take measures that would ensure that the National Park of the East continues to be handled in accordance with Environmental Law 64-00, which dates back to 18 August 2000. "Amidst the press coverage of the intent to mutilate and occupy a portion of the National Park of the East, where offices and a guard house of this ministry are located, I courteously request that you investigate all aspects related to these operations," were Moya Pons' instructions to Jose Antonio Trinidad. The minister authorized the officer to take all measures for the preservation of the park, as reported in the Listin Diario. The announcement comes at a time that the Spanish conglomerate Globalia seeks to move forward on the construction of hotel rooms in that park area, following project endorsements from the Ministry of Tourism and the President's office, despite such action being against the law.
El Caribe has been covering the actions of the Spanish company and other Dominican businesses in regards to development of sections of the protected areas. Moya Pons says he has entrusted Trinidad with the enforcement of articles 34, 165 and 166 of Environmental Law 64-00, which was one of the first signed into law by the Mejia administration back in August 2000.
For more information on environmental regulations and the Ministry of Environment, see:
http://www.ceiba.gov.do
Jose Hidalgo, president of the Spanish tourism conglomerate Globalia, was in Santo Domingo yesterday, where he spoke to the press and declared that he paid a big sum of money five years ago for the property located within the boundaries of the National Park of the East, where he intends to build a hotel complex. Hidalgo said the lot he purchased is adjacent to the Coral by Hilton Canoa hotel and holds 244,000 square meters, not four million as has been reported by the press. El Caribe stated that the purchase price was US$3.5 million in 1999.
Hidalgo said he traveled to Santo Domingo on Sunday to clarify the situation. The National Hotel and Restaurant Association (Asonahores) rejects any development of preserved park area in the view that to sever a part of the park would set a dangerous precedent for the destruction of other parks that are now safeguarded under the Environmental Law.
Hidalgo told El Caribe: "The main problem here is jealousy. I have the same papers as the hoteliers located in the area have, who are against me."
Hidalgo defended his right to invest in the country and said he was the first of the Spanish investors when he came in 1986. He said he was behind the creation of Air Santo Domingo and operates regular flights from Madrid to Santo Domingo with Air Europa. "My name and image should not be tarnished in the country."
He criticized El Caribe newspaper's publication yesterday that contained a photograph showing the managers and employees of hotels in the area protesting against further development in the area.
Hidalgo chose to concur with the opinion of President Mejia: "The President says those hoteliers have served themselves with the big spoon. Exactly, those men are here and now they do not want any more players," he told El Caribe.
The president of the National Council of Transport says that problems with Plan Renove detected in the Controller's Office audit are 90% solved. Siquio Ng de la Rosa ordered the audit upon being entrusted with the project's execution. He said that accounting controls were put into place, missing units have been located and contracts signed with transport operators. The findings of the audit that covered the period between 1 January 2002 and 12 April 2003 have now been released to the public.
The Executive Branch's legal advisor, Guido Gomez Mazara, favors that the all-but-defunct governmental Corruption Prevention Department (Depreco) be entrusted with what he called an in-depth investigation into the irregularities regarding the distribution of the Plan Renove vehicles. "Given a claim of this nature, substantiated by documents from the Controller's Office, I imagine that the director of Depreco, Jesus Feliz, should look into it and proceed judicially if necessary," he said. Gomez Mazara stated in an interview from the Presidential Palace that when the government has proven to the country that administrative scandals have occurred, it has proceeded against them through the courts. Regardless, of this opinion, there has not been any report of a notable government officer being sentenced for corruption in office during the Mejia government, nor cases advances beyond the press sensationalism stage when handled by Depreco.
De la Rosa attributed the irregularities with Plan Renove to the despair and confidence between the transport unions and the government authorities. He explained that several people received vehicles but forgot to sign papers.
Diario Libre's editorial comment yesterday speculated that the Controller's Office findings are released by the government itself to keep Dominicans captivated by the story and detract attention from real economic problems. Yesterday several news analysts concurred that anyone who believed the government would take any steps to penalize irregularities committed was just being naive.
It is unclear who released the audit findings to the press.
One of the most criticized irregularities revealed by the audit is the confirmation that Hyundai Americas Corporation, a company that was not registered with the tax department, sold 1,102 vehicles for US$56.5 million to Plan Renove. Ramon Perez Figuereo says that the informality has resulted in what he then alerted could happen. Today Hyundai Americas Corporation does not have a stock of spare parts, does not offer maintenance services, does not guarantee the vehicles and does not even have an office. El Dia newspaper reports that Siquio Ng de la Rosa in defending the cleaning up of the actions of Plan Renove has not been able to explain how the concession was granted to what is described as a "ghost company Hyundai Americas Corporation" that is presided over by businessman Johnny Morales and which struck paydirt with the multimillion-dollar contract.
Likewise, news reports say the documents show that Milciades Guzman, treasurer of the Plan Renove and member of Terra Bus, received 40 vehicles valued at US$1,844,388 and Diogenes Castillo, director of the governmental Metropolitan Bus Office (OMSA), received six units at a cost of US$357,496.
Antonio Marte, a member of the Renove board and president of Conatra union, received 22 buses for a reported US$1,715,263, and Juan Hubieres of the Fenatrano transport union, also a member of the Renove board, received a bus registered with a value of US$114,000.
The Controller General's Office recommended that 34 vehicles allotted to the Asociacion Dominicana de Confederaciones de Taxi (ADOCOTAXI) and the Union de Propietarios de Autobuses, be returned, as these bodies are not registered with the Labor Ministry.
The audit furthermore revealed it was not able to determine the whereabouts of 210 public transportation vehicles and 10 forklifts, nor who were their recipients. It also ascertained that of the 3,511 vehicles delivered by Plan Renove, 1,783 did not have license plates.
The audit indicates that Decree 949-01 that created Plan Renove was violated when 312 vehicles were donated to student groups, religious organizations, government departments, private individuals and companies. Since these donations took place through the Ministry of Interior and Police, there is no control over these.
Juan Hubieres of Fenatrano, one of Plan Renove's biggest beneficiaries, believes that if the case were to be aired in the courts, Plan Renove would be a scandal 10 times that of the PEME, which took several PLD government executives to jail.
Hubieres says that units continue to be allotted for prices that range from RD$150,000 to RD$300,000. "There is a market out there," he told El Dia newspaper. He said he has heard reports that just five days ago, several units were purchased for the paltry sum of RD$140,000 when they should have been distributed to union members a year ago.
Hubieres also denounced the fact that for Dominican vehicle import companies to make the sales through the program, they had to pay tolls of US$2,000 to US$4,000 for each vehicle. There is no record of this anywhere, he says, as payments were demanded in cash.
Yesterday, the director of the Department of Taxes (DGII), Teofilo (Quico) Tabar, announced that January government revenues from income taxes were up 68% compared to the same month in 2003. He said the government collected RD$5.8 billion, for a RD$2.3 billion increase over January 2003. Tabar attributed the elevated revenues to the additional payments received from the business sector, a consequence of the term plans offered by his department to taxpayers, and the new branch offices that make it easier for taxpayers to make their remittances. It was announced that DGII revenues in 2003 represented RD$42 billion, up 23% over 2002's total.
El Caribe newspaper reports today that the Customs Department is using a RD$55.48-to-US$1 exchange base for application of taxes on imports. The higher exchange rate translates into higher costs for consumer goods, but greater intake for the authorities.
Tabar spoke during the opening of the new offices of the taxation department located at Av. San Martin, in the La Fe sector of Santo Domingo.
The president of the National Association of Gasoline Retailers (Anadegas), Juan Ignacio Espaillat, confirmed that diesel and gasoline fuel continue to be scarce and that the Dominican Petroleum Refinery and importing companies have reduced their inventories. Espaillat told the Listin Diario that more than 60 of its member gas retailers do not have gasoline or diesel for sale to the general public. The problem is more crucial today because of the fact that the government has not been paying power generators for power supplied and because the private sector is again using its alternate power systems as a main source of power, which need to be fueled with diesel or gasoline, and thus increasing demand for this fuel even further. Espaillat described the present situation as "dramatic" and said that several gas stations are already out of supplies, while regular gasoline is lacking at many retailers around the country. Gasoline distribution companies Esso, Shell, Texaco and Isla are giving priority to the gas stations directly owned by them over the franchises.
El Caribe reports of dire scarcities of fuel in San Pedro de Macoris, San Cristobal, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Mao.
Last week the president of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery, Amaury Justo Duarte, said that the dispatch of fuel would be regularized - an event that has yet to happen.
In an editorial today, Hoy newspaper criticizes the fact that the government official's statements do not correspond with reality, citing further examples of the paradox. For example, the government has stated that it does not owe the generators any money and that it has the cash to pay for fuel imports. Hoy newspaper today says that it looks very bad for our international credit if the DR must turn back much needed fuel imports due to lack of dollars to pay for them. The writer also was also dubious of the merit in placing such orders only to cancel them shortly before delivery, instead of prior to the ship departing port. The newspaper comments that while the government says it has the money needed to source the fuel and supply the company's generation plants, the power grid continues in a state of dismal dysfunction. The editorialist speculates that in the latter case it is possible that the government is trying to buy time until it receives the IMF's promised disbursements, but criticizes the fact that the government misleads the people by saying it has the money to pay the generators to eliminate the blackouts and for the fuel that is to be sold at the gas stations. "In both cases, the facts make those who: try to minimize the seriousness of the problems we are confronting look very bad."
The president of the Dominican Refinery of Petroleum (Refidomsa), Amaury Justo Duarte, said that the refinery has lost RD$872 million in the past 30 days. Justo Duarte attributed the recent losses to exchange rate distortions and said that the government had been using a rate for price calculations that did not coincide with the cost to restock. He explained that on 4 January, the country purchased a shipment of crude oil for US$9 million, which was financed by the governmental Banco de Reservas, at an exchange rate of RD$39.06 to US$1. When Refidomsa went to buy dollars on the market with the allotted pesos, however, it had to pay a much higher rate, which he did not cite. The exchange problem dates back to December and January, after President Hipolito Mejia called in the military and reached an agreement with exchange houses and banks to gradually reduce the buying price of hard currency. Mejia's objective was to see the rate drop to RD$30 to US$1. While the posted buying rate did decline to RD$35 to US$1, there was an acute scarcity on the market of hard currency for sale to the general public, and hard currency sales were diverted to a new black market operation, thereby defeating the purpose of the efforts.
As reported in the Listin Diario, Justo Duarte said that the Ministry of Industry & Commerce is compensating for the losses, which will reportedly be passed on to consumers in the form of price hikes. In order to deal with the volatility of the various markets, the ministry must announce new fuel prices every Friday. Justo Duarte said the refinery expects it will take months before their losses are fully recovered. Last week, fuel prices were at a record RD$105.20 per gallon (up from RD$99.15) for premium gasoline and RD$96 for regular gasoline. A gallon of diesel stood at RD$71.70.
Justo Duarte mentioned that Refidomsa needs US$85 million a month to buy sufficient fuel for the nation. He said that a positive step in the direction of regularizing imports is the decision of the Industry & Commerce Ministry to charge for jet fuel in US dollars.
Justo Duarte is optimistic the crisis will not go beyond this week and said that two ships carrying 180,000 barrels of gasoline and 80,000 of diesel have arrived at the port.
The government continues to subsidize the cost of propane gas at RD$25.00. Justo Duarte said, however, that the subsidy is now at RD$38.28 per gallon of propane gas.
The director general of the Civil Aviation Board, Carlos Alvarez Guzman, announced the closing of operations of Herrera International Airport in Santo Domingo, scheduled for 5 March. The Fernandez government granted the land where the airport is located to engineering companies in exchange for debt contracted to expand the Duarte Highway. Herrera's operations would be transferred to the newly-built Aeropuerto Internacional de La Isabela, now named the Joaquin Balaguer Airport in northern Santo Domingo. The terminal was inaugurated last month by President Hipolito Mejia, but operations at the airport are being hindered by the hundreds of birds that the nearby Duquesa garbage dump and La Isabela River ecosystem attract. The United States Federal Aviation Agency has not yet cleared the airport for flights to the United States.
As reported in the Listin Diario today, the Supreme Court of Justice has returned the Ley de Lemas bill to the Senate. According to the newspaper's source, the judges unanimously refused to issue an opinion on a bill that has only passed a first reading in a single house Congressional session. The source also says that if the court had rendered any judgement, either in favor or against the electoral reform, it would have prejudiced a matter that it may be required to rule on in the future in terms of the bill's constitutionality. The proposal is due to be reviewed in a second reading in the Senate today, from where it would be forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies, who only have until Thursday, 12 February, the last day before the break of the current session, and return on 27 February. The electoral reform bill has met with widespread opposition from all sectors except a small group of PRD politicians who are keeping their aspirations to a PRD Presidential candidacy alive for the May 2004 election. The electoral reform bill would enable a single party to present up to five presidential candidates.
The Listin Diario reports that despite Article 73 of the DR's electoral law, which establishes a period of five days for the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to issue an opinion in favor or against the registration of any political party's presidential candidate, the JCE has yet to set a date for the review of the candidacies of Hipolito Mejia (PRD) and Eduardo Estrella (PRSC) that were submitted last Friday. Earlier, the Partido Revolucionario Independiente (PRI) had registered the candidacy of Trajano Santana and the PLD registered the candidacy of former President Leonel Fernandez on Tuesday, 3 February.
The president of the JCE, Luis Arias, said that he would speak with the judges to determine when a decision would be taken regarding the candidacies. Judge Rafael Diaz Vasquez, whom President Hipolito Mejia has described as his closest friend among the judges, said that there is no rush to rule on the registration of the candidacies.
But Judge Roberto Rosario (who represents the PLD in the JCE) said that the five-day period for the review must be respected, or a resolution issued varying the time allotted for the study.
The JCE last week recognized two new political parties - Por la Autentica Democracia (PAD) of journalist Raul Perez Pena (Bacho) and Movimiento Solidaridad Nacional (MSN) of Ramon Emilio Concepcion.
The strategic director of the presidential campaign of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Danilo Medina, said that all the money in the world will not be able to keep the PRD in power. As reported in the Listin Diario, Danilo Medina said, "There is no possibility that they can steal the victory from Leonel Fernandez because the country has never known such a bad government as that headed by Mr. Hipolito Mejia." Medina emphasized that the Dominican people abhors the present administration for the economic disaster it has caused. He said that given the public's unanimous rejection of current administration, the PRD and PPH leaders are propagating a false illusion that they will stay in power regardless because they have control of the Executive Branch, the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Congress and the city governments.
"They say they have the government and they have all the money in the world to buy the vote of the poor - and it is true that they have money, and it is true that they are unscrupulous - but what they forget is that the heart of the people is with Leonel and the PLD," he said.
Medina was the presidential candidate for the PLD in 2000, an election that was lost to current President Hipolito Mejia. Medina said he accepted his defeat then and did not exercise his right to a second round of voting because he felt the Dominican people had decided that the PRD should be the next government. But, he says, the same Dominican people have now chosen former President Fernandez.
Medina commented that while all previous PRD governments have been bad, the current administration has been "the worst fiasco in Dominican history."
Listin Diario reports today that prices of basic food staples have increased an average of 2000% in the past 12 months. Wages in the private sector have increased 25%.
Medina said that the use of neither force nor tricks will allow Mejia to remain in power because the Dominican people are only waiting for 16 May to take their revenge on the government at the polling stations for all the abuse they have received.
Medina has explained that the election is validated by the certificate of electoral results issued by each polling station. Two delegates representing each Presidential candidate are present when the votes are counted and must sign a document that certifies the results of that table. All certificates are then tabulated to produce the final results and each party keeps a copy of that official certificate. Medina said that to reduce the possibility of fraud, the PLD would send the party's better prepared members to represent it at the polling stations to ensure that they cannot be bought off and to work for the best interest of the party.
The president of the Dominican Episcopate Conference and Archbishop of Santiago, Monsignor Ramon de la Rosa y Carpio, said yesterday that the Church will continue to protest the government's handling of the country. The monsignor was referring to the role of the Church as defender of the people. He said Dominicans today feel impotent and do not know where to turn to denounce this mistreatment of the country. The priest was interviewed in Santiago by the press and he ventured an opinion on the newly-elected president of a PRD faction, Vicente Sanchez Baret, who said over the weekend that the bishops who oppose the government are trying to influence the will of the Dominican people. Monsignor de la Rosa y Carpio said that the bishops knew the criticism from the government would be forthcoming, after Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez spoke up against the government. He said that the comments of Sanchez Baret were but an old argument used by politicians. "We bishops have to speak out and we will continue to do so even if they do not pay attention to us. We will continue," he avowed.
Monsignor Benito Angeles, secretary of the Dominican Episcopate Conference which gathers bishops in the DR, reaffirmed the Santiago bishop's statement and that of the cardinal. He explained that the cardinal's public statements encompass the opinions of the Catholic Church, saying that also that the Church does not have a party to defend, only the people, justice, peace, social harmony and the unity of all Dominican people. Monsignor Angeles said that in their most recent statements issued on 25 November 2003 and on 21 January, the bishops spoke of the dramatic situation affecting the country, the loss of quality of life, of the inflation that has staggered the Dominican people, the lack of control in the economy and the reasons for the recent strike. The Church has begun a new crusade, with the slogan: "It is time for everyone to hold hands. It is time for hope."
Grupo Financiero Nacional affiliate company clients who suffered the confiscation or loss of revenues when that financial body collapsed in the second half of last year have taken the company to court. The private group is demanding a settlement of US$40 million. The case was presented to Judge Doris Pujols Ortiz, who will preside over the case, by lawyers Virgilio Bello Rosa (a former Attorney General in the Mejia administration), Licelotte Marte de Barrios (a PRSC deputy), Jorge Lora Castillo and Gustavo Biaggi Pumarol.
The defendants in the suit have named chief bank shareholders or executives Maximo Pellerano, Manuel Arturo Pellerano, Hector Castro Noboa and Raisa Gil de Fondeur in the case. Companies that are being levied the charges of embezzlement of funds, asset laundering and associating with known felons and delinquents, include: Grupo Bancredito, AFP Siembra, ARS Humano, B. Preetzmenn Aggerholm, Bancredit Cayman, Bancredito Panama, CNS Corporation, Creditcard Internacional, GFN Comunicacion, GFN Capital Corporation, Tricom, En el Punto Dominicana, Fomento Corporativo, Oleander Holding, Magna Compania de Seguros, Mundo Gas America Dominicana, Omnimedia, Reaseguradora Nacional, Segna, Seguros La Antillana, TCN Dominicana (Telecable), Terelum, Transglobal de Seguros, Zona Franca San Isidro, Efe Haina, Infosolutions and Tricom Latinoamericana.
The banking division of the Grupo Financiero Nacional was sold to the E. Leon Jimenes group and subsequently became Banco Leon. Banco Leon is now being served notice for alleged unfulfilment of payment to clients.
Meanwhile, in a related news story, defendants of Manuel Arturo Pellerano, lawyers Pedro Catrain and Eduardo Jorge Prats, criticized the decision of the Monetary Board not to honor the contractual commitments assumed by the Central Bank before the takeover. In a press release, they say the decision is a flagrant violation of the agreement signed by the Central Bank with the former and new owners of Bancredito. The lawyers say the Central Bank has acted contrary to the precedent set by the restitution given to depositors of Baninter, the banking institution that collapsed last year.
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