The International Monetary Fund wants the Dominican Republic to reduce its spending, strengthen the Central Bank and sell off the assets of the collapsed banks. According to El Caribe, Jose Fajgenbaum, the sub-director for the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department, recommended an even greater reduction of government expenditures. Regarding the stalled Stand By Accord that is being discussed again, Fajgenbaum said that "we have made plenty of progress this week and I have confidence that we will make even more." The IMF official was one of the participants at the get-together hosted by President Leonel Fernandez and his economic team at Casa de Campo in La Romana. The meeting was organized under the auspices of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and was headed by Enrique Iglesias, the IDB chief executive. Also attending the meeting was Guillermo Perry, World Bank's chief economist for Latin America. The participants pointed out that the DR had to pull off a fiscal readjustment that would, in their words, "establish the public debt, guarantee macro-economic stability and protect social spending." The group also felt that, although a new tax package has just recently been put into effect, additional steps need to be taken. President Fernandez said that the Central Bank was working on the legal questions regarding the sale of the bankrupt institutions' assets, as well as other properties and assets it has in its possession. In his recommendations, Fajgenbaum said that one of the things that would help strengthen the Central Bank would be to extend the tenure of its officials and to adopt the best international criteria for evaluating assets.
Miguel Cocco, the head of the Customs Department, told reporters that during the previous administration over RD$100 billion in import taxes went unpaid to the government. Cocco announced that over the past two weeks his office had recovered RD$400 million in re-evaluated custom duties for 23 different commercial establishments, Plaza Lama being one of them. In a jocular mood, Cocco said that while his people were collecting RD$30-RD$40 million per day, they were "just warming up." The Customs chief said that on Monday there would be 80 inspectors visiting an equal number of commercial establishments in order to recover significant sums of money owed in import duties. Regrettably, Cocco expects to recover just half of the RD$100 billion cited, since the law allows the government only two years to collect overdue import duties. One of the big targets for the customs inspectors are those vehicles that entered the country without paying taxes. Cocco pointed out that those who evaded paying the import duties on their cars or other vehicles will not be able to renew their license plates unless they pay the piper. He calculated that as much as RD$675 million could be recovered in this one area alone.
Cocco furthermore announced plans to collect as much as RD$50 billion over the next two years in customs.
The fuel bill for the Dominican Republic was in the news this week, as Venezuela announced its plan to finance up to 25% of the Dominican oil imports. Nevertheless, economist Ramon Flores points out that the oil bills for the country have increased by 208% over the past eight years. In his opinion, the DR consumes fuels as if it were one of the rich, developed, oil-producing nations, while it buys fuels as if it were one of the greatly poor nations and is, as time goes on, more and more dependant on these imports for its economic development. According to the article in Hoy, this happens because the country does not have any government scheme to stimulate savings in fuel consumption, nor is there a consciousness among consumers about the importance of reducing fuel consumption. Because of this, the country uses 50 million barrels of oil a year at a cost that nears US$1.5 billion. Flores, the president of the Technology Foundation, says that the oil bill may well reach RD$2 billion in the short term, which would cause serious problems for the economy. Currently, oil purchases account for 25% of the value of all products exported from the DR. In the report released by Flores, oil imports cost the Dominican Republic US$470 million in 1996, which equaled 8% of the value of the country's exports. In 2000, the numbers were US$1.506 billion, equal to 15.9% of the value of the exports, and in 2003, the cost represented US$1.451, equal to 18.4% of the value of exports. Flores warns that if current prices continue for the next year, the country will be obliged to take drastic measures to conserve fuel consumption.
The economist also looks at the situation in the electricity sector and shows that of the 10.4 gigawatts that are produced, only 4.942 gigawatts are actually paid for, representing a mere 48%. As a result of these scenarios, Flores recommends the government eliminate all subsidies by implementing a couple of measures. The first would employ the new ID cards being issued to poor families for the food assistance programs, using them to validate electricity subsidies for the same people. This would subsidize the person, not the product. The second measure would be to make everyone pay for electricity, so that everyone feels the weight of the electric costs and thereby institute savings.
Forest cultivation in the Dominican Republic has grown 7.9% in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2003, according to Central Bank data. As reported in the Listin Diario, these numbers are great, when taking into account the fact that annual demand for wood normally grows by a much lesser 2.5%. According to the Dominican Forestry Chamber, local wood suppliers produce approximately US$11 million in forest products annually, part of which goods are exported, while the rest is destined for the local market.
Despite the incentive efforts of the past four governments, the DR imports US$200 million worth of wood every year, the majority of which could be produced in the country. National agroforestry companies currently supply only 12% of what is needed locally.
The United Nations Organization for Alimentation and Agriculture (FAO) maintains that the DR possesses the ideal conditions to develop its forestry industry and take advantage of a burgeoning market that will continue to expand by an annual rate of at least 2.5% for the next 60 years.
In the last three years, forestry industrialists have planted approximately 350,000 tareas (approximately 220 million square meters) of trees, something that once seemed an impossibility for the DR. There still remain 2.5 million tareas (approximately 1.5 billion square meters) of unused or underused forest land. According to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, this land should become part of the forestry production program.
For more see: http://www.listin.com.do/cuerpos/dinero/din6.htm
The salaries for employees in the tourism and construction sectors were not included in the recent minimum wage scales announced last week. Gloria Henriquez, the commission president, told Diario Libre reporters that the salaries for these two key sectors would be reviewed this week. The industrial free zones already have a wage agreement that was signed in 2003 and runs to 2005. As for the farming sector, Henriquez said that the agreement to increase the daily minimum wage by 30% would mean a daily wage for agricultural workers of RD$130.
Events surrounding the managerial transfer of the Hotel Jaragua, which went from the Transamerican Hotel & Casino to the Marriott company, was done without the legal consent of the property owner, the Dominican state. This deal violated the lease contract and caused the Dominican government to lose millions, according to a report from the Hotel Industry Corporation (Corphotel) that was given to former President Hipolito Mejia in 2001. As reported by the Listin Diario, Transamerican sub-let the casino for US$600,000 per year and the Corphotel wants its money, claiming that the whole operation was illegal. Many details are unknown, however, as the amount that the Marriott chain is paying the Transamerican company is labeled "top secret" due to the fact it is part of a group of 100 hotels that Marriott took over for a global price of US$1.1 billion. It was also reported that the Transamerican Hotel & Casino collected US$9.1 million in insurance after Hurricane Georges, moneys that should have gone to Corphotel. In spite of the report, the former legal advisor to the President, Guido Gomez Mazara, okayed a lease extension that added five years to the original terms, a fact that was confirmed by Jose Lois Malkun in December 2002. Among the many complaints contained in the Corphotel document is the fact that the original lease required the Transamerican company to pay the government 10% of the casino's net profits every year, something that has yet to transpire.
The Superior Police Council, the highest administrative organism of the National Police body, voted to fire 118 policemen, including nine officers. Many of those involved had police records before joining the force. As reported by the Listin Diario, one of the council's resolutions was an agreement to request that the Executive Branch dismiss the nine officers and 109 enlisted agents. The Listin also reported that the council will review 91 cases of NP members who have now been suspended. The Council defends its decision based on the fact that "members of the National Police have, in fact, been involved in shameful acts that breached the law and morality." Several of the fired police agents had been involved in drug operations, while many others had police rap sheets prior to their enlistment in the force. A total of 3 captains, 4 first lieutenants, 2 second lieutenants and 27 sergeants are among the 104 former members of the NP now facing criminal charges in civilian courts.
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is looking at some of the former officials of the Mejia administration, in order to extradite them on drug charges. At the same time, the embassy officials are complaining about the failings of the Dominican justice system, especially with regards to drug cases. Richard Hawkins, the director of Anti-Narcotic Affairs at the United States embassy in Santo Domingo, told El Caribe reporters that "yes, we are looking at some officials of the former administration," but refused to say how many or who they were. Hawkins said that as much as 10% of all South American drugs pass through the Dominican Republic, but the local judicial system was weak and needed support, as it receives cases and complaints but is incapable of acting on them. He pointed out that USAID is continually supporting efforts to strengthen the drug enforcement efforts of the Dominican government and the fact that his own office has a budget of US$1.2 million to beef up port security, the local drug enforcement agency (DNCD) and airport drug scrutiny efforts.
In general terms, the root causes for the violence that has shaken the Dominican Republic over the past month, claming 45 lives in just the past two weeks, are to be found in the hasty pardons granted to convicted offenders, the repatriated criminals deported mainly from the United States and the unequal distribution of wealth, goods and services. The National Dialogue, which met at the PUCMM and was promoted by the United Nations, was chaired by the university's rector, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado. Every sector of the political, economic and social spectrum was present and the group heard the conclusions of the fist meeting last 12 October, which indicated 30 separate causes for the violence. This most recent session narrowed the principal causes down to a lack of supervision of the thousands of veteran criminals deported from the US, the hasty and often unjustified pardons or releases of convicted criminals from Dominican prisons, the societal issues of poverty, hunger, unemployment and the lack of confidence in the government. The National Dialogue named a sub-commission to prepare a final document to be handed to President Fernandez at the next meeting.
Papal Nuncio Timothy Broglio argued for the need for families to teach values that should then be reinforced in the schools. For Bishop Broglio this is the only solution for both the short and the long terms. Broglio said that when the family is weak, all of the other parts of the society are weak, too. "Therefore, the family must be strengthened as basic education begins there." While a person's value system is that which is learned at home, Broglio also said the Church has a part to play in demanding the honest conduct of the country's leaders to ensure the wellbeing and development of the entire citizenry. Those who accept political duties in their country, he said, must assume their role as providers of a service to the people who elected them.
No, not that UCLA, but rather the newly-conceived Community University at Las Americas (UCLA in Spanish).The new educational institution, the first of its kind in the Dominican Republic, is scheduled to open its doors in June of next year. The land on which the institution will be located measures 15,000 square meters and is next door to the Nueva Isabela Industrial Park. The basic plans are to offer courses from three months to two years in duration in areas that will allow graduates to integrate themselves in the local job market. The new educational initiative is part of an IDB program that has been on hold for several years. According to Van Elder Espinal, the president of the Nueva Isabela Industrial Association and a sponsor of the new school, the courses offered will be as varied as the demands of the workplace require. The community college will receive equipment and guidance from Daytona (FL) Community College, and the buildings will be constructed by the government. Credits earned at the community college level will be recognized by the country's major universities for those students wishing to continue their studies at a professional level.
On Saturday night, Dominican David Ortiz gave the Boston Red Sox a 3-0 lead with his very first swing of the bat. The MVP of the playoffs went 2-3 with four runs batted-in. Fellow countryman Mann Ramirez went 3–5 with two runs batted-in and two very costly errors in the field. Fortunately for Ramirez, Mark Bellhorn hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Boston an 11-9 victory over the St Louis Cardinals. For St Louis, star infielder and MVP of the National League playoff series, Alberto Pujols, went 0-3 and relief pitcher Julian Tavarez served up the winning hit to Bellhorn and was charged with the loss.
In local baseball action on Friday night, the Aguilas lost 1-0 to Licey in 12 innings in Santo Domingo and the Estrellas beat Escogido 6-3 in the Tetelo Vargas Stadium in San Pedro de Macoris. In San Francisco de Macoris, the Gigantes beat the Toros 9-6.
In spite of a great day at the plate for National League star Alberto Pujols, the St Louis Cardinals fell once more to the Boston Red Sox by a score of 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Pujols, who batted 3-4, could not carry his team to a win, as Curt Schilling threw six magical innings and kept the powerful National League champions at bay. This was in spite of Schilling's broken ankle and four errors by Boston, after which the Sox relief squad had to finish the job. Although "Big Papi" David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez did not achieve the power hitting for Boston, their plate appearances did account for two runs when they received bases on balls and were driven in by Jason Varitek's triple. The series now shifts to Busch Stadium in St Louis where Pedro Martinez will pitch Game 3.
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