President Leonel Fernandez has told an audience in Higuey, La Altagracia province, that people should not be confused by the demagogues who are trying to "fish in muddy waters," and were blaming the government for the increases in fuel prices. The President also promised, according to El Caribe, to lower the price of fuel as soon as possible.
President Leonel Fernandez met with hotel owners in Frank Rainieri's house in Punta Cana and listened to their arguments as to why the sector should receive special treatment within the new tax proposals. ASONAHORES president Enrique de Marchena Karluche told reporters that the "meeting was productive and quite open." Fernandez promised to study the tourism sector's position and to take steps to reduce the degradation of the area surrounding the hotels themselves. The private sector was represented by Enrique de Marchena Karluche, Frank Rainieri of the Punta Cana Group, Ernesto Veloz and Luis Lopez from Ahmsa Marina. Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez, Public Works Minister Freddy Perez and the Presidential Minister Danilo Medina accompanied Mr. Fernandez.
An eleventh-hour promise that President Fernandez is to meet with the leadership of the Dominican Medical Association (CDM) by next Wednesday moved the CMD to hold off on the proposed work stoppage scheduled for today. The CMD leadership, headed by Dr. Waldo Suero met with the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Bautista Rojas Gomez, who told Hoy reporters that he and Suero had already met "discreetly" on several occasions. The strike was scheduled to shut down the nation's public hospitals as well as hospitals belonging to the Social Security System. The medics were only going to treat emergency patients. The CMD's unwavering demands are for higher salaries, the re-hiring of doctors who had been dismissed from their posts, repairs to most of the nation's hospitals, and the supply of materials needed for their work, including medicines. So far, the CMD has gone on strike for as long as 48 hours six times in their quest for improved conditions for their members and for the patients they treat.
Minister of Education Alejandrina German admitted to reporters that there were at least 447 schools in the country in need of serious repairs or reconstruction. When reporters from Hoy asked her about the comments made by UNICEF representative Tad Palac, who said that as long as the educational system lacked furniture and adequate facilities, children could not be guaranteed their right to education, the minister said that he was right. However, the minister was quick to point out that this is a problem the Dominican Republic shares with most of the world's poorer countries. Governments do not have enough money to cope with the demands of the society. When the minister was asked to comment on newspaper reports about deteriorating school buildings, she replied that "They will continue publishing these reports since there are 447 schools that need repairs, the newspapers have more than a year's supply of stories." She promised that the government would continue to fight to improve the schools; a situation that she pointed out "was decades old."
The world financial community is looking favorably at the Dominican Republic, judging by the support given to current monetary policies and the exchange rate over the last year. However, some people are questioning the fact that the exchange rate is creeping above the 29:1 ratio of the past few months. According to Hoy, the international financial community has approved the government's plan to seek US$555 million in loans from different sources. The money would be used to make the final payment to the Union Fenosa electricity distribution companies and for the construction of the Coral Expressway in the eastern part of the DR. The program will be approved next 20 October when the Paris Club meets in the French capital to countersign the agreement reached with the Dominican mission that visited just three weeks ago. According to sources, either a new US$300 million sovereign bond issue will be used to pay Union Fenosa or one of the current bond issues will be revalued to cover the payment. The other US$255 will be used to complete the Coral Expressway, much needed by the tourism sector. Apparently, contacts have been made with international investment bankers for this project.
The Central Electoral Board has dismissed five of its employees from the Civil Registry offices that are part of the passport scandal. Hundreds of diplomatic passports were "sold" to phony family members, many of whom were "created" through false birth certificates, wedding certificates or divorce papers. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) fired the five Civil Registry officials accused of supplying false documents to municipal council members in order to obtain the passports. Ironically, the JCE also suspended the registrar for the XII District, Luis Felipe Rodriguez, who had told the press last week that there were registry offices that took in as much as RD$300,000 monthly and did not report it to the JCE. In other developments, the Attorney General's office arrested civil registry official Milton Elias Pereira, but Pereira was not on the JCE list of dismissals. In addition, the mayor of the tiny town of Las Yayas was arrested and taken to jail along with a town councilor from Azua together with her husband. Eliezer Martinez was arrested after he turned himself in, and Juana Agramonte and her husband were arrested after being questioned by assistant attorney general Frank Soto and assistant prosecutor Luis Gonzalez
The President's plan to reduce fuel consumption by the fleet of small cars that serve the major metropolitan areas has been put on hold, according to General Jose Sigfrido Fernandez Fadul. The general told a group of reporters from El Caribe that AMET was postponing the move until 10 October in order to get more of the cars painted and registered. The officer warned that any car that was not registered and correctly identified would not be allowed to work in Santo Domingo. He mentioned the fact that he has 1,300 AMET agents at his disposal to enforce the President's program. Both AMET and the OTTT joined in announcing the small delay. OTTT (the Technical Office for Ground Transportation) chief German Pena Guadalupe agreed that the city needed more time to get the vehicles registered. AMET has identified 162 routes covered by the "publico" service, and the OTTT has 73 under its watch. General Fernandez Fadul urged passengers to not use any vehicle that was not registered, for their own protection and for the general welfare. In Santo Domingo cars will have either a green or a yellow top and will work on alternate days of the week. In the provinces, the car roofs will be painted either green or yellow. As part of the registration process, the two official agencies are setting up a data bank that will store the drivers' names, the car's owners and the routes that they are supposed to serve.
Over the last 40 years the Dominican Republic has spent RD$20 billion on failed public transportation solutions. This sum does not include the US$250 million that was spent on Plan Renove by the Mejia administration. Reports show that since 1961, different governments have tried to come up with a viable solution to the issue of public transportation, but none have worked to everyone's satisfaction. According to Listin Diario, over 500,000 vehicles have been imported as part of the different programs, and the only result has been a sort of paternalism within the sector, increasing the transport unions leaders' political power. Stemming from the administration of Joaquin Balaguer (1966-1978 and 1986-1996), threats of transportation strikes were met with government negotiations that exacerbated the problem for future generations. After Balaguer created the Municipal Transport Corporation and a fleet of Blue Bird buses, President Antonio Guzman, in 1979, created the ONATRATE, or the Office of Ground Transportation, acquiring 500 buses. The Salvador Jorge Blanco administration, 1982-1986, continued acquiring more units for the system and in 1986, President Balaguer purchased another 400 units, that, because of their colors, were nicknamed "Little Flags" ("Banderitas" in Spanish). Balaguer also facilitated the purchase of 118 buses by means of credits through the Banco de Reservas and permitted yet another 5000 units to enter through Customs at tax rates ranging from 10% and 20%. The tab for these facilities was estimated to be RD$1.044 billion. Still, not even the 6,000 vehicles brought into the country under the Plan Renove or the 300,000 motorcycles purchased for use as the ubiquitous "motoconcho", nor the 600 buses given to OMSA have ever solved the problem. Even the Fernandez government has shown itself to be hypersensitive to the transportation issue, as witnessed by the proliferation of the yellow cabs and minivans called "chicks" (or "pollitos" in Spanish) by the populace, very tongue in cheek. But there is still no solution to the problem.
The sheer size of the informal business sector has made it an important segment of the national economy. Numbers offered by sources close to the micro-business sector reveal that these small to medium businesses contribute as much as 23% of GDP and employ between 25% and 28% of the workforce. There are dozens of NGOs and cooperatives providing the financial credits needed by these entities that are not serviced by the mainstream banks because of the stigma that "the poor do not pay." According to Listin Diario, sources from Fondo Micro (Micro Fund), from the Dominican Association for Women's Development (ADOFEM) and PYME BHD, the 13 principal agencies providing credit to the sector contributed RD$3.144 billion in loans and credits in 2004. The recovery rate was 97%. Over time, some of the institutions that were providing financial assistance to the micro, small and medium business community have become regular banks in order to capture more funds for their loan portfolios. ADEMI-the Association for Micro Business Development - is the largest of these institutions, along with ADOFEM and the Association for the Development of Espaillat Province (ADEPE).
Micro and small businesses were in strong evidence at the Expo Cibao this year. The trade fair that drew over 250 exhibitors also attracted dozens of these tiny businesses. Candy makers, bakeries, "pastelito" makers, hot-dog vendors, and sandwich makers were all out in force at the fair. Some observers called the Expo Cibao "the greatest attraction and commercial activity" in Santiago and the Cibao Valley. Javier Almonte, a small provider of fast foods, and Ecuadorian Carolina Velasquez, who was exhibiting crafts, both agreed that the fair was good for business. Even the livestock pavilion provided small businesses with the opportunity to make money. Horse rides were particularly popular.
"Charamicos", the charming figures woven with twigs and representing Nativity scenes are making their way back onto the streets of Santo Domingo. This is a sure sign that Christmas is approaching. The artisans' workmanship varies from place to place but the use of these figures is becoming more and more prominent as Dominicans decorate their homes and lawns for the Christmas season. Grasses and different types of vines are used for the pieces that can vary in price from RD$150 pesos to RD$2,000, depending on the complexity of the piece. One of the favorite raw materials is the "bejuco" a very strong liana that is used to make everything from canes to ropes, to cloth, and to furniture. And the investment is not just a one-year deal. These figures can last up to 15 years with proper care. However, like so many things these days, the artisans will have to pay the piper in order to sell their wares on the sidewalks of Av. Winston Churchill and other Santo Domingo thoroughfares. The municipality is requiring a RD$4000 fee for the privilege.
The Altos de Chavon Art Gallery in Casa de Campo, La Romana will be exhibiting the works of photographer Richard Sobol and painter Ricardo Toribio who have blended their mediums to create oil paintings of photographic images. Richard Sobol's photographs of wildlife and the human experience have appeared in prominent newspapers and magazines across the globe and he is the author/photographer of ten books. Ricardo Toribio's oil paintings have been widely acclaimed throughout the Dominican Republic where he has held numerous solo exhibitions and won many awards. This new art is featured in their "Island of Dreams" exhibition where the two share their collective vision of the DR at the Altos de Chavon Gallery, Friday 7 October - Sunday, 6 November. For a more complete listing of cultural events, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar
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