The Transport Department (OTTT) is increasing bus fares RD$2 for urban (National District) routes, RD$3 for suburban (National District - Santo Domingo Province) routes and RD$5 for inter-urban or inter-provincial routes, according to a report in Diario Libre. Public cars or "conchos" in Greater Santo Domingo will continue to charge RD$10 since more than 60% of these vehicles run on LPG. The only car routes that will increase their fares are in Santiago and La Vega because their routes are up to 30 kilometers long. With this decision the OTTT satisfies requests from transport unions. However, the date for the application of the new fares has not been decided although some unions had planned to start increasing their fares today. OTTT Director German Pena Guadalupe explained that the institution would issue a resolution once all transport unions representatives - 17 in total - have signed the document. Meanwhile, El Caribe reports that the new fares become effective at 6:00 am today. The decision was adopted after a meeting between the OTTT Director and transport union leaders Ramon Perez Figuereo and Juan Hubieres, presidents of CNTU and FENATRANO, respectively. According to Listin Diario, Figuereo and Hubieres agreed to increase or decrease the fares by one peso automatically, every time fuel prices vary by RD$15 per gallon. The OTTT measure was immediately opposed by the Federation of Dominican Students, despite the fact that fares for "conchos" will remain the same. The students are proposing a meeting between government officials and the authorities of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) to discuss the possibility of subsidizing students' transportation or introducing reduced fares for students.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Francisco Javier Castillo, has said that DR would formalize its integration into the Petro-Caribbean Agreement on 5 September 2005. According to a report in El Caribe, the agreement seeks to double the amount of crude oil entering the country to 100,000 barrels. The ratification of this agreement with Venezuela will be a relief for the nation and will benefit consumers as the country will always have sufficient fuel, on time, and with advantageous conditions, stated the Minister. Castillo announced that the government would announce the measures it plans to implement in order to reduce crude oil consumption in the next few days. He warned that the measures would be drastic but necessary.
The director of the Department of Energy of the UASD, Jose Luis Moreno San Juan said that the numbers being used to figure the cost of fuel used to generate power are excessively padded in regards to the real costs, as reported in Hoy newspaper. He said that fuel for power generation is at US$30 the barrel. He said that the increase in the cost of fuel will add on no more than US$35 million for the entire year. He said what is essential is that contracts for the purchase of energy be revised in order to make transparent the costs of the system. "We have observed with much concern the instability of the system. Evidently there is a regulation problem that is fundamentally due to how the operation of the system is being handled in real time," he said.
Listin Diario political commentator Orlando Gil comments today that there are many that say that everyday President Leonel Fernandez speaks more like his predecessor, former President Hipolito Mejia. He mentions Fernandez's comments accusing the rich of stealing power, the public work contracts scamming the people and government with poor quality works. Gil counters: "While the President says the rich are stealing power, no culprits are established, and the generators and distributors are left on their own. "If these are collecting what they should not be, then they are stealing. If a power plant is shut down alleging difficulties in the transmission network, then they are stealing. And both situations have been denounced by official organizations. The President is expressing a complaint that no one can deny is true. But it is not enough to tell everyone what everyone knows. What would be best would be if action were taken. If when he states that he is tired of the government receiving works plagued with construction problems, then he give instructions to act against those that are in fault. His words would then have had a different effect. Then no one would compare him, and much less put him on the same level, of his predecessor, Mejia." Gil concludes that the people are tired of the government denouncing situations and not doing anything to correct these.
PLD has said that the evaluation the PRD made of their first year in government lacks credibility and responsibility. A statement issued by the PLD Political Committee and presented by Temistocles Montas during a press conference, says that a political team responsible for the bankruptcy of the economy and destroying the national productive system, causing "social genocide", must first have had the prudence of self-criticism before the nation, instead of getting involved in demagoguery. The PRD's position is a great act of irresponsibility after having impoverished the nation, stated Montas. The PLD also accuses the PRD of the increase in unemployment during its past administration - 600,000 jobs are estimated to have been lost. Montas said that today the country is starting to breathe with new optimism and trust due to the new phase of growth and pointed out that the economy grew by 7.6% during the second quarter.
The Participacion Ciudadana (PC) civic movement warned yesterday that President Leonel Fernandez has caused his anti-corruption policy to be questioned by appointing lawyer Marino Vinicio Castillo (Vincho) - who is also main defense attorney for Ramon Baez Figueroa, responsible for the greatest banking fraud in all Dominican history - as Anti-Narcotics Advisor to the Executive Branch with the rank of Minister. According to Clave Digital, a statement signed by PC general coordinator Dr. Luis Scheker Ortiz says that this appointment places Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito in a difficult position. The AG has repeatedly expressed his intention of fighting corruption and seeking that the bank frauds receive proper punishment. Scheker Ortiz stated that this appointment places the justice department not only in the position of facing Baez Figueroa in court, but also of facing politically "a man who knows how to use the instruments of power and has the President's unrestricted admiration and trust". President Fernandez had stated recently that the founder of the PLD, Juan Bosch, and Vincho Castillo were his two political mentors. Scheker warned that it would be unethical for this high-level government official to put on his robes and go to court against the interests of the government for whom he officially works.
The DR plans to call on the international community to extend the UN mission in Haiti, in order to assure security in the neighboring country and the region, as reported on Tuesday by the Ministry of Foreign Relations. According to a report in Clave Digital, the proposal is being presented by the Ministry at an Extraordinary Meeting of Foreign Relations Ministers of the Rio Group, which begins today in Bariloche, Argentina. Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, who is in Argentina, pointed out the importance of the extension of the UN mission in Haiti for both the DR and Haiti itself. He will meet with OAS Secretary General, Jose Miguel Insulza, the High Commissioner of the UN for Haiti, Jose Gabriel Valdez, and Enrique Iglesias of the Inter-American Development Bank, prior to the Rio Group meeting. Morales stated that the situation in Haiti would be the central theme for discussion by the Rio Group Foreign Relations Ministers.
The government of Haiti issued a communique yesterday condemning the murder of three young Haitians in the DR, who were burned alive by unknown assailants using an inflammable liquid near the toll station in Haina. According to EFE press agency, the Haitian government regrets "this criminal act which comes about at a time when the two countries on our island are trying to improve their relations". The Haitian ambassador in the DR has been instructed to follow up on the case and demand justice so that actions like this do not happen again. El Caribe reports that the young Haitians were found almost dead last week in a woodworking shop near the toll station at the 12th kilometer on the Haina road, west of Santo Domingo. A fourth Haitian was reportedly able to get away, although he also suffered injuries. Meanwhile, the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Relations had not received any official communication from the Haitian government protesting about the death of the three men. Deputy Minister and Acting Minister Alejandra Liriano said that this sort of complaint should be filed through diplomatic channels.
Approximately 800 Haitian immigrants were arrested and deported to Haiti by Immigration Department agents, because they didn't have their documents in order or for wandering about the streets of Santiago. Listin Diario reports that this is the second week that the Immigration Office in Santiago performs this sort of operation to reduce the number of illegal Haitians, particularly those who engage in begging at street corners, including women and dozens of children. According to Immigration, there have been increased complaints from neighborhood associations reporting that the Haitians are getting involved in felonies. There have also been acts of violence between Haitians and Dominicans in the areas of Hatillo Palma, Esperanza and Pueblo Nuevo.
Benito Ferreiras, rector of the Instituto Superior de Agricultura (ISA) and Angel Hernandez, rector of the Universidad Abierta para Adultos (UAPA) in an interview with Hoy newspaper advised Dominicans to learn creole, the native language of most Haitians. The rectors made the recommendation on grounds that for economic and strategic reasons, more than for cultural reasons, it would be convenient for Dominicans, especially the future leaders, to learn creole. The country is affected by a little controlled influx of indigent job-seeking Haitians over the border given the economic, social and political crisis in Haiti.
The Senate has passed, by 16 votes to 6, the bill creating the new province of Santo Domingo Oriental, and making Mendoza a municipality. The new province will be composed of the Santo Domingo Este, Boca Chica, San Antonio de Guerra, and San Jose de Mendoza municipalities. The bill was presented by Tonty Rutinel Dominguez, Senator for the province of Santo Domingo, and the Senate received a favorable report from the Commission of Municipal Development and non-governmental organizations. The capital of the province will be Santo Domingo Este. This bill is motivated by the fact that the current socio-economic composition of the Santo Domingo province is very different in its north, east, and west regions, which are also geographically distant one from another, hindering the adequate communication and integration required for a strategic development plan. The bill now goes to the Chamber of Deputies for approval. While the creation of provinces solves no problems, it does create more jobs for politicians at an increasing cost to tax payers.
An extraordinary session of the Senate has been called for tomorrow to debate the DR-CAFTA agreement, one of the most controversial bills on the agenda for the current term. Diario Libre reports that after being studied and passing through public hearings, the treaty has already received a favorable report from the Commission of Industry and Commerce and Free Zones. Several productive sectors in the country are opposed to the FTA saying they would go bankrupt without compensatory measures.
The president of the Senate has said that government was disrespectful of Congress by allowing work to begin on the tourist and real estate development project at Sans Souci without previously allowing lawmakers to ratify the sale of the port and adjacent areas. Andres Bautista warned that the fact that project promoter Inversiones Turisticas Sans Souci has already started work on the development will not influence the Congress decision for or against the sale of the land, estimated at US$39.4 million. According to Diario Libre, PRSC deputy spokesman Ramon Rogelio Genao said the sale of Sans Souci is part of the current administration's erroneous policy or privatizing the economy without considering the consequences. PLD senator Jose Tomas Perez said he supports the sale if it was done at a good price, transparently in favor of the government, and if it will stimulate the development of tourism.
The increase in the cost of fuel derived from petroleum has had an adverse impact on the tariffs of tickets for the ferry boat between Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. According to Listin Diario, ferry operator Ferries del Caribe announced its sea tickets between the two cities would increase by US$10 as from 1 September 2005. Maribel Mas, Vice President of the ferry operator had stated to Puerto Rican newspaper "El Nuevo Dia" that the round trip on the "Millennium Express", which currently costs US$169, would be more expensive because of the increase of nearly 45% in the cost of fuel over the last year. The ferry boat leaves the port of Mayaguez on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It leaves Santo Domingo on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
A man who allegedly confessed to an assistant district attorney and two public defenders about his participation in the murder of US citizen Jacob Henri Riehm on Saturday, 20 August 2005, was arrested yesterday. Diario Libre reports that according to the police report, 29-year-old Elvin Rosa Arias had confessed that a friend of his called Sandy shot Riehm twice. The motive was robbery. The police are searching for the other suspect.
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008. DR1. All Rights Reserved.