President Leonel Fernandez has set up a new entity, called the Office for the Reorganization of Transport Systems (OPRET), a temporary measure aimed at designing and presenting a integrated transport project, according to a report in Diario Libre. The office was created by Decree No. 477-05, which also instructs the new department to install, operate and maintain the lines of the future Rapid Mass Transport System (SITRAM). El Caribe reports that former Santo Domingo Metro manager Diandino Pena was appointed to the post of Director of the new department. The decree states that OPRET will be responsible for the construction of Line 1 which will run North-South from Villa Mella to the Centro de los Heroes. Pena will have the same responsibilities as he had as Manager of the Metro, but the institution has been renamed. Also, the design and construction of successive and continuous stages of growth of the system are to be performed, so that the project will extend to the principal areas of the city, serving the majority of low-income users. The decree also instructs the office to start the studies for the design and construction of the SITRAM in Santiago and the country's other main cities.
The authorities began the fuel saving plan announced last Sunday by President Leonel Fernandez with a firm hand by sending out military patrols to gasoline stations at 8:00 pm last night to ensure that they respect the new regulation limiting the sale of fuel until that time from Mondays to Fridays, Listin Diario reports. Also yesterday, the Minister of the Armed Forces, Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez, withdrew vehicles being used by officials as escorts. A system for paying highway tolls using a card has also been installed. It is expected that this system will also help save fuel. Another important measure has been the creation of a new department for the design and construction of mass transit systems in Santo Domingo and other major cities in the country.
The President of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) instructed judges to enforce the law that punishes electricity fraud. According to Diario Libre, Jorge Subero Isa believes that the time is right to reorganize the country in terms of electricity theft, although he considers that this sort of felony increases in times of scarce supply. Subero was speaking in the presence of the General Manager of EdeSur Ruben Bichara, who was delivering the Electricity Law and its Regulation. Bichara estimates that 40% of the energy distributed has no identified users as a consequence of theft.
Gasoline stations owners said yesterday that the fuel saving measures announced by President Leonel Fernandez will lead to unemployment, as the working hours established for the sale of fuel is insufficient to keep two shifts on the job. The new plan limits the sale of fuel on Mondays through Fridays until 8:00 pm, until noon on Saturdays, and are to remain closed on Sundays. The gasoline station owners are complaining that the measure was not considered in sufficient detail to realize that many people would automatically lose their jobs. Stations that had been working 24 hours will be laying-off half their personnel. Some businessmen in the sector have stated to El Caribe that if the limit were until 10:00 pm they would be able to keep employees working in two shifts.
Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has said he did not issue a personal check in favor of Dominican ambassador Jose Serrulle Ramia. In a note sent to Diario Libre, Latortue explains that the Haitian government, through its Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad, together with the Science and Art Foundation run by Serrulle, was part of the Haitian-Dominican Solidarity Conference held in San Francisco de Macoris from 13 to 15 May 2005. It was in that context that the Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad gave a check for US$25,000.00 to the directors of the Science and Art Foundation, to cover part of the expenses for the organization of the conference. The allegation in the case, which would be a violation of the Vienna Convention, was first made public by internet news portal www.elviajero.com.do in an article which stated that Serulle had accepted US$48,000.00 from Latortue to organize a meeting of political leaders and Haitian NGOs. However, the diplomat only admitted receiving US$25,000.00 and accepted that the procedure was not the most adequate but that he had received it personally as there was not time to make the check out in favor of the Foundation. Meanwhile the Ministry of Foreign Relations has launched an investigation into the case. The results of the investigation have not been disclosed. It is expected that the official position will be made public when Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso returns to the country later this week.
The Export and Import Bank (EXIMBANK) is willing to finance renewable energy projects to contribute to a solution to the impact of high prices of oil on the Dominican productive sector. According to a report in El Caribe, this was informed by Heffrey Miller, Vice President of Operations of EXIMBANK during a meeting with the Organizing Committee of the Dominican Week in the US. Miller stated they are open to both private and public sector participation. The EXIMBANK is a non-governmental agency that has the mission of supporting exports from the US and to create jobs in the US. In 2004, the EXIMBANK authorized US$8.5 billion in guarantees, US$4.6 billion in insurance, and US$0.2 billion in direct loans.
Pilot Leonardo Carrion, who allegedly piloted the airplane that was burned and abandoned after landing on the Autovia del Este near La Romana, was handed over to the police by the Human Rights Committee. Committee chairman Vigilio Almanzar told Diario Libre that Carrion was turned in to General Rinel Lozada at 10:00 am. All that is known about this strange incident is that on Thursday, 18 August, a small airplane landed on the highway, and that a group of people in two SUVs and motorcycles were waiting for it. It wasn't an emergency landing as 12 burning cans were placed on the road to serve as landing lights for the pilot. The airplane's two passengers left in the SUVs and until now, there has been no explanation for this mystery which is being investigated by the Police, the Armed Forces and the National Drug Control Department.
The District Attorney of the Municipality of Higuey has ordered the arrest of two priests and one deacon involved in the child molestation case at the Ciudad de Ninos San Francisco Javier care center, located in San Rafael del Yuma, after the Court of Appeals revoked the case dismissal in their favor. Listin Diario reports that those arrested are priests Cirilo Nunez and Ramon Betances and the deacon Rigoberto Gonzalez Pandial. They were taken to separate cells in the local prison. DA Lucas Perez said that after mediation and coordination with Bishop Nicanor Pena Rodriguez, the three showed up just before 10:00 am and were taken into custody, in compliance with the ruling by the San Pedro de Macoris Court of Appeals. The priests stated that they are interested in the case being solved in a legal manner and denied being involved in the molestation of children or of ever having that intention. The DA confirmed that the accused are receiving the treatment established in the Concordat that regulates the relations between the Dominican state and the Catholic Church. This agreement establishes that priests cannot be detained in a cell together with other prisoners in the case of being involved in a felony.
Joselito Hernandez Garcia, the boy who was wounded in his left eye by a stray bullet (see DR1 Daily News 23 August 2005) will not recover his sight as determined by the electronic evaluations performed in the US. Dr. Salomon Melgen, a renowned Dominican ophthalmologist residing in Miami, to whom the Ministry of Interior and Police referred the case, stated that the boy accepted the news bravely, telling his mother "Don't cry, I haven't died". Dr. Melgen very sadly stated that at this time technology has no options to offer the boy. The story has been covered on several international television networks.
Thirteen-year-old Miguelito Martinez almost lost his right leg when a stray bullet fractured his bone and injured the femoral artery. According to El Caribe, the boy was on his way to the neighborhood store in Gualey, a barrio in Santo Domingo, at 9:00 pm last Friday in the middle of a power outage when he was hit. Four children in Gualey have been wounded by stray bullets this year. The other three are 8-month old Frailin in April, 9-year-old Ingrid in January, and most recently 12-year-old Joselito, who was blinded as a result of the injury. Miguelito was taken to Dario Contreras Hospital where he underwent a five-hour operation on his leg.
Young violinist Aisha Sved and Maestro Carlos Piantini are the stars of the opening concert of this year's symphony season which starts 14 September at the National Theater in Santo Domingo. The season is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the Fine Arts Department and will consist of five concerts, one of which will be performed in Puerto Plata. The program for Wednesday's concert consists of "Symphonic Poem No. 1" by Bienvenido Bustamente, "Romance in G Major, for violin and orchestra", by Ludwig van Beethoven, "Carmen" Fantasy for violin and orchestra and "Symphony No. 1 in D Major (Titan)" by Gustav Mahler. Other concerts are planned for 21 and 28 September, 5 and 19 October at the National Theater. A fifth concert will take place on 22 September at the San Felipe Apostol Cathedral in Puerto Plata.
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008. DR1. All Rights Reserved.