Speaking at a gala dinner held by the American Chamber of Commerce in Santo Domingo, President Leonel Fernandez told his audience that this nation would become a model for other nations in the region with regards to the fight against corruption. A plan is being conducted in coordination with the World Bank, which El Caribe says "will begin right away." The President is to meet with World Bank executive James Wolfensohn next week in New York. Amid applause, Fernandez said the program establishes a code of ethics for the private sector, as well as the government and will attempt to discourage tax evasion and dual accounting systems in the private sector. The President said the anti-corruption project will extend far beyond the typical political witch hunts the country is accustomed to seeing. In his hour-long talk, the President said the country needs a Constitutional reform that would go beyond the mere issue of re-election, and that would eliminate certain antiquated features to do with social and environmental rights, among other things. Fernandez said that one issue that should be considered in a Constitutional reform is whether the Supreme Court should have the power to repeal a Presidential Decree, and he questioned whether this would allow one sector of the government to invade the prerogatives of another. In his talk, the President said he would submit a new budget to the Congress in order to make sure the distribution of funds was more transparent. He also proposed a new manner in which to direct money to the municipalities.
President Leonel Fernandez is scheduled to travel to New York this afternoon. On Sunday, 5 December, President Fernandez is scheduled for a visit to City College at 2 pm for an event organized by the Global Foundation for Development and Democracy and the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute at the City College of New York. The book, "Building Strategic Partnerships for Development: Dominican Republic-New York State" will be launched. The book is a collection of essays written by community activists, scholars and elected officials dealing with the advancement of Dominicans in New York and in the DR.
The following day, President Leonel Fernandez is scheduled to participate in a 6 December energy forum in New York City. The discussion will focus on energy policy and its effect on security, development and climate. Former President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address and, aside from President Leonel Fernandez, other speakers will include Senator Joe Lieberman, James Wolfensohn (the president of the World Bank), and Dr John Deutch, the former director of the CEA.
See http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/112304-nr-foundation-announces-energy-forum.htm
President Fernandez's early December agenda also includes meetings at the New York Community College, after which he will join Prime Minister P J Patterson of Jamaica, Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad & Tobago, President Ricardo Maduro of Honduras, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue of Haiti, President Oscar Berger of Guatemala, President Antonio Saca of El Salvador and President Enrique Bolanos of Nicaragua in their participation in the CCAA's 28th Annual Miami Conference on the Caribbean Basin scheduled for the InterContinental Hotel in Miami, Florida from 6-8 December. President Leonel Fernandez is scheduled to appear as the keynote speaker of the closing dinner on Wednesday, 8 December.
See http://www.c-caa.org/04conf_agenda.html
Fernandez is scheduled to return to Santo Domingo on Thursday, 9 December.
The National Dialogue convened yesterday on the Santo Tomas Campus of the PUCMM in Santo Domingo. Under the coordination of the university's rector, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, the Dialogue agreed to effect changes in the laws that govern the primary processes of the various political parties. With representatives of all of the major political parties present, as well as business, labor and industrial leaders, the National Dialogue agreed on the need to seek the ratification of the DR-CAFTA trade agreement, as well as the removal of the 25% tariff on soft drinks made with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Nunez Collado told reporters from Hoy and the Listin Diario that the National Dialogue had also agreed that the municipalities would receive 8.55% of the National Budget and not the 10% that they had requested. This compromise was agreed to by Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda on the one hand, and the head of the Dominican Municipal League Amable Aristy Castro and Fausto Ruiz, the president of the Dominican Federation of Municipalities, on the other. The question of the heavy equipment that was assigned to the cities and towns by the previous government was also covered at the meeting. While the incumbent government had requested the return of this equipment to the authorities, a commission was designated yesterday to oversee the return of the equipment to the municipal governments.
The military contingents based at Punta Cana and Las Americas airports were removed by the Ministry of the Armed Forces after the filing of complaints of extortion and bribery by passengers. The removal of personnel includes everyone from the lowest recruit to the highest official based in Punta Cana. The order also includes the members of the tourism police force (Politur), the National Police (PN) and other security forces. Armed Forces Minister Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez signed the order at the request of AERODOM, the consortium that runs the Punta Cana and Las Americas terminals. General Rafael Ramirez Ferreiras, the chief of the military intelligence services, carried out the directive at the Las Americas Airport. He first talked to Carlos Cota Lama, the government liaison at the airport who had warned of the extortionists and bribers. Customs Department Director Manuel Cocco had also requested the removal of the military presence at the airports. Most of the complaints centered around military personnel who had extorted dollars from passengers in exchange for swift passage through the Customs area.
In its first two months in office, the PLD government had to spend RD$14.07 billion of a total income of RD$19.55 billion just to pay expenses, providing just an example of what the government is facing. Capital expenditures represented RD$3.62 billion, or 18% of official revenues, while financial services consumed over half of that, or RD$2.1 billion. The long-awaited resumption of the IMF Stand By Agreement will set limits on public expenditures and external debts in order to return the country to financial solvency. El Caribe notes that the public payroll shot up by RD$91 million from September to October, and that supply purchases also grew by RD$45 million. Non-personal services, such as water, lights and telephone service, went down by RD$27 million
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported that their latest auction of certificates of deposit (Zero Coupon Investment Certificates) was better received than they had forecast for this time of year. The bank said that December usually requires a lot of money to be circulating, but the latest auction was able to place RD$1.38 billion at an average interest rate (APR) of 26.23% – far below the 60% that was seen just a few months ago and less than the 26.62% of a week before. For the next auction, the 365-day certificates will offer an APR of 26%, the 180-day certificates will pay 25% interest and the 90-day certificates will yield 24%.
The Central Bank published online its Dominican Republic Investors Presentation for the bonds roadshow it is participating in. Geoffrey Gottlieb of Goldman Sachs questioned the reasoning used to reach conclusions in the document in a release yesterday. He points out that domestic creditors are not pulling their weight, and neither have multilateral creditors come forth to play a major role in 2005 financing. He concludes that the real financing gap is more likely around US$300 million and not the US$186 million figure used by the Central Bank. To see the Central Bank report, go to http://www.bancentral.gov.do
To see the Goldman Sachs update, see http://www.dr1.com/news/2004/120304_GS.pdf
The Support Coalition to the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Central America praised the efforts of the Senate, political parties and the Catholic Church in favor of removing obstacles to the US congressional approval of the DR-CAFTA, as per a release from the American Chamber of Commerce. Salcedo province senator, Alejandro Santos that this Friday the Senate would review the presidential bill that would eliminate the 25% surcharge on corn syrup imports.
The Coalition said that once the tax is derogated, Congress should take the next step and pass the bill in the shortest time possible.
The Frontier Development Department (DGDF) has begun the repairs and construction of airports that either existed previously or have been planned for the area along the Haitian border. According to El Caribe, the government has set aside RD$3.5 million to refurbish the local airports at Elias Pina, Montecristi, Dajabon and Pedernales. Although the project started in Montecristi and Dajabon with the clean-up of the existing local facilities, there are plans to build air terminals in Bahoruco and Jimani as well. The object of the renewed interest in these airports is to make the areas more attractive to tourism and industry. The existing facilities will be completely refurbished and the new ones built as funds become available. The program became viable after Andres Vanderhorst, the head of the Airport Authority, and ambassadors Claude Moyret of France and Ekhart Peters of Costa Rica visited the region, and commented on its touristic potential.
Dominican society may have to receive eight sex offenders who were rounded up in New York City and are currently awaiting their deportation hearings. El Caribe says the eight were arrested during "Operation Predator" and, according to the paper, had been sentenced to serve time and were free on bail at the time of their arrests. Michael J Garcia of the National Security Agency told a press conference that immediate deportations hearings would be held. Operation Predator, which covered the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, has spawned charges of rape, sexual abuse of minors and other forms of misconduct against the men in custody. According to a signboard in the photograph that accompanies the story, there were 31 arrests made in the operation. The rearrest of this group highlights one of the weakest points in the United States judicial system: the ability to "make bail." All of those apprehended in Operation Predator were free on bail. The authorities in New York did not reveal the nationalities of all of those arrested, but the eight Dominicans' nationality was noted next to their pictures. Martin Horn, the commissioner of conditional liberty (bail) in New York, said that "these individuals have abused the privilege of being in our country." Meanwhile in France, a man and six women were arrested as part of a prostitution ring in Orleans, according to the French Press Agency. The man was imprisoned on charges of "serious pimping" and had already served four years on similar charges in Guadalupe. The six women, whose ages ranged from 15 to 50 and which group included the accused man's wife and daughter, were charged with "active sexual provocation."
The D'La Mona Plaza is generating a lot of speculation among readers of the Diario Libre, says the newspaper. According to its report yesterday, unknown investors, possibly from Puerto Rico, were planning to build a plaza on a small island located in the Mona Passage, the channel of water that divides Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The rest-stop was ostensibly being designed for the hundreds of DR travelers who attempt to make the illegal crossing every year. In a paid advertisement today, however, a group called el Colectivo de Arte Shampoo apologizes to readers who may have misinterpreted their aims and "for any confusion the presentation of this project may have caused."
Yesterday's publication contained an advertisement by Constructora Internautica del Caribe that offered locales at the proposed plaza, but tracking that company down was no easy feat, says the Diario Libre, whose staff tried unsuccessfully to reach the authors of the project at the telephone number and email address given. All that was gleaned in the course of their investigation was that the telephone was listed to an address in the Universitaria area of Santo Domingo where the Shampoo publicity company is also located. The two entities, Arte Shampoo and Constructora Internautica del Caribe, appear to be one and the same, however, and the plaza project nothing more than a creative idea. The initiative was apparently presented to promote the art festival Trienal Poli/Grafica de San Juan that is to take place tomorrow, 4 December, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The use of mosquito repellent containing DEET is recommended for travelers to the Punta Cana area, especially after two cases of malaria have been detected in US tourists returning from this tourist area. There have not been reports of malaria affecting tourists visiting other areas of the Dominican Republic. The Center for Disease Control of the United States has instated an alert to travelers to the area, and is recommending tourists take preventive measures. Around 1.3 million tourists traveled to Punta Cana last year.
For a report, see http://www.dr1.com/news/2004/120304_malaria.shtml
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008. DR1. All Rights Reserved.