Although Hurricane Ivan passed well to the south of the Dominican Republic, its winds, rain and waves were felt strongly in the southern regions of the country. The National Commission for Emergencies (CNE) has issued a red alert for the Southwest Coast of the country from Bani and Azua to Pedernales, with special attention to the areas nearest the sea. In San Juan de la Maguana, the authorities have forcefully evacuated the population from the neighborhood called Mesopotamia, the same one that lost untold hundreds of people during the flooding that followed Hurricane Georges in 1998. According to stories carried in today's El Caribe, the authorities announced that the dam at Sabaneta is near its critical level and water may have to be released in order to avoid a greater catastrophe. Yesterday, 600 people were removed from the danger zone. Octavio Rodriguez, who is in charge of all the country's hydroelectric dams, said that the Sabaneta dam was at 96% of it absolute capacity, and the predicted rainfall from Ivan would oblige the floodgates to be opened. Currently the dam is just 68 centimeters away overflowing its spillways. Sources reported that the dam could not hold another 5 centimeters of rainfall.
In far sadder news, the body of the fourth child was recovered from the waters of the Caribbean Sea yesterday after drowning in the stormy waters. According to family members, the four siblings had gone to the area near the sea in order to pick almonds. The children lived with their parents who were working at the time of the tragedy.
In Santo Domingo, massive waves have dislodged the benches along long stretches of the George Washington Avenue and 30 de Mayo Highway. This avenue, better known as the Malecon, runs alongside the Caribbean Sea for more than 15 kilometers. Further south, in the area around San Cristobal, at least two houses near the sea were destroyed and another 20 were flooded at Playa de Loyola.
And, of course, the entire town of Jimani is reliving the tragedy of just a few months ago, when heavy rains flooded the town and carried hundreds to their deaths. Numerous people have already sought shelter on higher ground in that Haitian border region, as the police and armed forces are getting people away from the ocean in other areas of the Pedernales province.
As Hurricane Ivan continues east after ravaging other areas of the Caribbean, particularly Grenada, Jamaica is now bracing for its wrath. Hoy newspaper reports that 2,000 tourists holidaying in Jamaica were transported to Puerto Plata yesterday afternoon. The category 4 storm is expected to reach Jamaica's southeast coast tonight. Ivan is responsible for at least 25 deaths so far, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency.
Rear Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez rejected the notion yesterday that there was any dissension within the military over the 300 rank promotions revoked this week. The Armed Forces minister, in an interview with the Listin Diario, assured that these advancements were improperly authorized and he estimated that 98% of the military applauded their rescindment as he did.
Minister Pared Perez cited examples of officials who had been favored "gratuitously" by their superiors, some of them receiving as many as five promotions in as few as four years, while the usual timeframe for the ascension to the rank of captain or major is four years, he said. Those who were selected for such swift advancement were, according to Pared Perez, those with close ties to high-ranking military members or top-level functionaries of the previous government. He said that most of those who had benefited by the promotions did little more than turn up for work and "hold doors open for the bosses," and that it was these "bosses" who independently handed out the promotions without having them authorized by their superiors, the Armed Forces minister, or the President. Most of these promotions were awarded in the final days of the Mejia government, according to the minister.
Pared Perez indicated that even the grand majority of those involved in the annulments, as members of an institution that is based on respect for rules and the law, recognize the justness of revoking promotions that were unduly given. If anything, the minister felt the demotions would serve to strengthen the forces, not cause discord.
Police Chief Manuel Perez Sanchez announced yesterday he was investigating the possibility that officers and patrolmen were connected to the misappropriation of confiscated or recovered stolen vehicles. While the police chief had stated yesterday that no penalties would be levied against those who returned such vehicles, the Presidential legal advisor, Cesar Pina Toribio, said that those who helped themselves to the stolen vehicles should be processed through the judicial system. He was firm in stating that such incidents should never happen again. According to El Caribe, the executive is demanding that those individuals who had the recovered vehicles in their possession be prosecuted. In an apparent change of heart, presumably due to public pressure, the police themselves announced they would conduct their own investigations as well, potentially leading to charges in civilian courts for those who illicitly made use of the vehicles. The police chief told reporters that a careful enquiry is being undertaken to see how the vehicles made their way to high-ranking officers after their owners reported them missing. He also said that any lower ranks that acted in conjunction with the auto thieves would be submitted to the judicial system. Finally, the head of the National Police said he would let the press have the names of all of those implicated in the matters as soon as they themselves had determined the seriousness of the offences.
Meanwhile, a UASD professor told reporters from the Listin Diario that she now fears for her life after publicly stating she would sue the person who drove her vehicle for nine months after it was stolen last December. Mary Almanzar has been a member of the University Council for 16 years and is a former president of the professor's union at the state university. She told the Listin Diario that she was able to identify her vehicle because of some stains on the seats, despite the fact that the chassis number had been filed off and the windows tinted. Almanzar said her unease stems from the fact that the "uniformed delinquent" knows who she is, while she does not know who he is. The professor said that when she went to the police and spoke to official spokesman General Simon Diaz, she was referred to the police inspector general, Major General Jose Luis Dominguez Castillo. He told her that if she had already waited for nine months, "she could wait two or three days more." What is even more exasperating to the woman is the fact that, because she only had the minimum insurance required by law, she was forced to continue to make payments on a vehicle she could not even use.
In a story right next to this one, the Listin Diario announced that the police would not be handing over the recovered vehicles right away. The press release said that the vehicles would be subjected to a chemical process "to restore the original numbers and establish ownership." Owners are being asked to provide all of their documentation on the vehicles.
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito yesterday revoked the order that released Luis Alvarez Renta from prison for reasons of poor health. The AG argued that the process that permitted Alvarez Renta to walk out of prison had violated the Code on Criminal Procedures. A well-known consultant to the business community and a former diplomat, Alvarez Renta was arrested in June 2003 as part of the ongoing investigation into the Baninter scandal that involved some RD$55 billion. Then district attorney for the National District, Maximo Aristy Caraballo, formalized the charges against Alvarez Renta. Dominguez Brito, however, told reporters that he had studied the reports from the doctors that supported the petition for release on medical grounds and found that only two private practice doctors were consulted and the file did not contain any reference to opinions from the doctors of the judicial offices, which is a requirement in these types of cases. Alvarez Renta's release order also violated Article 419 of the Code on Criminal Procedures in that it placed him in the custody of his own daughter, Carlina Alvarez Araujo, instead of the judicial authorities. The attorney general was careful to assure that proper procedures were now being followed, telling reporters that the presumption of innocence would be respected and the revocation of Alvarez Renta's liberty would be subject to a decision of the Chamber of Qualifications that has been given the case file on appeal.
Judge Edgar Hernandez Mejia, a member of the Supreme Court, warned judges that they may not criticize the new Code of Penal Procedures, and that they must enforce the new rules beginning on 22 September or resign from their posts. Magistrate Hernandez Mejia said that, with the application of the new procedural codes, the age-old practice of archiving case files for years would come to an end. The Supreme Court justice stated that he has seen cases that were 14 or 20 years old and still without any definitive sentence. Justice Hernandez also said that since the new code had been approved by Congress, it was the judges' mission to enforce it as best they could. While he feels the public will benefit from the new procedures, he said that history would assess whether the reformation of penal procedures was right or wrong. He also noted that the former code had been in use for over a century and that it was very well known by the lawyers who use it every day. He said that lawyers are generally resistant to changes of this nature, but that this was understandable since the changes were not merely a reformation of the old code but a substitution of one code for another. Furthermore, the new code comes from the Anglo Saxon judicial tradition, which, he said, is another culture, another tradition. On a personal level, the jurist said he felt that the many parts of the new conventions are much better than the former code. In an important piece of information, the judge said that Law 278-04 provided for a period of simultaneous courts that would liquidate cases brought under the old code, while the other would deal with cases under the new code.
Certain sectors of the business community are not in full agreement with statements issued yesterday by CONEP (National Council on Business) and ANJE (Young Entrepreneurs' Association) with regards to the need to meet with the National Committee on Salaries and determine what increase to the minimum wage is required. CONEP said they would encourage their members to follow suit with regards to the salaries of their other employees, especially faced with the meager purchasing power of the peso. As reported in today's El Caribe, the Herrera Association of Industrial Businesses feels that distortions in the salary scales should be eliminated, especially in regards to the minimum wage. The association, which was one of the first to call for wage increases to restore purchasing power to their employees, recognizes at the same time that the idea of wage increases scares most businesses that are having a hard time anyway. CONEP altered its position and proposed that workers and employers get together at the CNS (National Committee on Salaries) to settle a new minimum wage and then proceed to encourage companies to adjust the other wage scales accordingly. The Herrera association said they felt any differences should be debated at the CNS. The representative for the National Council for Union Solidarity (CNUS) said that while there are some businesspeople with no interest whatsoever in discussing a minimum wage raise, others are willing to consider such a deal and others yet have already implemented pay increases unilaterally within their business months ago. The spokesperson for the Santiago Chamber of Commerce and Production, Luis Jose Bonilla Bojos, said that his people were worried the legislature would attempt to establish such a raise. Another factor in these talks is the fact that the US dollar is currently below the RD$40 mark and seems to be stable. Elena Viyella, the head of CONEP, says that this fact must be taken into consideration. Rafael Abreu, the vice-president of CNUS, said that his council is ready to consult with the business community and arrive at an agreement and if that agreement yields wages that are higher or lower than some companies are currently paying, then so be it.
The numbers indicate that food and beverages experienced a deceleration in their prices, gaining only 0.90% during the month which is nearly one third of the July rate of 2.52%. According to the Central Bank, the modest increase for this group of items - one that has a major influence on a family's expenditures - means that the monthly inflation rate for the goods and services included in the basic family shopping cart is at its lowest since April 2003 when it stood at just 0.29%. This latest Central Bank report, released just yesterday, places the yearly inflation rate at 32.61%. The report attributes the lower inflation for August to a series of events that included a strengthening of the peso, which dropped nearly 1,000 points or RD$10. Over the past 12 months the inflation rate is pegged at 51.84%, representing a slight decrease form the 12 month figure for July that was over 55%. Hotel, bar and restaurant services were a major contributor to the inflation rate, with general increases of 6.61% overall. For the highest 20% of family incomes, the result was a 0.60% decrease in the inflation rate and for the lowest 20% of family incomes a 1% increase in their cost of living. In Santo Domingo, the inflation rate was reported to be just 0.20% and in the rest of the country it was 0.58%. The rural areas were the least benefited by the numbers, experiencing an inflation rate of 0.83%.
Other factors that influenced the new calculations were the lower costs of transportation through lower gasoline prices, airfares and cars.
Mechanical failures, short circuits and the weather have caused the electricity situation to return to its "life support" status, with service fulfilling only 56% of the national energy demand. Most of the power stations have reduced their output in order to save fuel and EGE-Haina shut down its most important generator, the Sultana del Este, because of conditions created by winds and waves from Hurricane Ivan. AES-Andres announced that it was forced to reduce output from 300 MW to 170 MW due to mechanical problems caused by wave action resulting from the storm. In the Cibao Valley the situation is being described as precarious by El Caribe, with Smith-Enron going offline because of a lack of fuel, and the similar situations at the Puerto Plata Electric Company's generators. Seaboard was rationing its fuel and producing just 31 MW. All of the Itabo power stations are out of service because of mechanical issues and Haina was only producing 22 MW. As a result of this situation, 15-hour blackouts have once again become the norm for much of Santo Domingo and many other areas of the country. Meanwhile, Ede-Sur announced a plan to raise their collection rates, diminish illegal connections and recover long over-due bills.
Because of the recent attacks on women by people pretending to be police agents, El Caribe carries a short piece that identifies each of the seven different uniforms used by the National Police. The basic uniform is grey from top to bottom and has been in use since 1936. Normally, dark grey pants and a light grey shirt are standard. Specialized units, such as the intelligence and security units or the Fast Action Group (GAR), use uniforms that are altogether different. The GAR use military or SWAT-style outfits and the intelligence units use all black, loose-fitting uniforms associated with Special Forces-type work. The camouflage uniforms are used for training only and are not for street patrols by police agents. Politur agents, who serve the tourist areas, wear a distinct shad of dark blue pants and a white shirt, and the AMET are well known for their light green shirts and dark green pants, as well as their "Smokey the Bear"-style hats. The Protocol units dress up with dark grey jackets, white belts and chromed helmets, which are used for national holidays and important diplomatic occasions. With this information, the readers will now be able to identify who is who.
Only 7,777 of the 13,465 students who took the obligatory National Tests for the Eighth Grade passed, according to a report. The regions of Azua (42.11%), Santo Domingo (43.63%) and Santiago (48.08%) had the lowest pass rates, whereas the highest rates of success were in San Juan de la Maguana (84.76%), San Pedro de Macoris (79.30%) and Nagua (71.11%). In Spanish language study, 75.77% of the students made the grade, but the average overall score was just 68.76%. In social sciences, 73% passed, while the average was 68%. In natural sciences, 60% passed, but the average score was 68%.
The results from the third cycle of formal adult education were much more positive. In Nagua and Puerto Plata, 98% passed their tests; in Mao, 94%; and in San Pedro de Macoris and Higuey, 93% hit the mark. It gets even better in the non-formal adult third cycle of education. Three regional centers reported 100% pass rates for those who took the tests. These were inSan Juan de la Maguana, San Cristobal and San Pedro de Macoris. Many other areas had pass rates of over 90%.
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