President Leonel Fernandez is scheduled to leave on Thursday for Mar de Plata, Argentina. He will participate in the Summit of the Americas. On Sunday, he will make a stopover in Colombia, on his way back to the DR, to finalize a joint energy agreement. Press director, Rafael Nunez said the President is scheduled to return on Tuesday.
As described on the US State Department website, the Summit of the Americas is the common agenda of the democratically elected leaders of the hemisphere and reflects their shared values and shared responsibilities. It provides a unique mechanism for the heads of state and heads of governments to discuss solutions to common political, economic, and social problems in a multilateral and comprehensive way. The Summit brings together freely elected leaders united in their commitment to democracy, human rights, and free markets. See http://www.summit-americas.org/Default.htm
The First Lady's office, the Ministry of Education and Banco de Reservas have recognized 256 outstanding students who won a reading and spelling contest held among 15,000 fifth to eight grade basic and middle school students from both public and private institutions from different provinces around the country. Listin Diario reports that prizes were awarded during a public function at the National Theater attended by First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez, Education Minister Alejandrina German, the administrator of Banco de Reservas, Daniel Toribio and the president of the National Council for Children (CONANI) Kirsis Fernandez.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has admitted the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to its membership as a governmental agency. El Caribe reports that the IUCN is the largest and most important conservation network worldwide. Currently, its membership includes 82 states, 111 government agencies, more than 800 non-governmental organizations and 10,000 individual scientists and experts from 181 countries. The IUCN contributes to the strengthening of scientific knowledge about natural resources, biodiversity and natural ecosystems and the services they provide to humanity. It seeks for this knowledge to be used in a practical manner, balancing the interests of scientists, politicians, business leaders and non-governmental organizations to influence the way the world values and uses nature.
The Chamber of Accounts has ordered the Ministry of Public Works to recover more than RD$156 million from two companies contracted to build an extension of the road from San Cristobal to Bani. Resolution No. 06-05 orders the recovery of RD$100 million paid to Ozoria & Associates, C. por A., as advance payment for the work. Diario Libre reports that the company's contract was later cancelled but the contractor has not paid back the amounts received. Also, the ministry must collect RD$56 million from Grupo Modesto, funds that were paid out for differences in unit prices. This company has also received an advance payment of RD$405.87 million of which only RD$122.49 million have been accounted for. The resolution allows 30 days for Ozoria & Asociados, represented by Carlos Manuel Ozoria Martinez and Franklin Esteban Mena Arnauld, and Grupo Modesto, represented by Francisco Jose Modesto Figueroa and Roberto Jose Modesto Suero, for the reimbursement of the funds retained without justification. The Accounts Chamber also indicated it has no objection for the work on the road to begin again as ordered by President Leonel Fernandez last Saturday. The work had been stopped by the Chamber on 25 October. The road is costing an estimated US$85 million and is expected to be finished in 2007.
Listin Diario says that the amount to be reimbursed is RD$155 million. The Accounts Chamber is also submitting to Congress the annulment of the concession issued in favor of Consorcio Vial Dominicano for the collection of tolls on the San Cristobal - Bani, and 6 de Noviembre highways, so that Banco de Reservas becomes the beneficiary of those tolls. The Chamber has appointed engineer Juan Manuel Tineo and architect Victor Peguero to perform periodic inspections of the progress of the works on the San Cristobal - Bani road.
The President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Jorge Subero Isa stated that the Judicial Branch has submitted a budget of more than RD$4 billion, most of which will be allocated to the courts that have been created by different laws passed in Congress, according to a report in Diario Libre. Subero Isa also informed that the system requires 80 to 90 additional judges in order to be reliable and expeditious. He stated that the greatest problem right now is in Santo Domingo Province where four court have been installed in an industrial building in a move he called an "underdeveloped alternative". He said that President Leonel Fernandez has promised to build a Palace of Justice in that province.
Listin Diario indicates that the amount requested by the Judicial Branch is RD$4.1 billion and specifies that President Fernandez's promise to build a Palace of Justice was made last year and has remained unfulfilled.
President Leonel Fernandez is to issue a bridging decree aimed at regulating the purchase and contracting of goods and services by the government, in an effort to increase transparency, while Congress passes legislation to this end, according to a report in Diario Libre. The President favors a special law to regulate concessions as has been done in other countries, because of its complexity. The projected decree was drawn up by the National Ethics Commission led by Dr. Jose Joaquin Bido Medina. The DR-CAFTA agreement, signed with the US and Central American nations, contains regulations for this type of government activity and must therefore be taken into account in the drafting of the decree.
Listin Diario reports that President Fernandez led a three-hour workshop with ministers and government department directors to analyze and discuss the bridging decree.
Seven more Harley Davidson motorcycles were purchased by the police without tender at US$17,000 each. These will join the 14 other motorcycles of the same type, which are part of the "Safe Barrio" project in Capotillo. Also purchased were four double-cabin pickup trucks, according to Diario Libre. The Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda said that a tender will be called for the purchase of more than 250 vehicles that will be added to the Democratic Security Plan. These vehicles will be used in the northern parts of the National District, especially Las Canitas, Gualey and Simon Bolivar. Pilot programs are being planned for 12 barrios in the National District.
Listin Diario adds that the pickup trucks were purchased at US$25,000 each. According to Almeyda Rancier, the money invested in the purchase of the vehicles did not require the purchase to be made with a tender, as it did not represent a large amount. The vehicles were delivered to the Chief of Police Bernardo Santana Paez in the presence of Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, and the Ministers of Public Works and Public Health, Freddy Perez and Bautisto Rojas Gomez, respectively. The latter are members of the Democratic Security Plan follow-up commission. Almeyda Rancier also reported that 21 SUVs, fully equipped for patrol duty, are in Customs and will be delivered to the Police once they are released. Fifteen of those vehicles have been purchased through the US Agency for International Development (AID) program which requires tenders.
Over 700 police officers who were working at shopping centers, private companies and as escorts of former lawmakers, as well as to high-ranking police officials and sub-officials, will be reassigned to the Democratic Security Plan which began eight months ago in Santo Domingo's Capotillo neighborhood. A source told Diario Libre that the plan is to be extended to other parts of the city with high crime rates. For the implementation of the plan some 1,200 officers are needed but only 638 are working on the "Safe Barrio" project. The police aims to have 16,000 of the 32,000 active members patrolling, while there are currently only 4,000 on the streets.
The Attorney General Department will file charges against 39 false council members appearing on the list submitted by the Dominican Municipal League (LMD) as having obtained official passports irregularly, according to assistant AG Frank Soto. Diario Libre reports that the individuals are being tracked down to find out whether they are in the country. Soto has asked the Migration Department to determine whether 35 of the 39 impostors were able to leave the country. He insisted that the evidence has been found at the LMD and the Migration Department against Amaury Guzman and Victor Soto but nobody from the Ministry of Foreign Relations has been processed because they have not yet found any evidence.
Listin Diario reports that the AG department will request that the case be classified as complex and that a six-month extension be awarded to allow for a complete investigation. A hearing is scheduled for today in the Fourth Court of Instruction of the National District, against Felix Julian Estrella, the council member who returned from Genoa. The AG department will request coercion measures that include payment of bail, reports to the department twice a month, exit restrictions and the confiscation of his travel documents.
Following two and a half hours of negotiations, the PLD and PRSC were not able to finalize agreements towards a political alliance. PRSC Secretary General Victor Gomez Casanova said that his party was able to hear the other organization's concerns and that there was some progress towards the proposed alliance. According to PLD Secretary General Reinaldo Pared Perez, they do not want the negotiations to be limited to 2006 municipal and congressional candidacies but that they should also include program features. Both agreed that only general aspects were discussed during the first meeting.
El Caribe reports that the meeting is the first that they have held with the interest of fielding common candidates in next year's election. The meeting was attended by Presidency Minister Danilo Medina, PLD Secretary General Reinaldo Pared Perez, and Agriculture Minister Amilcar Romero. The PRSC was represented by Federico Antun Batlle, Victor Gomez Casanova, Amable Aristy Castro and Jose Hazim Frappier.
The Haitian government has asked the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to provide its technical and human resources for the printing of the electoral registers for the presidential elections to be held in that country next December. Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council made the request to JCE president Luis Arias Nunez. The request is being supported by United Nations and Organization of American States representatives that are participating in the organization of the elections. According to Arias, this demonstrates the confidence, credibility and level of maturity of the JCE. However, before a final decision is made, several points must be discussed as the request involves two different states. Arias indicated that the JCE will determine how long it would take to print the register and that the agreement must guarantee that Haitian technicians must be present, and UN and OAS representatives involved in the operation.
The Central Electoral Board will not file charges against priests Pedro Ruquoy and Vigny Bellerive, accused of declaring Haitian children as Dominicans. According to El Caribe, JCE president Luis Arias Nunez announced that the decision was based on the institutions "discretion and convenience". The JCE has annulled the birth certificates issued irregularly in these cases. Arias claimed that the JCE did not receive any calls about this case when asked whether the Catholic Church had pressurized the JCE to make this decision. Bellerive alone is accused of declaring 87 Haitians.
The director of the Department of Migration, Carlos Amarante, criticized the decision, commenting that all persons should be equal under the law.
A plan to kill Lidio Arturo Nin Terrero, who is involved in the Quirino Paulino drug trafficking case, the largest cocaine bust in Dominican history, was uncovered by the National Drug Control Department (DNCD) and the men who were planning the murder were identified as Dominican Jesus Gaston Ramon and Mexican Johan Moreno, according to Listin Diario. Nin Terrero was part of the network allegedly led by Quirino Paulino who is facing drug trafficking and money laundering charges in New York after being extradited in connection to the seizure of 1,387 kilos of cocaine in Santo Domingo last December. DNCD chief, Rear Admiral Ivan Pena Castillo explained through his spokesman that Gaston Ramos is detained in Najayo prison awaiting the Supreme Court of Justice's decision regarding his extradition, whereas Moreno, who is a US citizen, has already been extradited at the request of the US judicial system. An arrest warrant had been issued against both suspects. Gaston Ramos is being kept in a maximum-security area of Najayo surrounded by special surveillance measures, as he is considered highly dangerous. He has previously been involved in several murders. Pena Castillo said that he became concerned about Nin Terrero's life when he was transported from Najayo Prison to the Supreme Court of Justice without the necessary protection measures.
Fundacion Sur Futuro, a non-governmental organization, is launching a project for the sustainable management of the higher basins of Sabana Yegua Dam in Azua, with a RD$138-million donation from the World Environment Fund. Listin Diario reports that the agreement between the foundation-led by Melba Seguro de Grullon-and the Dominican government was channeled through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The project has a duration of five years and was approved with a US$4.4 fund that must be backed up by US$21.1 million to be provided by the Dominican government, plus US$3.4 million from Sur Futuro and a minimum of US$920,694 from the Kellogg Foundation. The inauguration ceremony took place at the Presidential Palace and was led by President Leonel Fernandez. Also present were Vice President Rafael Alburquerque, Environment Minister Max Puig, and the resident representative of the UN, Nicky Fabiancic.
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