| Daily News - Tuesday, 24 August 2004 |
President Leonel Fernandez continued his stream of appointments to fill the bureaucratic posts of the new PLD government. By way of Decree 912-04, Fernandez called on Ignacio Ditren to head the OMSA (Metropolitan Office for Autobus Service) and Kirsys Fernandez to lead CONANI (National Council on Children), and named Juan Bautista Gomez as a member of the board of the Superintendent of Electricity, to replace Juan Vasquez. Decree 918-04 named eight more provincial governors, including Renato Augusto Garcia for Santo Domingo and Plutarco Perez for La Romana. The newest wave of under-ministerial appointments included Julio Horton, Henry Rodriguez Castellanos, Juan Antigua Javier, Will Lajara Pena, Roberto Lamarche Cruz, Fabio Rafael Nunez, Jose Pantaleon, Maria Arias and Fernando Baez Pozo, as contained in Decree 914-04, all assigned to the Interior & Police Ministry. Another eight under-ministers were named to the Tourism Ministry, five for the Sports Ministry and six were named to the Environment Ministry. Of those designated to posts yesterday, Henry Castellanos is perhaps the best known because of his activity alongside Franklyn Almeyda as a political and electoral strategist for the PLD.
Another 31 generals were retired by the Chief Executive yesterday, including the most famous officer currently serving the Armed Forces or the National Police, Pedro de Jesus Candelier Tejada. Decree 926-04 placed the generals and 7 colonels into official retirement and, combined with the 99 generals retired by President Fernandez earlier this week, comprise a total of 130 general officers to have been removed from service since Fernandez took office on 16 August. The decree also negates promotions to the rank of general in the National Police for German Despradel Guerrero, Frank Pichardo Manzano, Maria Abreu Aquino and Ernesto T Ovalles Concepcion, and colonels Julio Pichardo Manzano and Tiburcio Pichardo Manzano. Decree 925-04 promoted Colonel Jose Luis Dominguez Castillo to the rank of general and named him Inspector General of the police force. Generals Santo Domingo Guerrero Clase and Carlos Manuel Garcia Henriquez were named head of airport security (CESA) and commander of the San Isidro Airbase, respectively.
The most prominent figures of the new PLD administration held their first genuine policy meeting yesterday and spent over four hours debating various hot topics facing the country. Today’s headlines provide a summary of the discussions, whose subject matter included a 20% reduction in the public payroll, meaning 68,000 fewer government jobs; the IMF’s stance against providing any subsidies for propane and electricity; the stalled status of many important projects due to lack of counterpart funding; and the government’s decision to honor RD$41.373 billion in debts, including RD$20.128 billion to service the foreign debt, RD$3.714 billion in overdue propane subsidies, RD$5.840 billion for the electric sector and payroll expenses of RD$11.683 billion. The meeting focused on financial forecasts that said government income for the four remaining months of fiscal 2004 would reach just RD$40.420 billion. The President named four groups of cabinet officials to follow through on the various governmental decisions. President Fernandez emphasized the need for a rigorous application of each and every measure taken by his administration, and said that a first step would be to downsize the government payroll by 20%. Fernandez also gave instructions to revise the foreign debt accumulated in the period from 2000 to 2004. He called for a complete review of intra-governmental fund transfers, which he seeks to reduce by 30%. Another chief point was the process whereby the Customs Office deposits the money collected by the foreign currency exchange commission. These funds are directly deposited into the accounts designated for payment of foreign debts and an investigation of the use given to those funds, which were detoured for several months by the previous administration, is being called for.
The special commission created by the Chamber of Deputies to study the proposed new tax package decided last night not to increase the current 6% VAT that is assessed on publicity. Marino Collante, the chairman of the commission charged with the task of analyzing the many varied fiscal proposals submitted by dozens of institutions and associations, pointed out that while the members had rejected the proposed 10% VAT increase on publicity, the changes devised by the commission will not reduce the amount of money collected. According to the spokesperson, more than 90% of the projected new tax proposals have been studied and the bill could be forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies president as early as today. Collante furthermore expressed confidence that the bill would be ratified this week. Despite this optimism, however, the tax reform legislation does not appear on today’s agenda and there is some opposition coming from Deputy Pelegrin Castillo, who is unhappy that his proposals have not yet been heard. The spokesperson for the PRD delegation, Ramon Agramonte, told reporters that insurance policies were also removed from the group of services facing the 1% increase in the Dominican VAT, also known as ITBIS. As Agramonte expressed his appreciation for the acceptance of the PRD proposal that allowed insurance charges to remain at 6%, he also told reporters for El Caribe that the PRD would submit a proposal for a 30% increase in the minimum wage as a separate legislative initiative.
A larger number of people leaving the Dominican Republic has produced a RD$1-billion windfall for the National Treasury. According to Idonelia Perez Blanco at El Caribe, the economic crisis has prompted many to leave the country and during the first seven months of this year, 291,000 more people went through the nation’s departure terminals than in 2003. The increased exit tax has meant an extra RD$1.669 billion for the nation’s coffers, with internal revenue figures reporting a 400% increase in collections this year. Because of a move that increased the departure tax from US$10 to US$20 at the beginning of the year, collections have jumped from RD$579 million to RD$2.248 billion. Another increasingly large sum is being reported from the sale of tourist cards, which has reportedly garnered RD$775.7 million so far this year, representing an increase of RD$388 million more over last year at this time.
The arrival, as announced in DR1 News yesterday, of a tanker of liquid natural gas has allowed AES-Andres to up its production to 362 MW, a big help in the current electricity situation. However, as reported in today’s El Caribe, the solution may be temporary as officials of AES state that the continuation of their operation is contingent upon the government’s disposition to reconcile the pending accounts payable. These amounts owed are largely related to the unpaid subsidies for electricity to certain neighborhoods and to those government facilities that are considered to be uninterruptible. If the money is not forth-coming, says AES, the current supply will force the plants to shut down again and it will not be possible to start them up again until February of 2005. The US$15 million required to obtain the latest shipment of LNG came from internal sources, and this was the cause of the delay in getting the generators back online. AES maintains that the government owes them US$23 million and the last payment received was for US$7 million back in February of 2004. Anibal Mejia, a high-ranking official with AES-Andres, told reporters from El Caribe that the company has confidence in the 10 points presented by President Fernandez in his inauguration speech.
Industry & Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia told reporters from the Diario Libre that his team would aim the propane subsidy at family units in order to implement the funding more efficiently. Currently, the industrial sector uses 22% of all local propane and gains about RD$162 million in the process. According to the minister, this is a gift from the Dominican State that is “unnecessary.” Javier Garcia met with distributors and retailers of propane to discuss ways to get a better focus on the use of the subsidy, especially concerning the poorest sector of the population, which, according to government figures, represents some 27% of the total market. According to Minister Javier Garcia, propane use during the first seven months of this year increased by 19 million gallons over a similar period of 2003, while the demand for regular gasoline declined by 14 million gallons, a clear indication that many drivers are switching over to the subsidized fuel.
At current costs, propane should sell at RD$62 a gallon. The government is subsidizing RD$37 pesos for every gallon sold, representing a cost to the state of about RD$8 billion a year. Industry & Commerce data indicate that transportation uses 27% of the propane, industry, including hotels and restaurants, uses 22%, and poor families account for 27%.
Most of the projects begun under the auspices of the Cotonu Accords (formerly called Lome IV) have been delayed because the Dominican government has not put up its counterpart funding. Onefre Rojas, the controller for the National Office for European Funds, told reporters from Hoy that the Dominican side has not yet fulfilled the 15% of funds that correspond to the host nation as part of the agreement. At the same time, Rojas said that European Union officials are worried about the questionable use given to funds designated for the hydroelectric dam at Los Toros in Azua and that the attitude manifested by the former Dominican authorities had jeopardized European cooperation. As the new administration struggles to work things out, part of the problem seems to be that the money earned by the Los Toros dam was to be placed in a special account at the CDEEE and used for social projects. Some of the projects that are at a standstill include the SABAMAR housing project to repair schools and houses of people affected by natural disasters, the transfer of the National Pathological Institute to a new site, the modernization of the justice department and the decentralization of the state. The PLD government is hoping to obtain as much as 200 million euros over the next four years for social programs alone.
OMSA, the public transport service, put 250 vehicles into service yesterday, after receiving a shipment of fuels that included 20,000 gallons of gasoil for use in Santo Domingo and 10,000 gallons more for Santiago.
Ignacio Ditren, OMSA’s newly appointed director, said he was working to get most of the organization’s vehicles back on the road, and hoped to maintain the fare at RD$5.
Diogenes Castillo, the transport service’s director during the Mejia administration, said that many buses were removed from service because they lacked permits from the new government administration, not because of a lack of resources. The situation resulted in a dearth of transportation options for those relying on the public service in the capital city.
At his swearing-in ceremony yesterday at the Presidential Palace, Ditren thanked Castillo for his cooperation during the government interim and vowed to treat the outgoing official’s employees with respect. While Ditren did not say whether there would be mass firings at OMSA, he informed that the personnel would definitely be evaluated. “It’s likely that everyone who works there and justifies their position will not have to be removed. But there are surely many who earn a salary without actually working,” said Ditren. When he held the same post four years ago, the service employed a staff of 2,800, a number which has since jumped to approximately 6,000.
According to Ditren, mechanics from Mercedes-Benz would be arriving presently to examine the fleet’s vehicles that are broken down. The number of units that would return to the streets will depend on the condition of the vehicles in OMSA’s garages, said Ditren. He rejected the notion, however, that any vehicles would be imported to bolster the service’s fleet.
Felix “Super” Sanchez returned to the track today to show his determination to win the DR’s first Olympic gold. The 26-year-old athlete earned himself a time of 47:93 in the 400-meter hurdle semifinals today, easily beating his fellow competitors. During yesterday’s preliminary heats, Sanchez scored a time of 48:51, which was bested by Jamaican Danny McFarlane. Today’s race put Sanchez in first place, however, with McFarlane scoring a lesser time of 48:00. The three top contenders for gold in this event are Sanchez, McFarlane and James Carter of the US. The 400-meter hurdle finals are due to take place on Thursday.
Other Dominican track-and-field athletes still in competition include high-jumper Juana Arrendell, who arrived from Belarus where she had been undergoing intensive training with her coach Natalia Korotoeva. Last year’s Pan American champion, at 1.94 meters, will face stiff competition from fellow high-jumpers from Russia, Croatia, Mexico, Spain and Argentina. In other track and field news, the 4 x 400 relay team is still awaiting a decision from the Technical Committee as to whether their request to compete in these games will be accepted. The team is composed of Johelin Santa, Antonio Sidé, Arismendy Peguero and Félix Sánchez.
In other sports, Hansel Ramírez takes to the mat today in the preliminaries of the Greco-Roman wrestling competition. He faces incredible competition in his draw at the 55-kilo level, having to face Japan’s Masatoshi Toyota and Hungarian Majoros Istvan.
Dominican Tae Kwan Do star Gabriel Mercedes will do battle in the 58-kilo class on Saturday, where he hopes to better his silver medal-winning performance of the Santo Domingo Pan Am Games last year.
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