Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, President Leonel Fernandez outlined a plan aimed at exchanging the poor nations' foreign debt of for development programs to allow them to meet the Millennium Objectives set out by the UN. Fernandez said that the Dominican Republic required between US$29 billion to US$30 billion over the next ten years to reach the objectives, something he considered very unlikely in a nation with a GDP of just US$21 billion. Fernandez was clear in stating that his nation could not reach the objectives without outside assistance. The President urged the Assembly to follow Spain's lead in submitting the proposal that foreign debt be exchanged for educational, public health and cultural development programs. As reported in El Caribe, Fernandez emphasized the fact that all development programs were threatened by the recent increase in the price of oil that "threatens a world-wide recession."
After his appearance at the Forum on the Digital Solidarity Fund, held at the Millennium Hotel in New York, President Fernandez told reporters that the higher oil prices would force many countries to design more efficient mass transit systems. The President reconfirmed the Metro project and said that it has to be considered the "nation's project, not the project of a government." As reported in Hoy, the President pointed out that the Metro is conceived to be a long-range project, much like the Lincoln Tunnel that connects New York City with New Jersey. That project took 20 years to reach its conclusion. Fernandez also pointed out the need to create a mass transit system that used less expensive fuels and that produced less pollution. The Dominican chief executive told reporters that he was impressed with the new, hybrid buses that were being used in New York City. These buses combine electric and diesel engines.
After nine days in the United States, President Fernandez returned to the Dominican Republic to find things heating up, and perhaps even more complicated that when he left the country. The fuel saving plan that he instituted before leaving has not received much support from the transportation sector. In one of his first statements, the President said that he and his team would "review" the situation.
The chief executive also has to mediate in a struggle between some of his closest associates, like Danilo Medina and Aristides Fernandez Zucco who are fighting over oil purchases in Venezuela. Yet another problem is the direct remark made by his legal advisor to the chief justice of the Supreme Court regarding the handling of the corruption cases. Legal advisor Cesar Pina Toribio commented to Chief Justice Subero Isa that he should not be one talking about corruption when judges under him were handing out questionable rulings in corruption cases presented. And, as if all this weren't enough, the Congress begins its debate on the proposed new tax reform package today.
Fernandez told Diario Libre reporters that he would not want to propose any new measures regarding fuel saving measures until after he had met with his energy cabinet.
As President Fernandez returned to the Dominican Republic, a struggle has emerged between Danilo Medina, one of the government ministers closest to the President, and Aristides Fernandez Zucco, the head of the Dominican Refinery (REFIDOMSA) over just how much oil to purchase from Venezuela. Medina is questioning the fact that, despite the "Petrocaribe" agreement signed with Venezuela, the refinery is still not purchasing the 50,000 barrels a day covered under the terms of the agreement. According to Medina, "the President is going to have to make tough decisions in order to buy the entire quota and more." At the same time, Fernandez Zucco told Diario Libre reporters that Venezuela cannot satisfy the amount of fuels that the country needs to purchase. Currently, the Dominican Republic is buying 35,000 barrels a day under the Petrocaribe Agreement. However, there seems to be another fly in the ointment. After weeks of publicity decrying the fact that the nation is using 165,000 barrels of oil a day, it now turns out, as revealed in Diario Libre, that the real, average consumption is just a tiny bit over 100,000 barrels a day. (100,380) These numbers were compiled by journalists from Diario Libre who used data from the Hydrocarbon Department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to prove their point.
Sunday's edition of the widely read column "Que se dice"(What's being said) was a proverbial broadside. First on the columnist's list was the "Parador del Mar", the rest stop in the middle of the Las Americas Highway on the way to the airport. The columnist says that it was destined to end badly, and that now the government has the rest stop on its hands, and doesn't know what to do with it. "Constructed during the prior administration as an example of pure willfulness, the ostentatious rest stop never did nor never will make any sense. All it ever had was a huge cost. If the truth be known, what we are dealing with here is a suspicious investment that the prior authorities were going to rent out at a ridiculously tiny fee. Oh how the taxpayers are abused by the State!" The columnist goes on to add, "the "Parador del Mar" is, among other barbarities, an assault on nature, who was robbed of a precious space on which now the pile of rubbish now rests. No one traveling to the east of the country arrives there with any real need to stop at the place, located so near the airport that IS a destination for many who travel that way. Conceived by someone lacking in ideas, surely, and with the apparent idea of favoring someone with political or friendship ties to the administration, the Parador del Mar will end up being assigned to some worthy institution that needs space for its stuff, such as Casa Abierta or Hogares Crea. Salt air for people in a difficult situation! But whoever proposes to invest in such a place and who proposes to pay a heavy rent to the State in order to make some money, is building in sand".
While the second paragraph of the column deals with the conflicts between members of the administration, the third paragraph tackles Pedro de Jesus Candelier. The writer says that there are people who think that the weakness shown by the current administration - that a lot of people would like to see acting much stronger - permitted general Pedro de Jesus Candelier to prematurely place himself before the television cameras to day - in other words of course- "that he had the 'equipment down below' that the country badly needs" The columnist says that Candelier is "probably a man of insufficient intellectual qualifications and therefore not very trustworthy to get to the top of the administration of a State, as he would like to, but there is no doubt that his attitudes and achievements give credit to the image of a tough and inflexible personality that is being sold to the public. What irony! If Pedro de Jesus should become an option with an authoritative profile for the electorate - to the prejudice of the PLD and other traditional parties - there is no one to thank except the present administration's leader, who dared to put him in the biggest fight of his life when he named him chief of Police, something that never would have occurred to Balaguer who used him cautiously and who once called him 'a little bit primitive'. Moreover, it is the weaknesses of these four years now underway that appear to give political life to those who hold courage as their political flag".
The Ministry of Public Works is testing a new toll paying system that would enable travelers to pre-pay road tolls and expedite their passage through toll booths. The system would also be used for security purposes as license plates would be read by the same system. There are four toll booths in the country - Las Americas Expressway, Santo Domingo, the two highways to San Cristobal, and the one leading north. There is a fifth one, whose construction is very much advanced on the La Vega-Santiago highway stretch, and a sixth that is contemplated for when the Santo Domingo-Samana highway is completed. The highways produce on average every month: Duarte (RD$14 million), Sanchez (RD$13 million), 6 de Noviembre (RD$10.5 million), Las Americas (RD$17.5 million).
The funds by law would be used to improve and maintain road infrastructure in the DR, but eventually by presidential decree in 2003 the funds were moved to pay for a debt the Ministry of Public Works owes the governmental Banco de Reservas. Sunday's Listin Diario carried a report on the funds.
Looking to make the best deal out of the current situation and preserving the Dominican talent for circumventing restrictions, dozens of "informal" gas stations opened up over the weekend. Many of these informal businesses were selling gasoline to the "motoconchistas" that service the local neighborhoods, and others were selling to motorists who could not get gasoline before Saturday's twelve-noon deadline. At the entrance to Los Alcarrizos, one young man serviced the needs of the motorcycle taxis for well above the normal price. Jose Antonio, who operates a tiny gasoline stand at the entrance to the Los Alcarrizos sector, told Diario Libre reporters that by 11:00 a.m. he had "made his day." He told reporter Yvonny Alcantara that he usually bought 12 or 13 gallons for his motorcycle clients, but this last Saturday he bought 80 gallons, because he knew that a lot of people would be needing fuel. And he was right. In a look-see carried out by the Diario Libre staff, dozens of sites selling gasoline were found all over the city. Prices were usually in the RD$130-RD$140 range. Fire chief Guillermo Garcia warned of the dangers of storing gasoline in inadequate containers. He emphasized the need to be extremely careful when storing fuel in the home. The Fire Department will begin a national ad campaign today warning of these dangers.
Premium gasoline was down RD$14.70 (RD$124.10 the gallon) this week, regular gasoline was down RD$12.70 (to RD$114.90 the gallon) and diesel declined RD$5 (to RD$87.30 the gallon).
The Dominican Republic is in pursuit of alternative energy sources. Unfortunately, as reported in Hoy, along with a caricature of Don Quixote, the nation is riding a horse, not a fast train or any other motorized vehicle. The reporter, Isaolym Mieses, interviewed Doroteo Rodriguez, the manager of Alternate Energy Sources for the National Energy Commission.
Rodriguez is now responsible for lobbying for alternative energy in the DR. He is lobbying for the much needed incentives law for using renewable or alternative energy. Rodriguez pointed out that agro-business in the energy field would be one of the country's main economic activities, saving the state US$2.0 billion per year in oil purchases and creating thousands of jobs in the rural areas. Brazil is now a world leader in ethanol fuels and has shown how ethanol creates 30 times more jobs that oil. According to the expert, the Dominican Republic should plan on generating between 50% and 60% of its energy needs from biomass, both for transportation and energy. Rodriguez pointed out that as much as 15% of the country's energy needs could be supplied from methane gas, available from manures already in existence. Bio-diesel is another fuel that can be easily produced from vegetable oils such as soy or palm nuts. In Brazil there are four million vehicles using 100% ethanol for fuel - more than the entire Dominican fleet - and the rest are using 50% mixtures. Even more interesting is the fact that, according to the expert, the DR has more wind energy than it can absorb over the next 20 or 30 years, as much as 500 megawatts. The energy expert revealed that at an installation cost of US$1.2 million per megawatt, he expected that as many as 40 wind power farms would be installed in the DR, most with capacities between 50 MW and 100 MW capacities.
The government and the IMF are in the process of reviewing the ceilings on the trade balances set forth in the Letter of Intent, in order to bring them in line with the impact created by the recent rise in the price of oil. As reported in Listin Diario, the "flexibility" that the IMF will need to show will be set forth in the new Letter of Intent that will be discussed next October at a meeting of Dominican economic and financial authorities and members of the International Monetary Fund. The increase in oil prices has "messed up" the government's numbers and even though there is no serious impact expected in the immediate future, the number one problem is the larger outflow of hard currency that has widened the financial gap in the balance of payments, estimated to be US$300 million. Even though the IMF may well consider loosening the ceilings that were agreed upon with the government, they will certainly keep a "close eye" on just how government spending behaves. According to some economists, the government plans to increase public expenditure next year.
With close to 100,000 Dominican women living across the European continent, 86% of the remittances that come from Europe are sent by women. According to sociologist Irma Nicasio, spokesperson for the International Committee for the Protection and Support of Migrating Women and Those Taken for Sexual Exploitation, about half these women are prostitutes. Nicasio, who did a study on Dominican emigrants in Spain, the United States, Switzerland and Italy, said that nearly 60,000 Dominican women live in Spain and work in household service. Moreover, she found another 50,000 women that do "sexual work" in Spain, Switzerland and Italy, as well as other countries. Nicasio said that research in Europe and among the 127 remittance companies in the DR revealed that 86% of the resources sent from Europe are sent by women, since she could only find 17,000 Dominican men that were working in Europe. In the case of Spain, the average remittance is 600 EUR per month. The report also says that prostitutes send more money than those employed in households. Nicasio revealed that most of the women working in the sex trade were tricked, with many of them held against their wills and held in roadside "clubs" and had their passports taken away. Many of these women were offered jobs as waitresses or dancers but found a very different reality when they arrived at their destination.
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008. DR1. All Rights Reserved.