President Leonel Fernandez departed this morning at 10am on his way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to participate in the XVIII Group of Rio Summit that officially opens Thursday afternoon. This marks Fernandez's third trip during his present administration. He is traveling accompanied by Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso. Fernandez is also scheduled to be in Miami for the keynote speech at the Miami Conference on 8 December.
President Hugo Chavez will visit the DR on Saturday to sign a new financing agreement regarding Venezuelan oil sales to the DR. Originally, it had been announced that President Fernandez would make a stopover in Caracas on his way back from the Group of Rio Summit in Brazil to formalize the new agreement. The Venezuelan president and Fernandez will be together in Rio de Janeiro for the summit that will take place from 4-5 November. The latest plan, however, is for the two heads of state to travel together on Saturday to the Dominican Republic.
As per the agreement, Venezuela will finance 25% of all oil exported to the DR. The agreement enables the DR to defer payment of around US$150 million per year for 15 years and use this money for infrastructure improvements. The credit terms have not been announced. The funding would be used for infrastructure projects under the Corporacion Estatal de Empresas Electricas (CDEEE), as funding is only available to entities fully-owned by the government.
The DR sources the majority of its fuel from Venezuela.
Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell of the Bahamas was in the Dominican Republic for a two-day visit last week, during which he met with President Leonel Fernandez, his colleague Carlos Morales Troncoso and various business leaders. Mitchell was accompanied by CARICOM High Commissioner A. Leonard Archer.
Mitchell spoke of increased trade and travel between the two Caribbean countries. On Saturday, 15 November, Bahamasair will begin direct scheduled flights to the DR, thus providing a direct air link for the first time.
During a press conference held in Santo Domingo, Mitchell said he would spread the word that the DR is a potential supplier of food products and construction materials (primarily steel and cement) for the Bahamian tourism industry. He commented that Bahamas receives around five million arrivals a year and needs to source most of its products from abroad. He feels that the Bahamas can benefit from sourcing in the DR, where he says products are made far more cheaply than those at home.
To strengthen relations, he said the Bahamas has just appointed their ambassador to Haiti Eugene Newry to represent Bahamian interests in the DR.
Also on his agenda while here was broaching the issue of illegal fishing of Bahamas' waters by Dominicans. Mitchell, as reported in the Nassau Guardian, said that anyone caught would continue to face the full brunt of the law under the Bahamas Fisheries Act. "And beyond poaching is the question of when they are caught too many times they have immature fish, lobster and conch on board their boats, which means that it is affecting the sustainability of the species in our waters," he lamented.
Also participating in the press conference were the consul of Bahamas, Hernando Perez Montas, and the president of the Commonwealth Roundtable, Fernando Gonzalez Nicolas.
The Customs Department has announced its detection of a RD$100-million smuggling operation involving items being dishonestly imported into the country. Most of the items have been confiscated at the new security-enhanced Caucedo Port. The items have been the subject of investigation for the past two months, or since the government handover. Appliances valued at RD$100 million would have entered the country as generic parts, under the privileges granted by Law 28-01 that provides generous tax exemptions for companies manufacturing in the border provinces.
Luis Sanchez, the deputy operations director of Customs, and Gabino Jose Polanco, a tax collector at the port, said in a press conference that they had verified 100 containers and determined that their contents were not as described in the import documentation, but rather television sets, stoves, musical equipment, refrigerators, fans and other appliances imported from China. The shipments are consigned to the companies Electro del Nordeste, Inversiones Mayi and Electricosa del Mundo, located on the border, as reported in the Listin Diario.
Law 28-01 enables businesses to import raw materials, machinery and equipment for use in industries manufacturing in these zones, tax-free for 20 years. Sanchez said, however, that Law 34-89 establishes that any person attempting to import or retrieve merchandise through fraudulent methods will be subject to the confiscation of the merchandise. Furthermore, he said that Law 28-01 establishes penalties of six months to two years in prison or the payment of a fine equal to double the amount of the taxes evaded, or both penalties, including the confiscation of the products. The merchandise would have paid approximately RD$70 million in taxes.
Sanchez explained that Ruling 496-02 of Law 28-01 establishes that only machinery, equipment, spare parts and accessories not produced in the country may be tax exempt. The tax exemption does not apply to finished or semi-finished parts. It furthermore says that the tax exemptions are not for finished consumer products that enter fully or partially assembled. Sanchez said that merchandise that is just to be packed in the country is similarly ineligible.
The Direccion General de Impuestos Internos (DGII) announced it has authorized credit card intermediary companies to retain 30% of the ITBIS on commercial transactions. With the retention of this 30%, the plan is for the tax department to be able to determine exactly how much the business should have paid in ITBIS and check this with what the business actually pays.
The credit card companies will pay the tax bureau directly in the name of each affiliated company on Friday or rather they will reimburse their affiliate 0.83% of the consumption, minus the charge for the service. The measure, says DGII director Juan Hernandez, can be expected to reduce ITBIS evasion.
Exempt from the tax of January 2005 are pharmaceuticals, books, newspapers, magazines, fuel, health services, electricity, water, garbage collection and educational services.
Armed Forces Minister Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez said that the military is working indirectly to fight crime, through its support of the National Police (NP), which he said is the body in charge of citizens' safety. He told El Caribe that the Armed Forces is making available its equipment, chauffeurs of vehicles, plus a superior officer in each zone in which they coordinate activities with the NP. Nevertheless, the minister stated that he is against military members patrolling the streets. "They are not trained to carry out services of this kind. There may be extreme cases in which the Armed Forces need to play a more direct role, but those are extreme cases, and I do not think we have reached that point," he told El Caribe.
According to Admiral Pared Perez, there are 38,000 to 40,000 active military members, a number he considered to be adequate. Of these, 116 are generals. He commented on what he called an irregular situation in the army, in that while it only has 3,500 corporals, there are 5,000 lieutenants.
The admiral also mentioned that the Armed Forces is scrutinizing the 12 loans taken out by his predecessor. Among these financial agreements, the minister viewed one of them as worthy: the US$20-million credit to build a shipyard in Bahia de las Calderas. He said that two tugboats and four small coastguard ships have been built, and some Central American countries have expressed interest in building their ships there. Among the loans whose merits he questions is a US$41-million financial agreement to set up 15 containers as vocational schools.
To renew or legalize the possession of a weapon now costs approximately RD$10,100, as reported in the Listin Diario today.
The requirements are RD$50 for a drug screening test; RD$3,823 for the Department of Taxes (DGII); RD$2,755 for a first-time license; RD$300 for a sworn statement of mental competence by a registered psychiatrist; RD$700 for the ID card; RD$1,050 for an obligatory course on weapons possession; RD$600 for a shooting range test; RD$672 for insurance and RD$150 for the approval from the Attorney General's office.
Those renewing permits will pay RD$6,170 and are exempt from the psychiatric evaluation, the first-time license fee, the course and the shooting range tests, but must pay a RD$775 renewal fee.
Costs are slightly higher for rifle and shotgun permits.
Listin Diario reports that during the government transition period from 16 May when former President Mejia lost the election to 16 August when President Leonel Fernandez took office, some 27,608 weapons permits were issued by the Ministry of Interior & Police.
Carlos Amarante, the director of Migration, said in an interview to Hoy newspaper that there is virtually no border control between Haiti and the DR. Amarante, who spoke in the company of Interior & Police Minister Franklyn Almeyda and National Police Chief Manuel Sanchez Perez, told the newspaper that in real terms, there is no border, there are no resources, nor is the technology adequately sufficient to control the entry of illegal Haitians to the DR. The head of Migration said that on the Dominican side of the frontier there is not enough military presence to supervise the border and prevent illegal crossings. And, he said, the controls in place are very "vulnerable," meaning they have a price.
Amarante also spoke of the widespread corruption he encountered upon assuming his post. He said that while he has no solid proof, numerous complaints filed by foreigners at their embassies indicate that they paid as much as RD$15,000 to inspectors, in addition to the legal charges, to expedite the formalization of their residency status. He estimated that about 45 cases a day were handled in this manner, which would have produced approximately RD$4 million a month in unofficial profits.
He said he cancelled the Department of Migration ID cards that had been issued to 60 honorary supervisors across the nation and said he had no idea what these ID cards had been used for.
Furthermore, he said that the Migration staff's wages tend to be low, making them prone to corrupt activity. According to the director, an airport inspector makes RD$5,300 a month in wages, but can make an additional RD$70,000 in one shot for turning a blind eye to a phoney passport.
Amarante said that during the past government, the Migration department acted in complicity with human trafficking gangs. He said that military coordinators and the migration bosses at various airports headed the operations that smuggled people to the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. New game rules have been set, however, and several others have been changed at the airports to give the sign that they are not directing the Migration department.
Amarante also spoke of recycled tourist cards at Migration, an effort that produced about RD$3 million to those who engaged in the practice. The cards were allegedly bought for US$8 and sold to patrons for US$10. Amarante pointed to the military, the Migration staff and the Department of Investigation (DNI) staff at the airports as those responsible for this activity.
"I cannot accuse anyone because I do not have proof, but no one can tell me that this disaster that I found in the "extranjeria" (foreigners') department could be conducted without the knowledge of the director," he told the newspaper. "In every public or private institution, the director imposes his style. The friends who directed Migration had very little concern for the institutional levels of training and the internal controls were ineffective."
The Senate unanimously approved the second reading on the 30% increase to the minimum wage paid in the public and private sectors. Seventeen of 32 senators present voted for the increase. The bill establishes that government workers receive the increase in January, as the funds are to be allotted in the 2005 National Budget yet to be ratified in Congress.
The legislation must first be acceded by the Chamber of Deputies where legislators seem to have other ideas. A special commission of deputies formed to study the wage increase issue, as reported in El Caribe, plans to exclude the private sector from their wage increase proposal. The president of the special commission, Luis Jose Gonzalez Sanchez, said they are not contemplating the private sector because the National Salaries Commission has already determined an increase of 30% for private employees earning the legal minimum level and one of 25% for monthly wages of up to RD$20,000.
The legislators plan to set the minimum wage for the public sector at RD$4,000, up from RD$1,890. Government officials, nevertheless, are advocating that they apply 15% in January and the remaining 15% in July. El Caribe reports that the government has plans to pay wages of RD$21.45 billion in 2005, including the 13th Christmas salary. The government has 267,384 fixed employees on its payrolls, of which 123,633 earn less than RD$5,000 a month, according to National Budget Office figures. Some 138,024 government workers make between RD$5,000 and RD$20,000, or 61% of the total number of public sector workers. Another 5,727 people (2% of total employed) earn more than RD$20,000, but they gobble up 14% of the total payroll. In September alone, the government paid RD$1.65 billion in wages to fixed employees.
The wage increase as it currently stands will cost the government at least RD$9 in additional expenditures.
The Dream Project has reported on the support of Canada's ambassador. On Friday, 29 October, Canadian Ambassador Adam Blackwell visited the Dream Project schools in Cabarete to cut the ribbon for the opening of a computer lab. Blackwell was in Puerto Plata for the Canadian Week celebration. According to Patricia Thorndike, the project's executive director, Blackwell committed to lobby with Scotiabank to secure funding for the project and promised that the Canadian government would match the donation.
The project received the support of the US embassy in 2003, when US Ambassador Hans Hertel awarded Thorndike the Outstanding American Citizen Award for her role in starting the Dream Project in July of that year.
The Dominican Republic Education And Mentoring Project (the DREAM Project) is headed by honorary chairperson Julia Alvarez, the author of In the Time of the Butterflies.
To learn more about the DREAM Project, visit http://www.dominicandream.org
The Listin Diario highlights today how a booming movie-making industry has taken hold of the Dominican Republic, providing hundreds of new jobs to Dominican technicians, actors, extras and many others.
Film producer Agliberto Melendez says that times have changed from the days when he filmed Pasaje de ida, which became the first Dominican film that went on to win awards at international festivals. Pasaje de ida opens this week again in Dominican theaters.
Despite the current boom, Melendez said that the authorities have not yet realized the benefits that filmmaking can bring for Dominicans. If they were more aware, he said, they would be begging Dominicans to make films and points out that the industry generates a windfall in tax revenue and permit payments needed to close off city areas, in addition to employing thousands of citizens. He said that while there is no law that obliges international producers to hire locally, they usually prefer a home-grown staff because of cost savings.
Agustin Cortes, the director of the film school at the UASD, says his students have actively participated in the local movie production boom.
The government recently appointed a movie commission made up by Arturo Rodriguez, Felix Manuel Lora, Carlos Francisco Elias, Peyi Guzman, Humberto Castellanos, Luisito Marti, Rene Fortunato, Angel Muniz and the legal advisor of the Ministry of Culture to work on a law that would increase incentives for filming here. The new regulation would expedite the pre-production process. The plan is for a central department to serve as a liaison for all other departments and assist in obtaining the corresponding permits.
At present, a law already in place enables international companies to bring in their equipment, as long as this equipment is exported once the filming is completed.
The movie industry in the Dominican Republic has been especially active in the past 12 months with the release of films such as Perico ripiao, La Carcel La Victoria and Los locos tambien piensan. International films made here have included The Feast of the Goat, starring Isabella Rossellini; The Lost City, starring Dustin Hoffman and produced by Andy Garcia; La maldicion del padre Cardona, starring Zoe Saldana; and Lovewrecked, starring Amanda Bynes, filmed in Puerto Plata.
The winners of the XX Biannual Eduardo Leon Jimenez Art Contest will appear at the Centro Leon on Thursday, 4 November as of 7pm. The contest is the longest-running private art contest in the Caribbean. Participants will have the chance to meet Maritza Alvarez, Robert John Alvarez, Rafael Jacobo de Lemos, Gerard Phillippe Ellis Ruiz, Pedro Fidencio Joseph, Pascal Meccariello, Fuasto Ortiz, Evelyn Espaillat and Yuly Moncion. The E Leon Jimenes art contest is best known for discovering new talent. For more information, see http://www.centroleon.org.do
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