Although it has not been officially confirmed, President Leonel Fernandez will be traveling to Colombia next Tuesday where he will meet President Alvaro Uribe and make the inaugural speech in the Sixth Forum of the Biarritz Group, according to a report in Diario Libre. Upon his arrival, the President will participate in a meeting called "Latin America, a Model of Development and Governance", which will take place in Bogota. Fernandez will present a book on Governance and Latin America during this event which is organized by the Bogota Chamber of Commerce. On Thursday, 29 September, the President will launch the Sixth Forum of the Biarritz Group together with President Uribe, former President Ernesto Samper, and Juan Jose Ibarretxe, Head of Government of the Basque Country. The Forum, which ends on 30 September, is one of the most important meetings of European and Latin American heads of state, former presidents, business leaders and municipal authorities.
The government has no short-term solution to the energy crisis affecting the country. Yesterday, President Leonel Fernandez met with a World Bank (WB) mission and energy sector officials who delivered the documentation for a tender for two coal generators that would be installed in Manzanillo (Monte Cristi) and Pueblo Viejo (Azua), at a cost of over US$600 million. According to Listin Diario, the meeting was held at the Presidential Palace and was attended by a delegation of WB technicians led by Lucio Manai. Also present were Presidency Minister Danilo Medina, President of the National Energy Commission Ruben Montas, Superintendent of Electricity Francisco Mendez, and the Manager of the Dominican State-owned Electric Copanies (CDEEE) Radhames Segura. Fernandez discussed the results of contingency plans adopted to tackle the problem, the deficit in the electric sector and perspectives for new power generation projects.
President Leonel Fernandez is worried about the news that the DR must now pay an additional US$200,000 for transportation of oil and its derivatives from Venezuela and the confirmed late shipments in recent weeks. Listin Diario reports that the President has ordered a series of measures to ensure that the Caracas and Petro-Caribbean Agreements are feasible. Fernandez's reaction came about when he was leading an extraordinary meeting of the Administration Council of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa), called with the purpose of overcoming inconveniences that might arise, and calming a public dispute involving energy sector officials, prior to the coming into effect of the Petro-Caribbean Agreement. The President decided to send another delegation of Dominican officials to Caracas next week to finalize the operations and marketing framework between Refidomsa and its Venezuelan counterpart, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.
During the past four years the country's oil bill has increased by US$1.28 billion, equivalent to 98%, as a consequence of the increase in the price of oil on the international market. In 2002, the DR paid US$1.297 billion for the purchase of fuel, while this year projected payments for the purchase of crude oil and its derivatives will rise to US$2.577 billion with an average reference price of US$54.7 per barrel. This amount is US$910 million higher than in 2004 when it reached US$1.667 billion. Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez Albizu stated that during the first semester of this year the country had to pay out US$1.0184 billion due to an increase in demand and the high external prices of crude. The governor was speaking at a conference organized by the Association of Commercial Banks. Valdez Albizu said that next year the purchase of oil will represent a sacrifice for the country, reaching US$2.923 billion with an estimated average price of US$60.90 per barrel of crude. At the end of 2002 the barrel of crude was sold at US$34 whereas this year it has reached over US$70.
Before the end of the year, the Executive Branch must add US$100 million to the US$350 million subsidy it had established to keep the national energy system working. Diario Libre reports that this was disclosed by the general manager of the Dominican State-owned Electric Companies (CDEEE), Radhames Segura, who stated that the subsidy will be no less than US$450 million. This increase is due to the high prices of fuel on the international market, the need to generate more energy because of the excessive summer heat, and the non-compliance of electric distribution companies with loss reduction plans. Segura said that as of 31 August the government had disbursed US$255 million to the electric sector. An additional US$55 million was disbursed last Wednesday, bringing the total to date to US$310 million. Despite the high subsidy it receives, Segura believes that there will be an improvement in service in 2006.
The Director of the Transport Reorganization Office (OPRET), Diandino Pena, announced last night that his office would begin to work on administrative issues and that within ten weeks they will announce the public tenders to select the companies that will work on the construction of lines for the installation of "an electric mass transport vehicle", according to El Caribe. Pena was previously in charge of the office called the metro office and has spent the first year of the Fernandez government organizing and campaigning for the construction of an underground metro. Pena explained that in order to create new solutions, a diagnostic study of the current situation is required. The tenders for the first lots will be for the line between Villa Mella and Centro de los Heroes. He stated that the tenders would be advertised both nationally and internationally, as the projects include areas of civil construction that have never been performed in the country.
Civil Registry officer Luis Felipe Rodriguez has run into problems with his superiors recently for managing his offices finances differently from the common practice. As reported in Clave Digital, he works at the 12th Civil Registry Office in Los Mina (Santo Domingo Province) and serves a population of around one million people. He has created a program, "On the same sidewalk" with volunteers from among community leaves, housewives and professionals to reach out to the poor and assist them in obtaining their birth certificates. In 2004 alone, the program succeeded in providing birth certificates for 4,000 persons, using regular funds generated by the civil registry office he heads. For 2005, Rodriguez's plan was to secure 25,000 birth certificates for those who had not obtained these at birth and were going about their lives in a legal limbo.
Rodriguez's program, nevertheless has been blocked by the Central Electoral Board (JCE), and this year they have only been able to issue 250 birth certificates. Meanwhile, the justices of the JCE have threatened to fire him. So far, they notified him that he could not continue with the program to issue free birth certificates.
Clave Digital points out that while the JCE rejects the continuing of the program to issue free birth certificates to thousands, they have increased the cost of a stamp from RD$1 to RD$30 and a duplicate of a birth certificate is now only valid for 30 days.
Rodriguez spoke out recently that these are two lethal decisions on behalf of the JCE that makes it even more difficult for the poor to obtain their documentation, while padding the pockets of civil registry officers.
His problems with his superiors began when he told the press that the money citizens pay to get their documents at the civil registry offices goes to the officers of the civil registry, as reported in Clave Digital. Meanwhile, the JCE pays out of its budget for rent, electricity and water services. That is, the officers collect the funds gathered at the offices "clean" every month.
President Leonel Fernandez has submitted the contract for the construction, development, exploitation and operation of the Novo Mundo XXI tourist project off the shore of Santo Domingo to the Senate. Diario Libre reports that the artificial island contract was signed on 15 June 2005 by the Ministry of Public Works and Santo Domingo Re-Development, Ltd., represented by Eulogio Jose Santaella Ulloa. The project proposes the extension of the city of Santo Domingo towards the sea, from Winston Churchill Avenue to the breakwater near the obelisk on the corner of Angel Guerrero and George Washington Avenue. According to the contract, the State will receive payment for the authorization, transfer and concession of land and will also receive 5% of the sale price of land suitable for building not assigned to public use. The land extension will be no less than one million square meters. The proposal includes the treatment of pollution from the Ozama River and the regeneration of parts of the bay to maintain water quality. Also, wastewaters that currently drain into the sea will be sent underground. A new road will join the island with the southern part of Santo Domingo. Also projected are the filling and development of the Malecon coastline, 68 million cubic meters of dredging, 9 kilometers of covering, a breakwater, an industrial zone, a multiple-use port and loading area.
El Caribe reports that the project has an estimated cost of US$450 million and could be placed on the agenda for discussion in the Senate next Tuesday. A large portion of public opinion such as environmental organizations, urban planners, architects, and landscapers have opposed the creation of this artificial island.
The PRD decided that the proposals before Congress for the creation of new provinces and municipalities in different parts of the Dominican territory were untimely. According to Diario Libre, Orlando Jorge Mera, secretary general of the PRD, said the party would instruct its legislators to postpone the discussion of those initiatives because the country is now entering an electoral process and the creation of new divisions is not convenient. He stated that the party understands that lawmakers want to respond to the demands of the communities they represent, but insisted this is not the moment to discuss this issue.
The National Drug Control Department (DNCD) has reported the seizure of 91 packs of cocaine, with a total weight of 101 kilos, in the Los Rios area of the National District. Diario Libre reports that three people were arrested. DNCD spokesman Buenaventura Bueno Torres identified the detainees as Gilberto Josadac Acosta Gil, 25, Ariel Rafael Luciano Montesino, 26, and Valentin Toribio Cespedes, 40. He said that the DNCD members who took part in the operation were accompanied by a special agent of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and an assistant District Attorney, appointed to the department. The 91 packs of cocaine were inside a container that was intercepted at 8:35 pm on Wednesday in a lot on Los Proceres Avenue. According to the spokesman for Vice Admiral Ivan Pena Castillo, general director of the DNCD, the operation was the result of intensive intelligence work that took place over several weeks.
The Cinemateca Dominicana, the Chilean Embassy and the Ministry of Culture are presenting a sample of Chilean cinema mostly with films made during the past three years. The festival, which began last night and will continue until next Wednesday, includes the films "Machuca", "Garrincha", "Julio comienza en Julio", "Mujeres infieles", "Residencia", "Genet decente", "Paraiso B", "Subterra" and "El Leyton". For a listing of screening dates and times visit: http://clavedigital.com/Cultura/Noticias.asp?Id_Articulo=105
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