The Dominican government announced last evening that it had reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), although the exact terms still had to be reviewed by the IMF's directorate and management. As reported in Hoy newspaper, the new Stand By Accord (SBA) will last for two years and provide nearly US$1 billion to bolster the Dominican economy. Technical Minister of the Presidency Temistocles Montas and Presidential Economic Advisor Julio Ortega Tous gave out the information during a press conference at the Presidential Palace last night. The SBA will focus on fiscal policy, outside financing, monetary policy, a strengthening of the banking sector, and the development of a strategy to solve the energy crisis. Montas told the reporters that, as executive secretary of the National Development Council, he has convened a meeting of the council for Friday in order to review the 2005 Budget, which will be devised based on the IMF agreement.
From Washington, Steven Phillips, the mission chief for the team of IMF negotiators in Santo Domingo, told the press that the organization "had arrived at a broad-reaching agreement with the Dominican authorities." He mentioned that much of the new accord centred on better supervision of the banking community, as well as a rationalization of government spending.
Work on the dam at Pinalito, Constanza, high in the Central Mountain range, was initiated yesterday, as President Fernandez pushed a button that sent several tons of earth and gravel into the air. The dam is part of an assistance package offered to the DR by Brazil. According to Hoy, the water barrier will have a projected cost of US$132 million to be financed by the National Bank for Social and Economic Development of Brazil (BANDES). The dam will use the waters from the Tireo River, upstream from the River Blanco. The hydroelectric project will supply 50 MW to the national grid. President Fernandez was accompanied by Rafael Suero Miliano, the head of the Dominican Hydroelectric Businesses; Marcos Cruz, the representative of the Brazilian consortium Odebrecht; Isaias da Silva, the Brazilian consul; and Radhames Segura, the executive vice-president of the CDEEE. The project envisions a 2-mile tunnel that will bring waters from the Sonador Creek and add to the total water used by the hydroelectric generators. According to current estimates, the new dam and its generators will save the country nearly a 250,000 barrels of oil annually, which savings will pay for the project.
The minister of Environment and Natural Resources has ordered the companies Trans Dominicana de Desarollo and Multigestiones Valenza to immediately collect and remove the substance known as rock ash (or industrial ash) that was deposited illegally along the coastal areas of Arroyo Barril, Samana and Manzanillo, Monte Crist. According to the Listin Diario, this verdict was handed down in the form of a resolution signed by Minister Max Puig, who also ordered the two companies to pay 3,000 minimum wages in force at the time of the illegal deposits, for their violation of Law 64-00. The former undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, Rene Ledesma, has also been fined the equivalent of 3,000 minimum wages in view of his responsibility at the time, in compliance with Article 171 of the above cited law, and in particular violation of Section 8 of Article 175.
The companies must also execute a plan to restore the affected areas, which must be approved and overseen by the ministry. In effecting this resolution, Minister Puig hopes to close this chapter of the rock ash scandal that was unleashed upon discovering that 50,000 tons of the substance was brought in from Puerto Rico and stored in Arroyo Barril and Samana earlier this year. An additional 30,000 tons were deposited in Manzanillo. The ministry also viewed the areas of Samana and Manzanillo as fragile, and said that no consideration was given to the marine biology by those who dumped the industrial residue.
Rock ash is a substance derived from electricity production and considered toxic, although various institutions, the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo among them, have declared the rock ash found in the DR not to be as harmful as was denounced.
The government ordered studies conducted in the areas where the material was deposited, as well as those places that have used rock ash as a landfill, in order to determine its effect on ground soil, water and drainage, as well as to the air and human health.
The Global Foundation for Democracy and Development has invited Puerto Plata tourism businessmen to attend the First Regional Funglode Encounter on Human Development and Sustainable Tourism as a Strategy for Progress. One of the foundation's stated goals is to provide a forum to discuss the DR's economic, social and democratic development to assist in the preparation of public policy. Speakers at the event will include Miguel Ceara Hatton, who oversees sustainable development for the United Nations Development Program in the Dominican Republic; Jaime
Moreno, the coordinator of Funglode's International Center for Environmental
Studies and Sustainable Tourism (Ciemades) for the Dominican Republic; and Hans Dannenberg, the coordinator of the Funglode's tourism workshop. Frederic Emam Zade, as Fuglode's general director, will explain the methodology used for the presentation. The event will take place at the Playa Dorada Convention Center at 10am on Saturday, 27 November.
One of the top figures ensnared in the Plan Renove debacle, Pedro Franco Badia, agreed to an interview with El Caribe that is published today, in which he says he was "only following orders."
A lawyer by profession and a 48-year veteran on the political scene, Badia says he never wanted to be part of the transport program that was meant to enhance the DR's fleet of public vehicles. In a scandal that has made headlines all week, it has been uncovered that many of the officials connected to the program, as well as their colleagues and family members, received such vehicles for their own use. When asked what he encountered upon assuming his post at Plan Renove, Badia says that all the vehicles had already been purchased. He denied ever taking possession of any Renove vehicle and says his family did not benefit from Renove either. He claimed that of the 310 units he assigned to various entities, all had the authorization of former President Hipolito Mejia and, according to the interview, he had the documentation to attest to that. He revealed that the 50 buses that were distributed irregularly by Milciades Amaro also had the approval of Mejia. In maintaining that he took no personal gain from Plan Renove (not even a salary), Badia furthermore claims that, while he was offered seven vehicles for his own use, he declined to accept them, viewing such activity as "improper."
Badia deflects the charges levied against him and says it was he who requested the investigation that was conducted last February, in order to silence the accusations of Juan Hubieres (CONATRA) and "the other charlatanes." He claims to have left the Plan Renove committee in order to pursue a Presidential candidacy, which he did not win.
For the full interview, please see: http://www.elcaribe.com.do/...
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito told reporters that Plan Renove "was a vulgar program to steal the people's property." At the same time, Elena Brineman, the local USAID director, pointed out that the US Consulate had revoked the travel visas for those connected to the scandal in order to avoid the possibility of extradition, should any of the accused attempt to flee to the United States. District Attorney Manuel Hernandez Peguero told Listin Diario reporters that the revocation of the travel visas was a step forward in the fight against corruption. In testimony heard yesterday, former Army chief-of-staff Jorge Zorilla Ozuna admitted that his company, Transporte Zorilla, had possession of three FENETRADO vehicles, but denied that they came from Plan Renove. Nevertheless, Blas Peralta, the president of FENETRADO said that these vehicles were certainly part of Renove. Dominguez Brito gave his comments to the press after the AmCham monthly luncheon
Police Sergeant Ramon Dario Contreras, known more infamously as "Cabrerita," was gunned down by at least three assassins yesterday evening as he was pulling into a Shell station on Estrella Sadhala Avenue in the Las Colinas section of Santiago de los Caballeros. The Mitsubishi Lancer showed at least eight bullet holes in its dark blue paint. According to the La Informacion, eyewitnesses said that at least three men were seen shooting at the sergeant's automobile as he entered the fill station. Ironically, at the same time that Cabrerita was being assassinated, the DR's Attorney General was giving a speech at PUCMM's main campus in which he denounced the evident growth of organized crime in Santiago and revealed that the authorities had uncovered 40 killings planned by criminals to "settle accounts" or "clear the way" for more crimes. Sergeant Cabrera was notorious for his participation in "alleged" armed encounters with well-known criminal elements. The usual outcome was that the criminals turned up dead. Cabrera was currently under investigation for the use of deadly force, and was considered to be one of the real "hatchetmen" of the police force, while to others he was a hero. The Cibao-Central region of the National Police has begun an investigation into the killing and several people have been taken into custody.
The murder has made news headlines because radio broadcaster, Euri Cabral said this morning on his "Gobierno de la Manana" very popular morning show that he had visited the district attorney's office to express his fear that Cabrerita could be murdered. Cabral survived an attempt at his life recently. Hoy newspaper reports that Contreras had been under arrest and his "death squadron" was subject to questioning for suspicion that he had participated in the assault on Cabral's car.
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, stated yesterday that more than 100,000 women are currently being exploited by the sex trade in the DR and that violence against women has ascended to alarming levels.
Pacheco was speaking as the Chamber of Deputies prepared for the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women, which is observed annually on 25 November. This date was chosen by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 in order to honor the legendary Mirabal sisters, who were brutally assassinated by the Trujillo regime in 1960.
According to the report in the Listin Diario, Pacheco says much reflection needs to be given to this matter and action must be taken. So far this year, said the PRD deputy for the National District, 85 women's lives have been claimed by violence and more than 7,000 have been victims of abuse. In this month of November alone, there have been more than 410 cases of violent acts committed towards women.
"The following numbers of women murdered by their husbands, ex-husbands...boyfriends and ex-boyfriends depicts a deplorable panorama: 93 women were killed in the year 2000, 131 women were killed in 2001, 115 women were victims in 2002, and in 2003 we lost 129 women." Pacheco described the local sex industry as merely another form of aggression and abuse towards women. He added: "In a traditionally macho society like ours, many men cannot tolerate the growing participation of women in different social areas. Women have gone from domestic chores to taking relevant roles in politics, production, education, government and unions."
The government is spending US$30 million each month to shore up the electricity supply for most of the country. In order to better the energy situation for the DR in 2005, El Caribe newspaper is betting on renewed pressures to collect on the electric bills. This will mean new cuts in power service and perhaps higher bills. According to Presidential Technical Minister Temitocles Montas, "There is not enough money to supply 24-hour energy to the population." Montas added that electric bills will increase by 30% next year. The El Caribe reminded its readers that last Tuesday the President warned the Dominican public that "2005 will be a difficult year with regards to energy," blaming a large part of the problem on the US$600-million financial deficit. The monthly "helping hand" that the government is giving to the power companies is aimed at counterbalancing the US$35-million shortfall in cash flow that the energy distributors face every month. RD$20 million goes to the IPPs (Independent Power Producers), US$7 million to Ede-Norte and Ede-Sur and US$3 million to Ede-Este.
While the red-hot Aguilas Cibaenas continued to win at home and on the road, attendance at the stadiums, especially at Quisqueya Ballpark in Ensanche La Fe, has continued to be nearly non-existent. The homefield for the Leones del Escogido and the Tigres of Licey has averaged a paltry 400 paying attendees so far this season. Things are so desperate that the ballpark is now offering three-for-one prices, just to fill some seats. This means that one RD$150 ticket will allow three people to enter the Preferencia section of the grandstands and watch current and future Major League stars play the DR's favorite sport. Only three of the 23 dates have filled the stadium so far this season. When the Leones or Tigres play the San Francisco Gigantes or the Toros del Este the stands are usually empty. The rivalry between Licey and the Aguilas Cibaenas, however, usually attracts many fans, as does the eternal rivalry between Licey and Escogido.
Last night's games show Licey losing 2-0 to the Estrellas Orientales, Escogido losing 2-5 to the Gigantes 5 and the Aguilas defeating the Toros in 10 innings at Francisco Michelli Stadium in La Romana by 4-3.
No games are scheduled for tonight.
The Aguilas lead the series (20-5), followed by Licey (14-11), Estrellas (12-13), Gigantes (12-14), Azucareros (9-16) and the Escogido (9-17).
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