| Daily News - Monday, 17 January 2005 |
Just a few details regarding the nation's electric sector remain on the list of requirements placed on the country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It appears therefore, that the stand-by accord will come into effect within the next three weeks as was announced by the Finance Minister last week. The 2005 Budget and the tax reform package are all finished, and the Paris Club has agreed to a rescheduling of over US$300 million in debt payments, once the country is up to date on overdue payments. The banking sector has been forced to adopt a series of regulations that have made financing more difficult, but that have also strengthened the system. The approval by the IMF executive will open the door to international financing of up to US$1.0 billion, between the IMF, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The "light" at the end of the tunnel may not be a train charging down the tracks. With the launch of the "Electricity Sector Recovery Plan" the IMF and the CDEEE as well as millions of consumers are hoping for better service over the coming months and years. The problems and the causes are well known, their historical roots have been examined, and now Francisco Mendez, the Superintendent of Power has spoken to reporters at Hoy about the three fundamental points in the recovery efforts. First on the list is to guarantee, during this year, at least 70% of the demand. Next is to standardize the electricity rates and focus the subsidy as much as possible on those who really need it. And the last and most difficult point is to convert those thousands of Dominicans who use electricity without paying into paying customers. According to Mendez, the first point is pretty much a given since the government budgeted US$350 million to be spent on subsidies to the distributors in order to improve cash flows and reduce operating deficits. While the guarantee of providing power for at least 10-12 hours a day in the poorest barrios is not set in stone, it should become possible as the collection levels increase. For Mendez, the greatest challenge will be to include the thousands of people that use electricity without paying for it. Although stealing of energy is not restricted to the poor neighborhoods, it will be hardest to eliminate and regulate it in those areas. The Superintendent of Electricity said that by the beginning of 2006, the government expects to have fulfilled these three aims.
The talks leading to a consolidation of the debts between the AES Dominicana and the CDEEE came to an abrupt halt in spite of President Leonel Fernandez's intervention. The President insisted that the amounts under discussion had to be resolved and the issue put to rest. According to sources, the Listin Diario learned that the major obstacle to reaching an agreement acceptable to both sides has been the arbitration commission, which was set up for that very purpose and is headed by Jose Luis Moreno San Juan. A prominent writer on energy issues, Moreno San Juan is the head of the Energy Institute at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. The source said that delaying tactics by the commission have made the conclusion of the talks impossible. Moreno San Juan has attacked the government measures as being "too short term." The latest figures show that AES Dominicana is owed US$50 million for electricity subsidies for the poorest neighborhoods, and government institutions that receive a constant power supply.
Altagracia Paulino, president of Fundecom, the Foundation for Consumer Rights, said that with the new increases to the price of fuel in the DR the Ministry of Industry & Commerce is violating Art. 8 of Hydrocarbons Law 112-00. Over the past four weeks, the government has consistently increased the prices of gasoline and diesel. The law establishes that the weekly adjustments should reflect international fuel price fluctuations, as well as the exchange rate set by the Central Bank.
The walkout by business sector representatives on the board of directors of the Dominican Institute of Social Security (IDSS) has deepened the crisis and could threaten its very existence. Business representatives walked out because they refused to accept the government proposal that business increase the wages of contributors to the IDSS fund. IDSS director Doctor Nelly Perez Duverge told Hoy reporters that employers need to think about their workers when they are dealing with the issue of the IDSS. The Dominican Institute for Social Security was founded in 1947, and has always been dependent on government subsidies. Its services are highly questioned by the private sector who point out that millions more were paid into the IDSS than were ever received in terms of medical assistance or pensions. Ever since the rise of Dominican HMOs (Health Management Organizations), the IDSS has seen a massive drop in cash flows, because the business community chooses to use private health care providers over the government sponsored one. Apparently, Doctor Perez Duverge proposed that the business community approve raising the minimum wage for exclusion from the IDSS services from RD$4,004 to RD$8,83This would mean that many more people would have to pay monthly fees to the IDSS system. Recent wage increases have sharply curtailed the number of workers eligible for IDSS coverage under the current agreements. While a board of directors' meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, the business sector met at the CONEP offices and decided not to participate unless the issue of the base exclusion salary was taken off the table. A source at the IDSS told Hoy reporters: "It is common knowledge that the business community is seeking the complete abolition of the IDSS." The decision to raise the exclusion limit rests with the IDSS board of directors, where the business sector, the government and union leaders.
The political committee of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party ordered that its members employed in the government and earning up to RD$20,000 a month pay a 3% contribution to the party. Those making more than RD$20,000 would pay a 5% contribution. Secretary General of the PLD, Reinaldo Pared Perez made the announcement after a five-hour committee meeting, headed by President Leonel Fernandez, who is also president of the PLD. Pared Perez said that the contribution would be made in accordance with the PLD statute that all members should contribute to party funds.
In a page two editorial today, executive editor of Diario Libre, Adriano Miguel Tejada, Executive Branch spokesman for President Leonel Fernandez during his past term, called the measure illegal. He said that Electoral Law No. 275-97, in its Art. 45, specifically prohibits political parties to impose or accept deductions in wages for government employees or private business, even when alleging that these are quotas or voluntary contributions. The law also prohibits that any government officer or employee, or of the municipalities, place these funds at the service of any political party or group.
He explains that the reasons are simple and there is a moral issue: "It does not reflect well either on the party or the administration; it is no more than a way of getting the state to fund the government party indirectly".
He says that it could be argued that it is a common practice in politics for such requests to be made, but then goes on to say that the PLD seems to be forgetting that the people voted the PRD out of government precisely to change these sort of practices.
Javier Cabreja, director of the civic group Participacion Ciudadana, warned that the imposition of the fee on government workers who are also PLD members violates workers' rights and could mask indirect government financing of a particular party. This, claimed Cabreja, goes against democracy and principles of equity amongst political parties, as reported in Hoy newspaper.
Those traveling by land to Puerto Plata from Santiago should allot extra time for the stretch that usually takes around half an hour. Two weeks of steady rains that have fallen on the Septentrional Mountain Range have caused landslides affecting dwellings located right on the highway on the Luperon and Moca routes. In the case of the Navarete-Puerto Plata road, the problem is a 300-meter stretch between Maimon and La Colorado where vehicles need to slow down as a result of the deterioration of the road caused by the intense rains. Users are urging the Ministry of Public Works to repair this stretch urgently. Several drivers along the Puerto Plata-Imbert route and Puerto Plata-Navarrete are threatening to suspend their service for fear of damage to their vehicles.
The nearly four weeks of continuous rains were still front- page news over the weekend and the beginning of this week. Each day new communities report buildings, both public and private, damaged and abandoned because of safety fears. In Santiago, the Listin Diario reports that a small quake and more rain damaged another fifty houses. Houses along the Pontezuela Arroyo and other small creeks were affected by rising waters eating away at the banks of the streams. Especially hard hit was the Embrujo II section of Santiago. The main street that connects the neighborhood with the Duarte Highway has been cut by the floodwaters, and Civil Defense workers are reporting more problems in the Southeast of Santiago in the areas of Hato Mayor and Villas Olimpicas.
In Los Rincones and Villa Trina, to the north of the town of Moca, a school, church and police barracks had to be abandoned along with about fifty homes. Pig farms were also seriously affected by the moving terrain. Rural areas of the northern mountain range were seriously damaged. Places like Rancho Los Platanos, Los Rincones, La Yautia, Corte Nuevo, Palma Herrada all lost important buildings such as churches and schools. Even greater damage was caused in La Vigia, La Cumbre, La Caoba and Puesto Grande. In the Jamao area, Jose Ramon Diaz, the owner of a ten-acre plantain farm said that his crop had been buried by mudslides. The Villa Trina area is also known for its avocado crop, whichhas suffered 40% damage. Although the seismological laboratories at the Autonomous University in Santo Domingo had not logged any earthquakes in the area, the lab's director Juan Payero told Listin reporters that the rains could have caused micro-seismic events that would not necessarily register in the laboratory.
Fortunately, the sun came out on Sunday and Monday saw a bright and sunny dawn.
Serumberto Reynoso Mota, a.k.a. "Vantroi", turned himself in after negotiating with the Police through representatives of the Dominican Human Rights Committee. After dodging the police for several months, Vantroi told reporters that he "could not keep running because (he was) innocent of all this." The "all this" referred to by the young fugitive are the ten murders the police are accusing him of. Reynoso Mota escaped from custody last August, during a mass held to give thanks for the pardon, attended by the dozens and dozens of prisoners pardoned during the last days of the Mejia administration. He made his escape when President Hipolito Mejia revoked the pardon at the last minute.
If you are a Dominican high school graduate and want to become a policeman, no problem. There are 3,500 vacancies for new recruits. The police chief, Major General Manuel de Jesus Perez Sanchez admits that salaries are not at all attractive to young people, and the job is not all that attractive, either. Only young people along the Dominican-Haitian frontier have fulfilled recruitment quotas, but youngsters in Santo Domingo and Santiago have ignored the call to serve and protect. So far, only 1,500 applications have been received for the 5,000 jobs for high school graduates that were announced by General Perez Sanchez last September. Some provinces, assigned fifty spots in the recruiting class, have only received five or six requests and some important provincial centers, such as Santiago have had no applications at all. "Not a single application from the Cibao," lamented the general.
Exciting baseball saw the Aguilas Cibaenas go from half a game back to a one and a half game lead over the Tigres de Licey. The weekend's games also saw the re-entry of major league stars such as Bartolo Colon and Miguel Tejada in the lineup for the Aguilas.
On Friday night the Estrellas Orientales beat the Tigres de Licey 3-2 in San Pedro de Macoris thanks to a clutch hit by Tomas de la Rosa that won the game in the tenth inning. Over in San Francisco de Macoris, Matt Cepicky hit a three run home run in the top of the tenth inning to start the Aguilas weekend sweep.
On Saturday, the Aguilas took the road to Santo Domingo and faced the Tigres del Licey at the Quisqueya Baseball Park. Right-hander Miguel Batista pitched five innings of one-run ball as the Aguilas won handily, 7-Over in San Pedro de Macoris, the Estrellas beat the Gigantes del Cibao , 5-1
In Sunday's action, a packed Cibao Ballpark saw the Aguilas defeat the Tigres once again with dramatic homeruns by Miguel Tejada and Alex Fernandez . Major League star Bartolo Colon pitched three scoreless innings, as he warms up for the coming series final. In San Francisco de Macoris, the Gigantes avenged the previous day's loss to the Estrellas, beating them 10-2 in the Julian Javier Stadium.
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