Chamber of Deputies President, Alfredo Pacheco, said that VAT (ITBIS) would not be applied to cooking oil, coffee, sugar, molasses, cocoa or chocolate, according to Diario Libre. Also excluded would be agricultural raw materials, and capital goods, seed, soy, soy wheat, among other products. The Luxury Property tax will not be changed as proposed by the Executive Branch, nor will interest on savings be taxed starting 2009. The reform to be approved will be of RD$25 billion and the government must accept this, although it is not a result of consensus.
El Caribe adds that the Deputies will vote on the reform next Tuesday. "We are not going to approve the RD$31 billion the government wants", stated Pacheco.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative Jose Faigebaum has said that he trusts that the government's proposed mega-projects will be completed within budget. The official was speaking during a visit to Senate President Andres Bautista Garcia, according to El Caribe. Faigebaum stated that the country's current macroeconomic stability would be at risk if expenses exceeded the amount established in the 2006 Budget. The IMF will perform the third revision of the government's economic program in January and that is the reason for his visit to the DR. He pointed out that the amount presented by the government in the tax reform "should be a little higher". He favors the elimination of the government's electricity subsidy because it is too high at US$600 million. He stated that this money could be used to build schools, roads, housing projects, hospitals, and clinics. He emphasized that if the tax reform is approved for less than the RD$32 billion requested, the government would have to cut back spending to reach its objectives. Faigebaum visited the Chamber of Deputies President Alfredo Pacheco together with Guy Meredith, chief of mission for the Stand-By arrangement with the IMF.
Controversial Belgian priest Pedro Ruquoy, who has been at the center of a debate for his defense of the Haitian community and for having registered two children of Haitian origin as his own, has left the country following a decision by his religious superiors, as reported in Listin Diario. He stated that he had not been under any pressure to leave, although he had complained to the judicial authorities that he had received death threats. He said he received guarantees for his life from Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, whom he called "a great gentleman" and criticized the attitude of Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda, whom he said had treated him "like a dog". Ruquoy has served as a priest in several DR communities over the past 30 years, mainly in Tamayo, Barahona.
Diario Libre reports that according to the priest's lawyer Romero Reyes, he was leaving because the Dominican authorities could not guarantee his physical security. Ruquoy stated that he was leaving the country to avoid being the victim of powerful figures in the sugar industry who opposed his struggle against the human trafficking that goes on across the border with Haiti. Ruquoy left on Iberia flight 6500 to Madrid, Spain, where he will take another flight to Brussels, using a one-way ticket. He said that Almeyda "had no human sensitivity" and warned that Amnesty International has been following his case since he started working on behalf of poor people in the DR.
El Caribe reports that Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda says he does not feel guilty about the priest's departure. "He is being withdrawn by his order. He said he felt threatened, but he has acted in this territory freely", said the Minister. He added that the government does not have any interest in disturbing any foreign priest that is giving pastoral services in this country.
Clave Digital indicates that Ruquoy's order is the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and that it considers that his life is in danger in the DR. He arrived at Las Americas Airport with his superior, Roman Moujon, who made sure that the priest did not speak to the press. Roquoy, who is 53 years old, left for Charleroi, Belgium, where he will take a three-month vacation, following which he will be transferred to either Cameroon or Indonesia, where his new pastoral duties will be as a theology teacher in a Catholic educational center.
The Listin-Hamilton poll shows that 79% of Dominicans believe that there is corruption in the current administration. The breakdown is as follows: a lot of corruption, 44%; some corruption, 39%, not much corruption, 17%, no corruption, 4%, does not know 1%. When comparing Leonel Fernandez's administration to Hipolito Mejia's, 47% said there is less corruption now than in the past, whereas 28% are of the opinion that there is more corruption in the current administration, 23% says it is the same and 1% does not know.
PRD President Ramon Alburquerque defended Deputy Guillermo Radhames Ramos Garcia's candidacy yesterday, as reported in El Caribe. Ramos Garcia, who served 18 months in prison for smuggling illegal Asian immigrants across the Haitian border, wants to run for Senator of La Vega Province. According to Alburquerque, Ramos served time in a correctional matter and neither the Constitution nor any other legal body can stop him from running. Thus, the right to be a candidate cannot be denied to somebody with so many followers.
The National Police is to receive modern vehicles equipped with computers and integrated UPSs, according to Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda, as reported in Listin Diario. Almeyda said that 45 vehicles would be delivered by the end of this year, and would be used for patrolling against crime. Next February, another 250 vehicles will be added and by the end of 2006 another 2,000 units will complete the force. More than 3,000 motorcycles and pickup trucks will be delivered to the police, as well as 14 criminal investigation labs. In addition, agents and officials are being trained in Colombia and at John Jay College in New York.
The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) Criminal Chamber has rejected the abrogation recourse presented by Ramon Baez Figueroa, Luis Alvarez Renta, Vivian Lubrano de Castillo and Marcos Antonio Baez Cocco, against the ruling that sends them to a criminal court. Listin Diario reports that, in the same sentence, the SCJ accepted the abrogation recourse presented by the Director of the Department for the Prevention of Corruption (DEPRECO) Octavio Lister, against the ruling that dismissed the case against businessman Jesus Maria Troncoso Ferrua, and set the hearing to take place on 14 December 2005. Regarding the former recourse, the court ruled that it cannot be admitted because the decisions of instruction judges are not subject to any recourse.
Diario Libre indicates that defense attorney Juarez Victor Castillo Seman said he had not yet studied the decision, but that he would announce his position soon.
El Caribe adds that the SCJ ruling orders the case sent to first degree jurisdiction for trial. The case will now go to the coordinator of criminal courts for the assignment of a court to hear the case. The accused were indicted on 14 May 2003 after the Central Bank and Superintendence of Insurance reported irregularities worth RD$55 billion. Eduardo Sanchez was the instruction judge for the case.
The Dominican Republic Academy of Sciences, in its capacity as advisor to the National Congress, is opposing the approval of the planned Novo Mundo XXI artificial island project, to be built off the coast of Santo Domingo by Canadian company Santo Domingo Re-Development Ltd. The academy has analyzed legal, economic, geological, climatic, architectural, urban, sanitary engineering and marine biology issues related to the project. According to Diario Libre, it determined that the geological conditions in the proposed site have not been studied and that a catastrophe such as an earthquake or tsunami, during or after construction, could take place. The academy points out that the material from the excavation of the metro cannot be used in the construction of the island due to the marine currents and strong waves. The project also has serious sanitary and environmental implications if one considers that the Caribbean Sea is currently over-saturated with sewage disposal from other sources. The academy observes an excessive interest from the promoters of the project to have it approved faster than prudence indicates. It claims that the approval of the artificial island would contravene numerous articles of Law 64-00 regarding the requirement to present an environmental impact survey. It would also break the law on state-owned coastal and marine resources, which are inalienable.
Yesterday, a road design specialist, engineer Jose Angel Bello presented an alternative solution to the proposed overpass at the intersection of Ortega y Gasset and 27 de Febrero avenues, that would not affect residents and businesses in the El Vergel neighborhood, as reported in Diario Libre. His proposal uses the avenues themselves and part of the Olympic Center, and consists of a three-lane tunnel along the 27 de Febrero East-West direction and an overpass to make the left turn from 27 de Febrero onto Ortega y Gasset. According to Bello, who designed the elevated expressway on 27 de Febrero and modifications of Las America Highway, the cost of his proposal would be about the same as the overpass proposed by the Ministry of Public Works, which is RD$200 million. However, he points out that when you add the cost of property to be expropriated in the Ministry's proposal, the cost doubles.
El Caribe reports that Public Works Minister Freddy Perez stated that construction of an overpass at the intersection of Ortega y Gasset and 27 de Febrero avenues is still being studied to determine its feasibility. Perez warned the residents in the area that could be affected not to begin constructions trying to speculate for higher values of their properties, as they could lose their investment.
The 300 MW AES Andres generator will go back into operation as from 25 November, and will receive 111,000 cubic meters of Natural Liquid Gas, which will ensure a greater supply of electricity during the Christmas holiday season. The generator, which was stopped on 18 October 2005, will stay in operation for two months, according to Diario Libre.
The Customs Department has announced the discovery of a consignment of varied smuggled goods in 86 containers, and an unprecedented agreement with the company that imported the material, which has accepted to pay RD$817 million in unpaid taxes and penalties, as reported in Listin Diario. Speaking at a press conference, Customs Director Miguel Cocco stated that merchandise worth US$3.9 million, real estate and RD$16 million in accounts receivable has been seized in this case. The smuggling operation was conducted by an importer of hardware materials. The real estate seized includes an ultra-modern warehouse, three other warehouses on a central avenue and another on Lope de Vega Avenue. The company, whose name was not disclosed, undervalued merchandise worth RD$146 million. Cocco said that the Customs Department would be auctioning the small warehouses, while keeping the larger one to store impounded merchandise. The large warehouse is valued at RD$600 million. Cocco reported that a total of 26 employees were fired from the Customs Department for their involvement in this case. The causes of the firings range from active participation, negligence, suspicion, to ignorance. The smuggling operation was detected through post-shipping investigations that determined the undervaluation of RD$146-million worth and the discovery of the containers full of merchandise. The sanction applied was 15 times the unpaid taxes plus a 20% fine, for a total of RD$817 million. The company accepted the terms without complaining. Cocco does not disclose the name of the company for legal reasons, but it is known that it is a supplier to the major hardware stores in the country. The accused were arrested. The smuggling operation took place in 2003 through the ports of Punta Caucedo and Haina Oriental.
Diario Libre indicates that payment of the RD$817 million will be made by turning over the real estate to the government. Among the property seized is a four-story building on Lope de Vega Avenue and a warehouse on Jacobo Majluta Avenue. The latter will be auctioned.
The Customs Department has seized three containers full of whiskey which had been smuggled into the country by Juan Caslos Genao Torrejos, a businessman whom the institution has indicted four times for the same reason, according to Diario Libre. Notwithstanding the fact that he has been sentenced to home imprisonment, Genao moves about freely, to the extent that he has traveled abroad twice, in a case that according to Customs Director Miguel Cocco, shows the lack of cooperation that exists in the Justice Department when it comes to tax evasion cases.
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