The Senate will today study whether to proceed with the passage of the tax reform. Senate leader Andres Bautista announced yesterday they would pass the bill. The government is encouraging them to do so, alleging it needs the extra tax income to help pay for social and infrastructure spending regarding damages caused by the tropical storm Jeanne.
The issued over the 25% tax on future corn syrup imports that would have entered duty free under the FTA signed with the US continues to be debated in the Senate. A very strong local sugar lobby, championed by Central Romana, wants the surcharge to be included in the tax reform legislation. Central Romana has ties to sugar production in Florida through the Fanjul business group. Campos de Moya, the spokesman for the Vicini sugar producing group, argued that protection is needed in the face of a dwindling US sugar quota.
The surcharge under discussion would primarily impede soft drink bottlers from switching from local sugar inputs to the imported corn syrup. The sugar producers are in favour of the surcharge and argue that 200,000 jobs would be jeopardized if the corn syrup is not assessed. Those lobbying on behalf of the free zone manufacturers, however, say that the sugar industry barely employs 20,000 people (and many of these foreigners) and that 180,000 jobs of Dominicans are at stake, plus some 78 companies that have conditioned their entry to the effective date of the FTA with the US. The US Trade Representative Office has said imposing the tax will derail the DR portion of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement.
Diario Libre reports that a letter dated 16 September from US Congressman Jerry Weller, a member of the Ways & Means Commission, urges President Leonel Fernandez to find mechanisms that will prevent any surcharge from being applied to corn syrup imports. He says that if the tax goes ahead, the US will proceed with the agreement with Central American nations, but will exclude the DR. US Ambassador Hans Hertell met with several senators yesterday. Anibal Garcia Duverge, the spokesman for the PRD block of senators (which encompasses all but two senators), said they had not been pressured by the US to eliminate the article on corn syrup in the tax reform.
William Malamud of the American Chamber of Commerce said that an alternate solution should have found to meet the interests of the sugar producers. He told El Caribe reporters that the provision to make the use of corn syrup more attractive to local soft drink and juice manufacturers would not take effect for another four years anyway.
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) announced that it will be ready by the 16 May 2006 congressional and municipal elections with electronic voting. The JCE has used a US$59-million loan to establish the new system, which will also make possible the automation of civil registry procedures.
Propane gas scarcities and long blackouts continue to affect life in the Dominican Republic, despite the optimistic announcements of the new Fernandez administration. El Caribe reports that despite the expected arrival of a propane gas shipment, long lineups are still evidence that the scarcities continue. Blackouts lasting 12 to 20 hours have also persisted.
El Caribe says the authorities are now conditioning better power service on the passage of the fiscal reform that would raise taxes and, according to government expectations, entail a windfall of new resources with which to pay off the accumulated arrears with suppliers.
Cid Wilson, the president of the Dominican American National Roundtable Conference that took place from 17-19 September, declared the event "a success." Wilson reported that approximately 500 leaders from all over the United States and Puerto Rico attended the assembly of Dominicans living in the US. Speakers at the event included Congressman Charlie Rangel (NY), Congressman Anthony Wiener (NY), Senator Juan Pichardo (RI), Manhattan borough President C. Virginia Fields, Bronx borough President Adolfo Carrion, Mayor David Cicillini of Providence RI and Mayor Brian Stack of Union City NJ.
President Leonel Fernandez was forced to cancel his attendance due to Hurricane Jeanne, but First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez acted as his stand-in. DANR honored Ramona Hernandez and Silvio Torres-Saillant for their leadership in making the Dominican Studies Institute at City College an exemplary institution.
For more information, see http://dr1.com/news/2004/092104_danr.pdf
The 12th annual Dominican Week will be held 23-30 September in the United States and Puerto Rico, once again highlighting Dominican business and cultural achievements and challenges and opportunities. The president of the event's organizing committee, Luis Heredia Bonetti, emphasized that the event aims to attract new investment to the Dominican Republic, while strengthening its ties to the US. Activities have been scheduled to take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jacksonville, Florida, Washington, DC and New York City. Also as part of Dominican Week, a concert with Michel Camilo is planned for the Lincoln Center in New York City.
For more information, see http://www.rvhb.com
Eddy Martinez, the director of the Center for Export and Investment (CEI-RD), announced that the government will back the organization of the V Grand Caribbean Business Forum to be held in the DR from 25-28 October. He announced that an estimated 400 businesspeople from across the world are expected to participate. As reported in the Listin Diario, Martinez said the government plans to relaunch the country in international markets as it seeks to attract new investment.
According to him, the level of new foreign investment has declined, which he attributed to macroeconomic, political and social factors that negatively impacted the country in 2003.
Martinez said they are working to reactivate US$800 million in proposed investments that were put on hold before the change of government. He said that while US and European investors have been the most significant, his office is receiving numerous requests for information on investing in the DR from Latin American investors.
Diario Libre reports on the saga of the stolen vehicles that were recovered by the police and covertly distributed to people other than their rightful owners. Police are now working to match the original owners with the vehicles. The first 50 vehicles were made available this week. Of the 50, 25 were returned to their proprietors, 16 are now the property of insurance companies who had already paid the owners for their loss, seven are property of the Superintendence of Insurance (due to their coverage with Segna and Intercontinental, two now-defunct insurance companies) and two were awarded to the Customs Department.
The newspaper reports on the outrage of Diego Pena, who claimed possession of his Mitsubishi 2002 vehicle. He discovered that the vehicle had been given to one Milkelys Soraya Aguasvivas Casado and that, despite the use of false data, an insurance policy had been issued in her name by Proseguros and the vehicle's chassis number of the vehicle had been altered. The newspaper reports that this is not the only such case. Of the 50 vehicles that were to be returned to their original owners, several had had their chassis numbers altered, some of which the detectives are unable to restore. Pena told the newspaper that he, like many others who suffered the loss of their vehicle, would sue, and he complained of the irresponsibility of the National Police in not revealing the names of the officers who made illicit use of the vehicles.
Manuel Iglesias got back his pickup, and as reported in Hoy newspaper, he noticed the lock had been changed. He said it was stolen five days after he bought it, and he did not even have time to take out the license plate.
It is now apparent that the police appropriated the vehicles and used them both for official and personal reasons. Several of the vehicles were reassigned to third parties.
Insurance companies have claimed 300 vehicles in irregular condition and, with the change of government, began to exert pressure again to resolve the situation. This pressure led to the chief of police ordering his officers to return the vehicles.
There is general expectation in the population regarding whether there will be impunity for the police officers that benefited from the use of the stolen vehicles.
Since Major General Manuel de Jesus Perez Sanchez's appointment as chief of the National Police, the force has gone public with the names of those agents found to be involved in recent assaults, rape and kidnappings, in an apparent effort to purge the force of its undesirable element. According to a report in Hoy newspaper, public relations officer Simon Diaz has indicated that officers facing cases against them within the police organization itself now include Lieutenant Vitalio Ramirez Perez (Holguin), an officer identified as Sergeant Chocolate, Corporal Ney Rafael Encarnacion de los Santos, Armando Andujar, Francisco Montero de los Santos and Sergeant Domingo Sanchez Ramirez. Police officials have not disclosed the names of any others. Holguin is alleged to have collected protection money from criminals in Azua, and there are accusations he even murdered certain of them when they became of no further use. He is also accused of murdering a representative of Verizon in Azua.
According to a report in the Listin Diario, former Colonel Pedro Julio "Pepe" Goico Guerrero's departure from the country was legal as there was no legal impediment against him at the time. Goico left the DR on Sunday, 12 September from Las Americas International Airport, where he boarded an Air France flight to Paris. The newspaper says that the Migration Department staff on hand at the time said they are not able to remove or place travel impediments on anyone wishing to leave the country. These legal embargoes can only be removed from Migration data systems through the use of a secret access code known only by the department's director. They told the newspaper that intelligence officers on duty at Las Americas knew that Goico was leaving because they visited the departure point at the airport and inquired if he had already gone. The Migration personnel who spoke to reporters refused to be identified, explaining that they could be fired for speaking to the press. The officers say that an impediment issued by former Attorney General Victor Cespedes Martinez that barred Goico from leaving the country was reactivated on 14 September.
The death toll in the Dominican Republic in the wake of Hurricane Jeanne now stands at 25, after more bodies were recovered from various rivers. Thirteen bodies were discovered in rivers near El Seibo, Boca de Yuma (La Altagracia province), Cotui and San Luis in the province of Santo Domingo. Six others were found under the collapsed debris of the bridge that spanned the Chavon River.
The Center of Emergency Operations (COE) reports that 261 people were injured in the storm, while two are still missing. The number of those evacuated is 34,118, of which 10,995 are being housed in government shelters, and the remainder are being put up by friends and family.
COE also reported that 300 public schools were affected by the inclement weather and the ensuing emergency operations. Of these, 133 are in the province of La Altagracia province, 30 in Nagua, 25 in San Pedro de Macoris, 24 in Samana, 13 in El Seibo, 11 in Rio San Juan and 11 in Cabrera. These schools need to be repaired, while 30 others are being used to accommodate those who lost their homes during the storm.
Agriculture Minister Amilcar Romero said that the northeast region was the most affected by recent weather conditions, such as Hurricane Jeanne, estimating farming losses of RD$1.5 billion. The Emergency Commission reports damages in the provinces of Espaillat, El Seibo, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, La Altagracia and Samana. The hardest hit crops were plaintain, rice, corn, yuca, cacao, coffee and coconuts. Fortunately, the organic banana plantations of the northwest were not significantly harmed, as had happened during the heavy rains in January.
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez said that of the 20,000 hotel rooms in the Punta Cana-Bavaro area, the region most affected by Hurricane Jeanne in the DR, 65% are in operation. He said that 12,000 rooms are in operation, and another 7,000 are expected to be back in service in a period of 15-45 days.
He explained, as reported in the Listin Diario, that the only problem affecting the hotels of the Bayahibe area is that their guests will have to be rerouted through Punta Cana International Airport until the landlink with the La Romana International Airport is repaired. Jimenez has said this landlink will be ready as of Saturday.
For updates on the situation, see http://www.dr1.com/travelnews/status.shtml or check in on the Weather & Beyond Forum at http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=34
El Caribe provides an update today on the progress being made to restore the La Romana to Higuey landlink. Earlier this week, the Chavon Dam overflowed, causing the collapse of the bridge. Coincidentally, however, Construcciones y Transporte Pagan had containers of prefabricated bridges in Customs, which could be used in areas damaged by natural disasters, such as occurred with the passing of Jeanne. The problem was that Customs was charging a RD$33-million tax on the bridges. Given the emergency situation, the department received an order from the Executive Branch to exempt the bridges from the tax so they could be put to use immediately. Engineer Milton Gomez of the Public Works Ministry said that water systems are being installed to prepare for the bridge's placement. He also reported that 130 men are at work to install a landlink between Higuey and El Seibo, also damaged by the rushing waters of the Duey River. Engineer Ruben Pagan of the private company that will put in the bridges said that these were financed by funding contracted from England during the Mejia government. He said two such structures have already been installed over the Boba (Nagua) and Yuna rivers.
He was not able to give a cost for the bridges, saying that this would be set after the installation.
As reported in El Caribe, the bridges would be installed over a two-month period. Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez told the Listin Diario that the Chavon crossing would be operational by Saturday, 25 September.
The Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMET) announced that the drawbridge over the Ozama River will not be in use today so as to facilitate the flow of water rushing down from the Ozama. This means that traffic crossing the waterway will be slow. Those heading east to the Las Americas International Airport, Boca Chica, Juan Dolio or La Romana will need to give themselves extra time for traffic jams over the Bosch, Mella and Sanchez bridges.
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