Amidst rumors that there were "issues" surrounding the final signatures on the Petrocaribe Agreement between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, Industry & Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia reassured reporters and editors from El Caribe that the agreement will be finalized "shortly." The minister said that a ministerial-level mission would go to Venezuela for the final signing. The agreement will allow the Dominican Republic to access up to 50,000 barrels of petroleum per day with 40% of the invoice on long-term credit. Garcia said that the guideline document is in the country and as soon as it is signed it will be returned to the Venezuelan authorities for their signatures and the agreement would then go into operation. The document outlines such things as the management of the shipping of the products, whether these are to be crude or finished petroleum products, as well as the conditions of sale, the frequencies, the ships, how the purchases are to be made and the volumes. According to El Caribe, the agreement will allow the Dominican Republic to finance as much as 40% of its oil invoices from Venezuela, and the other 60% can be paid in goods and services from the DR. A ministerial mission, headed by Presidential Minister Danilo Medina will visit Venezuela shortly to identify just which Dominican products and services will be in greatest demand.
The Dominican Republic purchased 50,000 barrels of oil from Brazil yesterday. The Listin Diario said that the president of the Dominican Refinery, Aristides Fernandez Zucco said that the tanker should arrive at the refinery this weekend. Currently, there are reports of rationing by the refinery and of shortages in some parts of the country. According to the paper, Fernandez Zucco reported that one ship failed to fulfill its commitment to deliver 50,000 barrels of diesel fuel and another 90,000 barrels of gasoline, and yet another ship was turned away from the refinery's docks because of questions as to the quality of the oil and environmental issues.
Meanwhile, Diario Libre writes that delays in ships coming from Ecopetrol of Colombia and PDVSA in Venezuela forced the purchase from Brazil. As a result of all of this, President Leonel Fernandez will visit the refinery today and meet with the board of directors. This comes a day after the President met with the National Energy Commission to review the fuel saving measures that he introduced before leaving for the United States.
Refinery president Fernandez Zucco told Diario Libre reporters that PDVSA is not supplying the refinery with the full quota covered by the Petrocaribe agreement because it does not have the transportation infrastructure needed for the job. Fernandez Zucco also told the reporters that the refinery's main partner, the Shell Oil Company, has collaborated to the fullest in order for the refinery to obtain the most out of the Petrocaribe Agreement, but Venezuela cannot, at this time, guarantee timely shipments. To that end, Fernandez Zucco said that Venezuela has placed orders for new tankers in order to supply the demand created by the Petrocaribe agreement.
President Leonel Fernandez has instructed that generation companies will also benefit from the 40% credit the country will be taking to purchase fuel, extending the scope of beneficiaries of the loan the country will be taking on. The government reached an agreement to differ payment of petroleum imports. The agreement goes a step beyond credit facilities already extended as part of the San Jose agreement with Venezuela. The terms of the financing of fuel purchased from the state-owned Petroleos Venezolanos have not been made public.
El Dia newspaper is asking the government to clarify the Petrocaribe deal. The editorial points out that a questionable aspect of the Petrocaribe agreement is the issue of the 40% of the petroleum fuel that Venezuela will finance. The editorialist points out that the consumer is paying a price in gas stations that already covers 100% of the cost of fuel consumed.
However, the deal establishes that for every barrel of petroleum the government purchases from Venezuela, the government will only pay 60% in the short term, despite returns of 100% from consumers. 40% of the 100% instead will be converted into public debt that the population will be asked to pay for again in the future.
In other words, consumers will be paying for this 40% twice. The editorialist asks the government to explain what it is going to do with the savings that theoretically could reach US$400 million this year, taking into consideration that Petrocaribe covers the purchase of up to 50,000 barrels of petroleum at the market price of US$64 per barrel.
In its editorial today, El Dia newspaper mentions that deputy Victor Bisono (PRSC Santo Domingo) has criticized the fact that in transporting fuel from Venezuela, the DR loses around US$1.5 million a month. Diario Libre also carries a brief on the subject, mentioning that transport of crude from Venezuela is costing between US$230,000 and US$240,000 more. The newspaper says that sources indicate that the country was better off buying FOB, as in the past. The new Petrocaribe agreement is a CIF contract.
Ambassador Clara Quinones, advisor to the minister of Foreign Relations, has responded to comments circulated on the internet by Guyanese national and former diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders. Sanders addressed a suggestion about the DR joining the Caribbean Community and its Common Market (Caricom), which was made by Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso. She comments on the cons expressed by Sanders and concludes that "yes," the DR should seek membership.
See http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/09/21/can.shtml
The newly created Superior Police Board (CSP) has integrated the Metropolitan Transit Authority (AMET) and the Tourist Police into its rank and file. According to El Caribe, these two units, created and trained for very specific jobs (traffic control and taking care of tourists) will now also be used for crime prevention. According to the newspaper, even the top brass at AMET is not really sure about their new functions, but they will obey their orders, once they are clear. The drastic change comes at a time when AMET officers are engaged in the organization of the fleet of vehicles used to transport hundreds of thousands of people each day around the streets of Santo Domingo. The registration of the fleet is part of the presidential plan to save fuel. Spokesman Damian Arias Matos, a police colonel, said that the AMET agents would "obey and take to heart all of the orders from the CSP. The move made by Minister of the Interior and the Police Franklin Almeyda also placed the Tourist Police (POLITUR) under the aegis of the CSP. Both units, AMET and Politur were created by decree and assigned very specific functions.
Today's "Que se dice" (What's being said) column takes the move to task. The writer starts the column with the question: "Who invented this?" The writer wants the government to provide a fuller explanation of just why AMET and Politur were placed under the so-called Preventive Police, above all if the move is because - according to the announcement made by the Minister of the Interior and the Police - of the interest of the authorities to increase the number of available agents to confront criminals and lawbreakers. The question is, does this mean that from now on the AMET agents can be sent to patrol the most dangerous barrios, the hotbeds of crime? Should we, asks the writer, understand that Politur personnel, in whom time and money has been invested to train them to deal with tourists, will also be used for this sort of work? A further question: Wasn't AMET supposed to become part of the transport superstructure that was to be headed by Diandino [Pena]? And one last question: Is this the solution that someone pulled out of their sleeve in response to the fact that it has been impossible to get the missing 15,000 police officers that Franklin Almeyda says are assigned to private institutions to return to their duties? The columnist ends by saying that there are too many unanswered questions, and too many loose ends that suggest an improvisation that just gave birth to the CSP. We are waiting for explanations....
Temistocles Montas, the President's chief economic advisor, continues to argue that if Congress does not approve the fiscal reform package, the future is dark for the Dominican Republic. Appearing before the leaders of the Chamber of Deputies, Montas, Taxes Department director Juan Hernandez and Customs director Miguel Cocco told the deputies that they are looking for income of RD$175 billion next year, but the government payroll, the foreign debt, local subsidies, and other goods and services will exceed that amount. As a result, if the deputies do not approve the new tax package, the country will, public finances and the IMF agreement will all fail. Montas said that there would be problems of governance and economic stability. The three economic leaders talked with Alfredo Pacheco and Marino Collante, the Chamber of Deputies president and the head of the finance committee.
Montas revealed that the government can only spend RD$186 billion of its income, because it is obliged to produce a fiscal surplus according to the IMF agreement. Of the RD$168 billion, there are RD$18 billion that have to go to independent institutions, and that leaves the government with just RD$150 billion to spend. Of that amount RD$54 billion go to pay the foreign debt, RD$40 billion go to pay the pay roll, RD$43 billion in transfers for things like the gas and electricity subsidies and RD$23 billion for goods and services.
The nation's leading cartoonist, Harold Priego, has made popular the cartoon character of the Gato Publico, a fat cat that is a play of words. It refers to the "gasto publico", public spending that has been fattened with surpluses in government payroll, government advisors, perks like travel and luxury vehicles for government employees, non-tendered bids, and other questionable items. The cartoon and subtle criticism to government overspending appears regularly in leading local newspapers.
Deputies introduced yesterday bills in Congress yesterday for the creation of five new provinces, as reported in Diario Libre. These would be the provinces of Haina, Constanza, Esperanza, Villa Riva and Santo Domingo Oriental. The bills presented by Juan Benito Reyes (PRD), Ramon Rogelio Genao and Mario Fernandez (PRSC) and Marcelino Dominguez (PRSD).
The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic, Francisco Dominguez Brito, told reporters that he would request the arrest, and detention of the Civil Registry officials, city councilmen or any other person involved in the passport scandal. Several of these officials have been accused of providing official and diplomatic passports to people that were never supposed to have them. According to the chief magistrate of the Justice Department, the passports were obtained through a network organized to obtain visas to European nations. According to the AG, there are currently 800 diplomatic passports in existence and the Department of White Slave Trade is looking to find out how many of these passports were obtained under false premises. The Attorney General said that there were illegal marriages, marriages with people that were deceased and other irregularities. He said that his office would be "drastic" with the offenders.
The Director General of Customs Miguel Cocco, and the representatives of DHL, UPS and FedEx reached an agreement whereby the three couriers agreed to abide by the Decree 402-05 that regulates courier operations in the Dominican Republic. There are currently 16 courier companies operating in the DR, according to association spokesperson Griselda Hernandez. Decree 402-05 was written in accord with the guidelines of the World Customs Organization, and is designed to make courier service more transparent. The couriers had closed their operation in the face of the Customs requirement that everything that they handled go through the Las Americas International Airport.
MEDEF, the French Businessmen's Movement, visited the Dominican Republic last week and met with a group of government economists and private business representatives. The businessmen came to check out the investment climate in the DR. 40 French businesses and institutions were part of the mission that was coordinated by the Dominican ambassador in Paris, Guillermo Pina Contreras. Technical Minister of the Presidency Temistocles Montas, Superintendent of Banks Rafael Camilo, together with Julio Ortega Tous, of the Ministry of Foreign Relations participated in the meeting. The private sector was represented by Christopher Paniagua, the executive vice-president for risks of the Banco Popular.
The emergency teams at Santiago's Cibao International Airport carried out a full-scale simulation of an airline disaster yesterday. Much like the people in Sioux City, Iowa did years ago, the Santiago teams faced the following scenario: A 300 passenger jet coming from New York, with 1000 pounds of fuel on board, lands on a wet runway in conditions of reduced visibility. The fuselage splits in two and fire breaks out.
Under these circumstances, as reported by El Caribe reporter Roberto Santana, the fire and rescue units of the Airport Security Specialized Corps (CESA) put the emergency plan into action.
Victor Suarez, the airport manager, told the reporters that the exercise was part of the requirements of the Dominican aeronautical laws as well as requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (OACI). Every two years the airport has to carry out such an exercise in order to remain fully operational. Among the emergency teams participating in the exercise were the CESA Fire Department, the Airport Medical unit, private security teams, the operations and maintenance departments of the airport itself, as well as units from the police, AMET, Politur, the army, the Red Cross, Civil Defense and the Emergency Committee. The fire brigade had to fight fires at the head of the East Runway, using foam sprays, and calling in assistance from neighboring fire departments in Licey al Medio, Moca, Tamboril, Salcedo and Santiago.
Supervising the operation were observers and evaluators from the Civil Aeronautic Board and personnel from Punta Cana, Las Americas and Puerto Plata airports. Andres Vanderhorst, the head of the Airport Authority was also present.
The final toll of the "accident" was 20 dead, 10 critical, 16 seriously injured and 9 with minor injuries out of the 300 "passengers" on board the fictitious flight. After the exercise, general Ramon Hernandez and Vanderhorst told reporters that the success of the simulation demonstrated that security at the local airports is at its best. Hernandez revealed that CESA personnel have been receiving training from United States Airport Security officials and have received certificates for existing efficiency in case of an emergency.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of two of the more damaging natural disasters to affect the Dominican Republic in recent years. Tomorrow is the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Georges that caused major damages to a large part of the southern and eastern seaboard of the nation. Tomorrow is also the third anniversary of the 22 September earthquake that violently shook the northern part of the Dominican Republic.
With Georges, just a few hours of hurricane winds destroyed housing, flooded rivers and killed hundreds. Georges traveled slowly over the Dominican countryside, taking 16 hours, all told. It packed sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour and 20 inches of rain fell, mostly in the southern half of the country. According to the Dominican Commission for Disaster Relief, there were 1,200 victims of the hurricane and 15,000 households were destroyed.
As a result of Georges, the government created the National Disaster Council that is composed of 28 different institutions and now has a Center for Disaster Operations in Santo Domingo. The Disaster Council now has over 3,000 trained personnel and thousands of volunteers that have received disaster training as well.
Two years ago, in the very early morning hours, a 6.5 degree earthquake hit the northern part of the country, awakening people at dawn break and causing incredible structural damage to many buildings. However, only a few people died during the quake. The Listin Diario reports that very little of the damaged buildings have been repaired over the past two years. The old wharf in Puerto Plata is still split open from the quake and the schools have yet to be rebuilt. The government spent RD$33 million to acquire a small shopping mall to accommodate the students that had lost their schools. In Puerto Plata, the city most affected by the quake, the two public high schools, the sports complex, two elementary schools, the cathedral, the building that houses the Banco de Reservas and the Artisan Center have not yet been fully restored to their former condition.
For the first time in history, it is truly possible that two Dominican baseball player will win the Most Valuable Player trophy in each league. In the National League, there is a tight race between Alberto Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Andruw Jones, from Curacao for the trophy. In the American League, the recent multi-homer games of David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox have pushed Ortiz to the front of the list for many sportwriters. He could well become the first Designated Batter to win the MVP award. While the St. Louis Cardinals have already sewed up their post-season appearance, the Red Sox are in a duel with the New York Yankees. The season ends for both teams with a three game series in Boston. Another stand-out, Bartolo Colon became the first pitcher to win 20 games this season and the first Los Angeles Angel to do the trick since Nolan Ryan in 1974. Ortiz's numbers are becoming records for Boston. With 46 homeruns he now holds the record for left-handed batters and he is tied with Jim Rice for number two on the all-time hit list. Ortiz has nine multi-homer games, just one behind baseball immortal Jimmie Foxx.
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