On occasion of the visit of Juan Jose Ibarretxe of the Basque Country, President Leonel Fernandez announced that 21 companies from northern Spain would invest in the DR. He said 20 will be high-tech companies that will set up shop in the Las Americas Cyberpark, while the other, Corporacion Cooperativa Mondragon (the seventh largest in Spain), will invest in a residential complex in Manzanillo, located in the north-western province of Monte Cristi. Ibarretxe announced a cooperative donation of half a million euros designated for a program to develop small business in the slum barrio of Las Canitas, Santo Domingo.
Bienes Nacionales, the government department that oversees state property, has assumed ownership of the Parador Mar de las Americas, the multi-million road-stop built during the Mejia administration. Its construction met with heavy opposition that criticized the takeover of public land and the unlikelihood of highway users stopping there to purchase goods. The Bienes Nacionales press spokesman, Miguel Ortega, told the Listin Diario they do not have precise information on who the owner of the road-stop is. To the best of their understanding, he said, the project was managed by the Supervisory Office of Government Works, as currently headed by Senator, Hernani Salazar of the Duarte province. Diario Libre highlights that no owner has come forward to claim the mega-investment that was made smack in the middle of Las Americas Highway. The parador, whose construction began shortly after Mejia took office, has never been operational, with the exception of an Isla gas station, whose sales appear to be minimal. For years, those driving on Las Americas on the way to the airport wondered how anyone could have thought people would make a detour to visit the parador. Now that these suspicions have been proven true and the parador has become a white elephant, no one has stepped up to claim ownership and Dominican taxpayers have footed the bill. Aristipo Vidal, the director of Bienes Nacionales, says an investigation is being conducted to ascertain if the roadside facility was built with government money.
The Government Accounting Office accused the syndicate leaders of "irregularities" in the handling of the Plan Renove program that was an attempt by the PRD government to replace the nation's flotilla of old public transportation vehicles for newer ones. According to Hoy newspaper, the Dominican government gave Plan Renove US$150 million, and now the accounting office has found what it is calling "irregularities punishable by jail" for the Renove chief, Fabio Ruiz, and transportation syndicate leaders Juan Hubieres and Antonio Marte. Also included in the complaint are Milciades Amaro Guzman, Amadeo Loreno Ramirez, Blas Peralta, Freddy William Mendez, and Gervasio de la Rosa. The investigation turned up the fact that members of the National Council of Plan Renove, Amaro Guzman and Antonio Marte, received 78 buses and a dump truck, while the federations received payments but delayed reporting them to obtain marginal benefits, such as bank interest on the money. The accounting office told reporters that the spirit of the decrees that gave birth to the Plan Renove was totally "denaturalized" by these actions. The office pointed out that instead of the vehicles going to those who really needed them, many went to powerful transport companies that were able to ease their way into the Plan. All of the documentation on these allegations is contained in Resolution 08-04 of the Accounting Office, and has been sent to the District Attorney of Santo Domingo.
Some 300 to 400 National Police agents are being retired as of today, informed Police & Interior Minister Franklyn Almeyda, as part of the clean-up process announced yesterday. While the minister cited the reasons for the forced retirements as "varied," he elaborated that the misconduct of certain agents was justification for their departure. "There are agents who have been cited for misconduct, have committed repeat offenses, or have had charges brought against them... there are others whose age obliges them to retire...," said Almeyda. Another reason for the review of the NP's ranks is to modernize the institution and give it a fresh face in terms of personnel. The agents being recommended for retirement will have their cases decided by the Superior Police Council, which is to meet today at 10 am.
Almeyda made his statements after leaving a meeting of the NP's Reform and Modernization Commission and was accompanied by Police Chief Manuel de Jesus Perez Sanchez. The NP chief presented a document that said the police clean-up is designed to "improve mobility and communication" and he spoke of the goal to have 16,000 agents working the streets and 4,000 select operatives to combat delinquency. Perez Sanchez explained that the depuration is not an isolated campaign, but one that will form part of a set of measures to assess police training, budget and expenditures and communication and transportation equipment. Minister Almeyda also mentioned a plan to set up a laboratory to study weapons fired in crime situations and trace their users.
A National District judge has placed an impediment on the movements of certain ex-police officials that will keep them in their residential areas for the duration of the investigation of the illicit distribution of recovered stolen vehicles. The officials involved, according to the Listin Diario, are ex-Police Chief Jaime Marte Martinez (now retired), Brigadier General Pedro Hernandez Reynoso (also retired), Yuri Ruiz Villalona, Osvaldo Hernandez de la Cruz, ex-General Ernesto Ovalles Concepcion and Colonels Felipe Manuel Terrero Garcia and Fausto Tiburcio (retired).
After leaving the tribunal where he had spent eight hours, Marte Martinez said that he and the other officials under investigation had offered years of service to the country and Dominican society and that the line of questioning they were facing was "an abuse." The former police chief said the measure was an obstruction of police order, as certain of the individuals in question are still actively employed by the National Police and would not be able to carry out their functions if unable to leave the National District. Marte Martinez went as far as to say the action would even assist delinquency.
The defense council for those being investigated said the judge who ordered the impediment allegedly made the decision due to the gravity of the allegations and to lessen the risk of flight. The judge's decision, they said, was supported by the newly-implemented Penal Code. Nevertheless, the lawyers on the case said the order was futile, as those being investigated would not try to leave the country as they were not guilty. Lawyer Carlos Balcacer said the measure should certainly be rescinded against General Villalona, in view of his rank and function within the National Police and the fact that he requires authorization to leave country anyway.
The United Nations representative for the UN Development Program (UNDP), Nicky Fabiancic, spoke yesterday during the Biarritz group meeting held in Casa de Campo, La Romana, that the way in which the DR-CAFTA was negotiated does not guarantee the recovery of the Dominican Republic's economic growth, such as it experienced in the late 1990s. Fabiancic spoke at a meeting where President Leonel Fernandez was meeting with representatives of the Biarritz Group, other former presidents and political leaders from Latin America, in an event sponsored by the presidents Global Development and Democracy Foundation (FUNGLODE). The UN officer pointed out that the free trade agreement is currently one of the most talked-about topics of discussion in the Dominican Republic. Without giving more details, Fabiancic assured his audience that the FTA was negotiated by the United States using a backward model, such as the industrial free trade zones, as reported in the Hoy newspaper coverage of his participation at the La Romana event that brought together several former Latin American Presidents.
"We are presenting a proposal so that talks can open again, both in the Dominican case, as well as in the Latin American case, not only for the FTA, but for free and fair trade," he is quoted in El Caribe today.
The UNDP representative intervened in the debates at the request of President Fernandez to comment on a recent report in the UN regarding the governance crisis in Latin America. Fabiancic pointed out the worrisome revelation that 54% of most Latin American populations would give up democracy if their economic condition were to improve. The UN report also questions the economic models used in Latin America, models that make the area one of the most unequal, economically speaking, in the world. The II Meeting of the Biarritz Group was called to study the state of governance in Latin America: Parliaments, Presidencies and Governance.
For every dollar that the price of oil goes up, the Dominican Republic has to find US$50 million to pay for its fuel supply. On a daily basis, this means an additional US$140,000 will be needed to cover the daily demand of 140,000 barrels of petroleum. So far this month, oil prices have risen by over two dollars. Even though the Dominican Republic might not pay the world price for its oil, especially considering the San Jose Accords with Venezuela and Mexico, the final price that is paid is not that far off the world price. Normally, when blackouts are not so prolonged, the country imports between 50 and 55 million barrels of oil a year, in the form of a reconstituted oil – not Sweet Crude from Texas or the North Sea. Venezuela provides 90% of the crude imported into the DR. In 2002, the country imported 50.1 million barrels of crude at an average price of US$25.70. The year 2003 saw a US$4 increase in the price of crude and the country paid out US$1.51 billion in oil invoices. For the first half of 2004 the average price of oil has been calculated as US$35.70 and the oil bill for the first six months was US$732 million on imports of just 20 million barrels.
The Dominican Republic will have to negotiate with the United States, Spain and Japan over the arrears it is carrying with the Paris Club. According to El Caribe, the Dominican economic team will have to go face-to-face with the representatives of these countries to try and arrange a payment schedule. According to the data from the Central Bank, debt service for the Dominican Republic represented US$288.21 million as of 30 June of this year, 80% of which was bilateral. Regarding the creditor nations, the late payment problem affects 67% of the total bilateral debt. The United States is owed US$113 million, Spain, US$55 million, Japan, US$26 million and Germany, US$11 million. Last April, the Dominican Republic renegotiated the debt it carried with the Paris Club for the years 2003 and 2004, and the agreement covered a total of US$193 million. In order for the arrangement to take effect, the country had to renegotiate US$100 million in private debt on terms equal to those given by the Paris Club. After these talks were concluded, the DR was late in paying the debt service of US$40 million, and this has provided an obstacle in accessing Paris Club facilities.
The Dominican coconut tree is under serious attack from a deadly virus called Lethal Coconut Yellowing and is affecting coconut trees in Dajabon, Santiago and Puerto Plata. The disease could very well affect the DR's RD$230-million coconut agro-industry, with warnings being issued from the Dominican Institute of Agrarian and Forestry Research (IDIAF), as reported in Hoy newspaper. These advisories included a note as to the possible effect the loss of the coconut trees could have on the Dominican tourism industry. The disease has been detected in plantations and on the beach areas. The IDIAF announced a joint prevention program that will use the resources of the IDIAF and the Coconut Cluster of the Dominican Agro-Business Council (JAD), as headed by George Mansfield. The Dominican Republic, and especially the area around the town of Nagua and the eastern regions are mainstays of international coconut production. Each year the DR produces an average of 90 million coconuts. Twenty-five percent of the production is exported to Europe for culinary purposes, while another 25% is exported as copra for use in several products including cosmetics, soaps and sun-screens. About 40% of the national production is exported in cans as coconut milk or cream for the manufacture of sweets and ice creams. Just 10% is consumed in the country. Given the association of the palm tree and the beaches with tourism, it was pointed out that the loss of the coconut palms could have a devastating impact on local tourism. A group against Lethal Coconut Yellowing is trying to teach detection and prevention, as well as cure the disease. The disease, which is not harmful to humans, gradually dries out the trees. There is no known cure for the disease, but it can be controlled by trunk injections. If not controlled, a palm will die within 3 to 6 months after the appearance of the first symptoms.
In spite of all of the problems suffered by the public health system over the past year, UNICEF has announced that infant mortality has decreased in the Dominican Republic. At a rate of 32 deaths before the age of five for every 1,000 live births, a significant reduction from the 42/1000 reported in 2000 is evident. With these new figures, the Dominican Republic is now within the group of countries that are consistent with the UN plan to reduce infant mortality by two thirds by the year 2015. The Dominican Republic is slightly below the average for Latina America, which is 34/1000. Cuba has the lowest infant mortality rate a 7/1000 in the region and Haiti the highest, estimated to be around 79/1000.
Many people have darkened their vehicles' windows in an attempt to raise the efficiency of their air-conditioning units. Others, however, have done it for more nefarious reasons and, as a result, the National Police has issued a decree outlawing the use of sunscreen paper on the front windscreen of any vehicle, on grounds of dispositions in Law 241. The AMET will be scrutinizing vehicles this week and those that do not conform will be detained. According to AMET director General Sigfrido Fernandez Fadul, the move is intended to put the brakes on delinquents who use the darkened vehicles to evade identification. The general lamented the fact that he was not empowered to remove all of the dark-tinted paper from vehicle windows. He said that he is giving 15 days to remove the paper from the front window. He said that orders could be given later to remove it entirely from vehicles.
Traffic headed from Nagua on the Northeast Coast to San Francisco de Macoris is being obliged to take a detour, following the collapse of the bridge over the Helechal River due to intense flooding. The detour is being made through El Pozo and on to Matanzas.
Dominican shortstop Rafael Furcal, already in the news for his DUI convictions, has hit the front pages of the sports sections of all the papers in Georgia and the Dominican Republic. His latest achievement was a dramatic eleventh inning walk-off home run that gave the Atlanta Braves a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros in the first round of the National League Playoffs.
Furcal had a good day at the plate, hitting 3-5 with three RBIs. Dominican pitcher Antonio Alfonseca got the win, pitching one inning of relief. Ageless Julio Franco went hitless in one opportunity at the plate.
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