| Daily News - Wednesday, 16 November 2005 |
President Leonel Fernandez issued a Presidential Decree 621-05 last night which named the commission responsible for the re-negotiation of the existing contracts for electrical energy with Smith-Enron, Cogentrix and the members of the Madrid Accord. The commission is to work out agreements that guarantee the elimination of the "distortions that affect the contracts so much, such as the Madrid Accords, that gradually harm the interests of the Dominican state." The commission will be headed by the vice-president of the CDEEE, Radhames Segura, and will include Ruben Montas, the head of the energy commission, Eduardo Rodriguez the President's energy advisor and Alejandro Gomez, the administrator of Edesur, Eloy Manuel Suarez Mendoza from Edenorte. Staff from the Ministry of Finance as well as presidential financial, legal and economic advisors also form part of the commission. One of the first jobs the commission will face is the study of the Smith-Enron contract first signed in 1993 and modified several times, according to the decree. One of the more difficult contracts to renegotiate will be the deal with Cogentrix, signed and sealed "with the sovereign guarantee of the Dominican state." Decree 621-05 calls the contract with Cogentrix "prejudicial to the best interests of the Dominican State." The Madrid Accords were signed in Madrid, Spain in 2001, and involved the CDEEE, the Superintendent of Electricity, the different distributors and the generators from EG-Haina, Itabo and Seaboard.
Both the Dominican Association of Exporters and the Industrial Association of the Dominican Republic expressed some concern over the pending passage of the tax reform package. In brief, their concern is related to the possibility of the Dominican Republic's non-entry into the DR-CAFTA as a result of a failure to pass the bill before January. As has been widely publicized, the stumbling block is the removal of the exchange commission tax on dollars used to import goods and services, and the taxes needed to restore this cash flow to the government coffers. AIRD president Yandra Portela Vila called on legislators to continue their talks and discussions in order for the bill to be passed as soon as possible. She called upon the politicians to set aside party loyalties and to think of the good of the nation. Also urging passage was Celso Marranzini, a prominent businessman and former head of the CONEP business association, who said that the worst case could be that the "legislators from the party that negotiated the DR-CAFTA agreement could also be the entity that buries not only the treaty but also the possibility of the country to take advantage of new investments that would create jobs and economic growth." Jose Antonio Flaquer Lopez, the head of the ADOEXPO group told reporters that the elimination of the exchange commission tax is obligatory, and, therefore, it is necessary to pass the required tax reform in order for the government to recover the lost revenues.
Alfredo Pacheco, the president of the Chamber of Deputies has told reporters that the tax reform bill will go to the full chamber on Tuesday. According to Pacheco, the bill that will go to the floor contains several amendments to the original legislation. Diario Libre says that the proposal that will be presented to the chamber has excluded some basic foodstuffs and consumer goods from the 16% VAT rate, and also contains special language for the tourism sector. Also excluded from the VAT are agricultural supplies. Tourism is supposed to get a deferential VAT tax, but the exact amount was not revealed to the reporters. Marino Collante, the head of the lower house Finance Commission told reporters that the final report will be ready on Friday. Collante emphasized that the conversations between his commission and the government's economic team have been ongoing, and that many of the government's suggestions have been integrated into the final package.
Accompanied by three dozen DNCD officers, cousins Lidio Nin Terrero and Tirso Cuevas Nin were handed over to two Drug Enforcement Agency officers at Las Americas International Airport for their transfer to New York where they face charges of drug trafficking as part of the case against Quirino Paulino Castillo. The former lieutenant colonel has always claimed that he was "hitching a ride" in the truck driven by his cousin and that contained 1,387 kilograms of pure cocaine. The driver, Tirso Cuevas Nin, has maintained that he was just "a poor driver". With the latest extraditions, a total of nine Dominicans have now been sent to New York as part of the Paulino Castillo case. Ironically, the Nin cousins were accompanied by the man accused of being a hired killer under contract to kill Nin Terrero. Jesus Gaston Ramos, who often dresses as a police captain, is a reputed assassin hired to keep Nin Terrero from telling the court in New York what he knows about the transfer of the 1,387 kilograms of cocaine. He is also under indictment for other crimes committed in the United States.
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito warned yesterday that the investigations into the land sale in Azua will be intensive, and that anyone found to be involved in criminal actions will be indicted. He said that "once the investigations are over the Justice Department will do what it has to do." The Commission on Ethics and to Fight Corruption sent the Department for the Prevention of Corruption (DEPRECO) a report that sets out the alleged irregularities in the way payments for the lands were made. DEPRECO is investigating the supposed over-payment for the land in Azua to the tune of RD$500 million. So far, the former Presidential Minister for Technical Affairs, Rafael Calderon, the former Treasurer, Pastora Mendez and the former sub-controller Luis Vasquez have been interrogated by DEPRECO. Initial reports on the case cited the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as requesting the investigation. However, yesterday, according to El Caribe and Diario Libre, the US Embassy put out a press release that said that USAID had not made a formal complaint to the anti-corruption authorities (DEPRECO). The note says that Ministry of Finance officials have been working with technicians from the department of Public Credit with the idea of looking at the review of hundreds of cases or property expropriations. The note says that " the Embassy of the United States firmly supports all the efforts being carried out by the authorities to counter the corruption practices."
Getting a new electricity contract is becoming a tedious, costly, and bureaucratic process that tries the patience of Job. According to Diario Libre, the Electrical Distributors (EDEs) are making things difficult for new clients who want a contract and an electric meter. The potential new client must provide a copy of the national identity card - the "cedula", and a copy of the property title for the building where the new service is to be provided, if it is the new client's property or a copy of the lease if the property is rented. Then the potential client has to find a person to serve as a guarantor and deposit a bond, which is determined by inspectors who visit the new client's property. The minimum is rarely less than RD$1500.00 and this is in addition to the RD$250.00 is tax stamps required by the Edes. For residents in areas where there is a low payment rate, inspections are often carried out by sub-contractors who surreptitiously offer electric meters that report lower consumption. An investigation carried out by Diario Libre showed that some clients had to wait for two months before their electric meters were installed, and that the first bill would often not be delivered, causing electricity to be cut off and costing the client another RD$300 for payment of the reconnection fee.
Just days after the tragic anniversary of the ill-fated flight AA-587, Eduardo Del Pozo, the general manager of American Airlines for the Dominican Republic, announced that American Airlines will take the one millionth passenger from Santo Domingo to New York City this afternoon. This is the first time in 30 years of operations in the Dominican Republic that American has reached this number within a calendar year, and there is still the Christmas rush to be handled. American currently offer 30 flights a day from different airports in the DR, with Santiago becoming a very important center with five flights a day of wide cabin service, a total of 1,300 seats available to New York. Currently American has twelve service centers located around the country as well as the website www.aa.com which functions in English and Spanish, because so many people still prefer to talk to an agent. American is studying the possibility of opening even more service centers. Looking forward to the Christmas rush and the onslaught of heavily laden passengers, Del Pozo said that fortunately the service to Puerto Plata, Santiago and Santo Domingo is provided by wide-cabin equipment, which provides sufficient capacity for the excess baggage. Being more realistic, the American director of operations Rafael Sanchez told reporters that American was coordinating with airport authorities for the necessary facilities to bring baggage during the late night on alternative flights so that passengers could retrieve their bags in the mornings within 24 hours of arrival.
With radio and television commentators talking about the latest propane gas shortage from the different retailers, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that the delay in the arrival of the good ship Cambria was due to "technical issues". The Cambria is due to dock at the Dominican Refinery (REFIDOMSA) today with 120,000 barrels of propane from Venezuela. On Sunday the refinery is expecting the Emiland to bring another 43,000 barrels, and on the 24 November the Ayntree is due to arrive with 40,000 barrels. Sources close to the situation told Hoy that more than 100 tank trucks were lined up inside and outside the refinery awaiting the LPG. This is the third time in 15 months that there has been a serious shortage of LPG on the local market. Neither the deposit at Puerto Viejo in Azua, nor the Coastal facilities in San Pedro de Macoris, nor the Dominican Refinery had any LPG yesterday. A year ago, President Fernandez removed the government subsidy on LPG used in commercial or industrial installations as part of a program to reduce the government's costs arising from the subsidies on home use of the gas. However, commentaries in the media were talking about a RD$1.0 billion overdue payment for the LPG provided for home and vehicle use.
The Minister of the Interior and the Police, Franklin Almeyda Rancier, told a television audience that the Police are having trouble finding enough agents to patrol the streets of the major cities. As an example, the minister said that yesterday there were just 3,085 police agents available for patrol duty when there are 32,000 people in the National Police Department. The minister estimated that there was a need for 10,000 patrolmen in order to effectively patrol the nation's streets. Almeyda, who is often a harsh critic of the Police, told his interviewers that he hoped that the Chief of Police could find the 1,340 agents that he needs in order to patrol the 12 sectors of Santo Domingo under the Democratic Security Plan. According to Hoy, during his interview, Almeyda also said that the Police would create a group of patrols that would include GPS equipment as well as laptop computers to assist in locating patrols as well as identifying delinquents. According to the minister, the 152 Police companies are the source of "day laborers" in many places, and he said that police chief Bernardo Santana Paez is able to resolve these issues. He pointed out that when the Democratic Security Plan was applied to the difficult Capotillo barrio, the crime rate fell, to the extent that the filming of scenes from "Miami Vice" were easier to do in Capotillo than in the Colonial Zone.
After five outstanding years playing baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, Albert Pujols finally won the National League Most Valuable Player of the Year. He is the seventh Dominican player to win the award and the second Dominican player to win the award in the National League. Yesterday, Alex Rodriguez won the award for the American League. For Pujols, who has posted outstanding numbers in each of his five seasons, and who had finished second in the voting twice, each time behind Barry Bonds, this was vindication for what some experts say is the finest first five years in baseball history. Playing with a nagging foot injury for most of the year, Pujols played in 161 of the 162 game schedule. He batted for a .330 average, second in the league, and hit 41 home runs, behind Andrew Jones of Atlanta and Derrek Lee of Chicago. Albert finished second in runs-batted-in with 11 fewer than Atlanta's Jones. Pujols, talking to Dominican sports writers, said that he wanted to remain humble and that he did not what to disrespect the game. His sincerity and work ethic have caused some writers to compare Pujols with the likes of Joe Dimaggio or Ted Williams. With Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giant that has won the last four MVP awards, Pujols told reporters that he wished that Bonds had been playing because he (Pujols) considered him (Bonds) to be the best player in the league.
Sammy Sosa, playing for the Chicago Cubs was the first Dominican winner of the MVP award in the National League, back in 1998. Over in the American League, Vladimir Guerrero, Alex Rodriguez, twice, George Bell and Miguel Tejada have won the award.
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