| Daily News - Wednesday, 30 November 2005 |
The representatives of the Executive Branch left the discussion table as the Chamber of Deputies continued wrestling with the tax reform legislation. The retreat was announced by the Minister for Technical Affairs, Temistocles Montas, who said that the government was putting a stop to its efforts to reach a consensus regarding the tax reform issue. He warned that whatever happens will be the responsibility of the PRD party and the Congress it controls. The deadlock between the government, the deputies and the business community centers on the higher tax on diesel fuel, and as a result of the heated discussions, yesterday's session, during which it had been predicted that the tax legislation would be passed, was suspended. With an air of desperation, the government blamed the PRD and Congress for the failure of DR-CAFTA, since the free trade agreement can't go into effect unless the tax reform and the budget are passed. Montas told the El Caribe reporters that the "the government had done what it had to do... the rest is up to the PRD and the Congress." Montas made his statement as he left a meeting with President Fernandez that included Miguel Cooco from Customs and Juan Hernandez from the Internal Revenue office. When President Fernandez was questioned by reporters during his visit to the First Brigade, he seemed tense and did not answer any questions regarding the stalemate.
Reports from financial circles continue to indicate that the beginning of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement (FTA) might be postponed until as late as April 2006. The agreement, according to the note, might be set back a few months by the United States because needed legislation is not getting through the congresses of the FTA's signatory nations. Although Kevin Manning, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic told reporters from several newspapers that he was confident that the agreement would kick off in January 2006, he did not exclude the possibility of a postponement. As part of the preparations required by different international organizations, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (SEIC) set up a special commission to look into unfair trade practices as part of the obligations accepted from the World Trade Organization and the DR-CAFTA.
However, the note from El Financiero says that the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Robert Portman, is considering postponing the start-up date because the legislative processes have been "minimal." This was confirmed by Tomas Duenas, the Costa Rican ambassador to the United States, who said that the USTR, Portman, has to certify before President Bush that the different countries have fulfilled their legislative commitments and other necessary adjustments. "Only then can the White House decree the start-up of the agreement," according to Duenas. Although the decision has not been officially notified, Duenas assured reporters that there is talk of a postponement in Washington.
The Minister of the Armed Forces, Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez has told reporters that the lack of sophisticated equipment is the "principal limitation" faced by the armed forces in controlling the frontier with Haiti and monitoring Dominican airspace. The admiral identified the areas around Manzanillo, Pedernales and Cabo Rojo as the areas that were most vulnerable to drug trafficking.
During his visit to the offices of Multimedia del Caribe, the admiral told his hosts that an efficient control of the frontier had to include a control of the airspace, and that his ministry lacked the equipment to carry out such a mission. When questioned regarding the landing of a small plane on the highway between San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana, the Minister of the Armed Forces replied that if the Air Force had interceptor aircraft, capable of detecting the presence of such illegal flights, this never would have happened. The admiral also said that he regretted the fact that the radar units that once were operated by the United States Army at Cabo Rojo and Las Calderas (as well as Puerto Plata) have been removed by the U.S. government.
The third quarter figures for Dominican Gross Domestic Product hit 10.6% for the quarter. Growth for the first three quarters averaged at 7.3%, and the Central Bank explained that national production has been fortified by macro-economic stability as demonstrated by the relative stability of the currency exchange rate, a slow inflation rate and the gradual reduction of interest rates. The report also shows that private consumption increased over the quarter, showing growth of 17.4%. The most active areas of the economy were communications, which grew by 25.4%, commerce at 19%, tourism activities at 5.5% and transportation at 7.8% growth rates.
In a move that will please a lot of people, the government announced yesterday that it is lifting the limitations on the sale of gasoline, diesel and propane. The Presidential Administrative Minister, Luis Manuel Bonetti announced that Resolution 95, which had severely limited the sale of fuel, especially on weekends. Beginning tomorrow, 1 December, the sale of fuels will resume without any limitations. The minister noted that now "the Christmas holidays will not suffer any inconveniences." This year, both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a Saturday. The minister said that the measure lifting the restrictions on the hours of fuel sales would be for December only, and that the government would be reviewing the situation in January. He said that the government's plan to reduce consumption has worked and that because of the success, the population "deserves the holiday season without any restrictions."
Tourism to the Dominican Republic grew by 8.27% between January and September, and this is good news. During the first nine months of the year 3.112 million tourists came to the country, 237,838 more than during the same period last year. The report from the Central Bank indicates that the Dominican Republic experienced an increase of 6.99% of non-resident foreigners, as well as a higher influx of Dominicans who reside abroad. According to the note in El Caribe, the Dominican Republic maintains it place as one of the top Caribbean destinations. Europe was the main source of tourists during the period, with France (9.93%), Spain (8.36%), Germany (7.27%), the UK (6.99%), and Italy (4.27%) contributing significant numbers. The report also noted that countries such as Finland, Ireland and Poland were emerging as ever-increasing suppliers of tourists for Dominican beaches.
Over 1,100 vehicles are listed for reshipment to their ports of origin, according to the Director General of Customs (DGA). What's more, this does not include the vehicles docked at the port of Boca Chica, and the DGA is hurrying to gather the exact number of out-of-date vehicles, excluding large trucks and construction equipment, that are currently in the Dominican ports of entry. By Law 147-00, a tax reform law, no vehicle older than five years may be imported to the Dominican Republic. Yesterday the return of older vehicles began. There is, however, one more solution for those vehicles currently in port. By means of Circular 20024, the DGA authorized collection officials to clear vehicles of pre-2000 manufacture if they are revalued as if they were 2000 model year vehicles. This is a one-off opportunity and the only other result is that the vehicles will be shipped out. Any further imports of out-of-date vehicles will result in their seizure.
The Department for the Prevention of Administrative Corruption (DEPRECO) has received nearly 120 complaints, corruption files and accusatory reports that involve more than 350 people, including three ministers from different ministries during the last administration and several police officers. Nonetheless, only seven of these cases have been investigated and sent to the courts, and of these, four were dismissed for "lack of evidence", or for "procedural errors." This is how the government's anti-corruption policy stands up to scrutiny. Over the last ten years only two cases have been successfully prosecuted: the case against the infamous deputy from La Vega, Radhames Ramos Garcia for human trafficking, and the Plan Renove case, which involved over-valued vehicles. According to a new series in Listin Diario, history seems to be repeating itself as the PLD authorities found 270 files that were drawn up during the previous administration, and over half of them were turned down by prosecutors. One hundred and thirty are still open but nobody is actively investigating them and only ten have been sent to the courts. None of these cases have gone to the courts for full, in-depth, investigations and, of course, no one has been convicted. Between 1985 and 2000, there were over 300 cases of corruption reported but only six were sent to court and only one conviction, that of former President Salvador Jorge Blanco and his chief of the Armed Forces, Manuel Antonio Cuervo Gomez. A search in www.google.com turns up 154,000 pages of information relating to administrative corruption in the DR but there is just one conviction since the inception of the new Penal Code. The list of cases pending includes the case against Jose Michelen, a former director of the government's price control entity, INESPRE. The case was filed in 1986. Another case is the scandal in Customs that broke out in 1994 when Anicia Ricci was accused by her own PRSC party of corruption in the handling of the Customs office. Yet more cases include fraud at the National Lottery where Frederich Marzouke was accused of a RD$90 million crime that included the now infamous Pepe Goico; the case involving Bahia de las Aguilas that was brought by the Dominican Agrarian Institute; then there is yet another case involving illegal Chinese immigrants that is waiting to be fully prosecuted.
As doctors work to keep the quadruplets alive at the Women's Hospital, another woman has been admitted, awaiting the birth of sextuplets. 33-year-old Maxima Perez from Villa Mella is 25 weeks pregnant and is under observation by specialists at the hospital's Obstetrics and Gynecology Service. The woman has been receiving fertility treatment. The head of the Ob-Gyn Service at the hospital, Jose Garrido Calderon, said that sonograms and other laboratory work was being carried out in order to complete her medical records.
The torrid bat of the "Atomic Ant", Luis Polonia, continued to move the Aguilas Cibaenas up the leader board of the Dominican Winter Baseball League. Last night the Aguilas defeated the Tigres de Licey 7-4 at the Juan Marichal Quisqueya Stadium. This is the sixth win by the Aguilas over the Tigres in their seven meetings. Polonia, with a homer, triple and single, was one of three Aguilas that hit home runs, as Willy Mo Pena and Danny Tamayo followed. Bernie Castro contributed three more hits for the Aguilas.
In other action, the Estrellas Orientales shut out the leading Leones de Escogido 5-0 in San Pedro de Macoris and the Azucareros of La Romana defeated the hapless Gigantes de San Francisco de Macoris 7-4. Korean pitcher Jung Bong shut out the Leones for six innings, allowing only two hits as the Estrellas scored two runs in the third inning to eventually beat the Leones 5-0. In San Francisco de Macoris, the big leaguer Felix Heredia closed down the bats of the Gigantes and won his fourth game of the new season.
Standings
| TEAM | Won - Lost | Average | Games behind |
| Escogido | 19 - 13 | .594 | -0- |
| Aguilas | 19 - 13 | .594 | -0- |
| Tigres | 18 - 14 | .562 | 1.0 |
| Azucareros | 16 - 15 | .516 | 3.5 |
| Estrellas | 14 - 18 | .438 | 5.0 |
| Gigantes | 9 - 22 | .300 | 9.5 |
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