Minister of Environment Max Puig, as reported in the Listin Diario, has said that the works carried out for the construction of Santo Domingo's first metro line, "in a general sense are fulfilling with all the established environmental requirements, and thus are legal." He said that the office in charge of construction, OPRET, had presented the environmental impact study of the master plan for the construction of the metro in January and received the go-ahead from the Ministry of Environment. Puig explained, "Now we are waiting for the specific environmental studies for each aspect of the project and will give our opinions on these as they are received," he said.
Opposition to the metro is on grounds of the lack of adequate studies, perceived major undervaluing of the project, lack of information as to where the funding will come from and perceived lack of priority of the project.
The president of the National Young Entrepreneurs Association, Richard Lueje recently pointed out that when the government lobbied for increased revenues through tax reform, it argued that there were insufficient funds available for priority needs such as health, education and citizen safety, all deemed more important than the construction of the metro in Santo Domingo.
Meanwhile, construction of the metro continues at a fast pace with major holes already being dug up along Ave. Maximo Gomez and the Olympic Center, among other areas.
Fabio Herrera-Minino, in an op-ed contribution in Hoy, speculates that the hurried start of the construction of the metro with excavations at so many points along the route is a strategy to oblige congressmen to authorize the construction, or leave "half the capital destroyed and converted into a battle ground with severe transit difficulties." He goes on to speculate that public opinion could pressurize Congress into authorizing the construction. Furthermore, the author speculates that the government needs to get public works started before it is obliged to sign the procurement law that would limit its discretionary power regarding choice of contractors.
Meanwhile, Juan Bolivar Diaz writes in Hoy that while the Ministry of Education had requested an allocation of RD$38 billion, or 16% of the national budget, the government would be awarding it about RD$18 billion, approximately 8% of the national budget. He comments that this would be an amount similar to what has been allocated for this year. He comments that the plan is for government health service funding to remain at the same level as last year. He comments: "For decades our politicians and our governors have recognized that education is the basis of development and the first priority for investment. But between speeches and the practice there is an abysmal distance."
The department of statistics at the Ministry of Further Education reveals that 5,184 foreigners are registered at Dominican universities, as reported in Listin Diario. Of these, only 325 are at the state university. Of the total of foreigners, 1,384 are registered at the PUCMM. Another 926 are registered in the Universidad Tecnologica de Santiago (UTESA). Both PUCMM and UTESA have campuses in Santiago and Santo Domingo. The breakdown shows that 794 foreigners are registered at the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE), and 576 at the Universidad Central del Este (UCE) in San Pedro de Macoris. Some 253 are enrolled at UNAPEC and 232 at the Catolica de Santo Domingo. Others that have foreign students are the Instituto Tecnologica de Santo Domingo with 164 enrolled, the Instituto Superior de Agricultura (ISA) with 140 and the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena with 127 students.
Others are enrolled in Unicaribe, Cultural Dominico-Americano, de la Tercera Edad, Interamericana, Nordestana and Organizacion y Metodos.
Of the total of foreigners of 5,184, 2,325 are US nationals, 1,915 are Haitian, 199 are Venezuelan, 99 are Cuban and 85 are from Colombia. Other nationalities include Spanish (73), Peru (51), Mexico (36), Puerto Rico (36), Italy (32), Canada (31), Taiwan (28), Argentina (26), China (19), Ecuador (17), Costa Rica (17), Pakistan (14) and Chile (14), among other nationalities.
The Dominican Navy has announced that it proposes to blockade the Mona Passage that separates the Dominican Republic from Puerto Rico over the Christmas season. The blockade is supposed to cover the most vulnerable points of the Dominican coastline, most specifically the area facing the Mona Passage. The Dominican Navy will also be cooperating with United States Coast Guard units. The objective is to control the illegal movement of people between the DR and Puerto Rico which always seems to increase as the Christmas season approaches. Diario Libre says that Vice-Admiral Cesar de Windt, the CINCNAV (Commander in Chief, Navy) of the Dominican Navy, said that the more northernly breezes give the seas a deceptively calm appearance and seems to entice more people to attempt illegal trips. Unfortunately the seas are quite rough within the passage.
Some of the leading business sectors of the Dominican Republic, including the Federation of Industrial Associations (FIA), the Dominican Chamber of Merchant Businesses and the National Young Business Association (ANJE), consider that the IMF's idea that the price of electricity should be allowed to "float" on the local market is a good one, as long as the costs of generation and distribution are clear and transparent. The different representatives agreed that as long as the current contracts are re-negotiated and the costs are transparent, they felt that the IMF demands were "reasonable." Most believed that if this were to come about, the costs of electricity would drop from the current 23c a KWh to about 10c or 11c the KWh (kilowatt-hour). The key point is that the contracts have to be renegotiated, since with the current contracts in place the price of electricity would reach 40c a KWh under current conditions. According to the superintendent of electricity, Francisco Mendez, the World Bank is requiring the DR to "float" the price of electricity as part of the prerequisites for the disbursement of the US$150 million loan to shore up the energy sector. The low reliability and the high cost of electricity in the Dominican Republic is a major factor working against the competitiveness of most business that rely on the public electricity grid.
The Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says that this has been a pretty good year for the Dominican Republic with its 7% growth rate, while warning that in 2006, the GDP growth will be just 5%. Added to this is a projected inflation rate of between 6% and 8%, but with the caveat of improved health in the financial sector. This information is contained in CEPAL's preliminary report on the Latin American and Caribbean economies. The report also shows that the DR enjoyed a 7% GDP growth rate in 2005, its largest increase since 2000 and the third largest in all of Latin America, after Argentina (at 8.6%) and Venezuela (at 9%). In spite of these positive numbers, the CEPAL document also points out that unemployment was at 18.4%. The document does not spell out why the DR will lose the two percentage points of GDP growth. The report does, however, say that fiscal and monetary discipline permitted the rapid "stabilization of the Dominican economy." This success was imposed by the fiscal reform legislation of 2004 that managed to raise government income and reduce the deficit to just 0.8% and obtain a preliminary surplus of 1% of GDP. An additional factor that has aided the recovery is the growth in income that reached 18%, due to the sharp increase in direct as well as indirect taxes and the increased economic activity.
Dominican commerce with Canada is currently US$555.6 million on the deficit side of the balance sheet. Since 2002, the numbers have been - US$58 million; - US$49.3 million; -US$24; and for the first nine months of 2005 - US$383.5 million. Recently, the Dominican authorities have requested the restart up of trade talks that may lead to a Free Trade Agreement with Canada, similar to the DR-CAFTA agreement. According to Yolanda Viscaino, the executive director of the Dominican-Canadian Chamber of Commerce, such a deal will increase the trade flow between the two countries. According to the DCCC executive, bilateral agreements have "improved" the flow of trade, and she pointed out that things such as packing expenses have been much improved. The executive also agreed that there were fewer "delays" in clearing customs with agricultural products. In the past, Dominican products were not properly packed for Canadian customs approval and as a result, the process was very slow. The Dominican Republic ships ferronickel bars, silver-gold alloys, cigars, fish, pants, underwear, dental floss, baseball hats, ties, cloth bags, transformers, polo shirts, dry coconut meat, eggplant, bell peppers, red peppers and other agricultural products to Canada. The Dominican Republic imports newsprint in rolls and sheets, beans, sardines, salt cod, powdered milk, apples, wheat, medicines, and heavy front loaders and cargo lifters from Canada.
In the opinion of US Ambassador Hans Hertell, the need to review hundreds of documents makes the likelihood of starting up the DR-CAFTA agreement "nearly impossible." Yesterday, according to Hoy newspaper, four Democratic congressmen asked President George W. Bush to explain the delays in the implementation of the DR-CAFTA agreements. In spite of the delays, Hertell said that even if the FTA doesn't go into effect in January, it would go into effect quite soon. Part of the delay is the need to study hundreds of documents, plus the fact that part of the United States Trade Delegation is currently in Hong Kong, taking part in the WTO conference. However, Hertell expressed his confidence that the DR had taken very positive steps towards the beginning of DR-CAFTA. One of the major roadblocks is that the Dominican Republic has yet to pass a procurement law, whereby tenders would be required to contract public works.
United States ambassador to the Dominican Republic Hans Hertell described the people who stormed the National Palace in Port-au-Prince during President Leonel Fernandez's visit there last week, as "hooligans." Hertell said that he didn't feel that this was a true expression of the feelings of the Haitian people because "this is a group of people that wants to create incidents and get attention everywhere they go... they are criminals." President Fernandez, himself played down the importance of the incident, saying that the people that did this did not represent the feelings of the people. Fernandez spoke to the press on his arrival at San Isidro Airbase over the weekend. He said that he was bringing a message of solidarity with the Haitian people and that he knew that it was not the fault of the current government that the incidents had taken place. Listin Diario reports that Fernandez expressed hope that a democratic government in Haiti "is part of the Dominican national interest."
So far this year there have been 905 missing persons cases reported to the Police. According to El Caribe, the Police receive between eight and ten complaints about missing adolescents each day, some of whom are found in motels, or farms or at friend's homes. Of the 905 cases so far this year, the Police say that they have solved 666 of them, leaving over 200 cases still unsolved. Teenagers and people with mental illnesses compose the majority of the cases reported to the Missing Persons Units at Dominican police stations. According to details given to El Caribe by Police Major Juan Roque Jimenez, the head of the MPU, many of the cases have tragic endings, and he pointed out that there are only nine police officers assigned to the missing person detail in Santo Domingo.
A few hours before his arrest, alleged drug lord Quirino Paulino Castillo, who is accused of moving 1,387 kilograms of pure cocaine for transshipment to the United States, among other things, received three phone calls warning him of his pending capture. This news was revealed to Listin Diario reporters by Santo Domingo district attorney Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero. According to a taped message, Quirino was warned: "The wheels are returning with a person I don't know," just moments before his arrest by DNCD (Local DEA) agents. The first call came from one of the people responsible for guarding the cocaine shipment who told him that the drug had been seized on the Duarte Highway. The second call came from somebody who formed part of the investigation, and, according to Hernandez, this just proves how deep the complicity and protection by some of the former authorities went. The person assigned to protect the truck carrying the shipment of cocaine and another person, still unidentified, were traveling in a white vehicle and got away as the DNCD agents decided to pursue the shipment itself.
Although it does not appear on any official air traffic controller's sheet, the highway between San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana is sort of becoming a landing strip for small planes that are subsequently abandoned. Over the weekend, a light plane landed not far from the spot where another plane landed a few months ago and that was later burned in an effort to hide ownership and cargo details. The latest plane, a white twin-engine, with the tail number YV-878-A, landed just 800 yards from the 17 August incident. Local authorities found another license number, YV-370P inside the plane. Apparently, the plane hit something, since the front showed significant damage. A map, some other documents, two cell phones and a bottle of water were found inside the plane. Hoy newspaper did not reveal the make or model of the aircraft.
Mia Taveras from Santiago de los Caballeros is the new Miss Dominican Republic, and she will represent the country in the up-coming Miss Universe contest. The young lady finished ahead of Eva Carolina Arias from Espaillat province (Moca), and Dawilda Gonzalez from the National District. Twenty-one young ladies participated in the contest which selects the Dominican representative for the 2006 Miss Universe contest, to be held in November 2006.
Miss Dominican Republic was crowned by visiting Miss Universe Natalia Nikolayeva from Russia.
As a result of action over the weekend, the Tigres del Licey are well positioned in the first spot n the standings, winning their last three games. The Aguilas Cibaenas split the two games they were able to play over the weekend and the Estrellas and the Leones de Escogido both won important games.
In perhaps the most exciting ending of the season, Timoniel Perez hit a line drive with two outs in the last of the ninth to bring home the tying and winning runs for the Tigres del Licey and leave the Aguilas Cibaenas in the field. The win left the Tigres in first place with a four-game cushion over the Aguilas.
In other action the Gigantes de San Francisco de Macoris were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs over the weekend as they lost three in a row. The Estrellas Orientales from San Pedro de Macoris are still in the hunt but suffered a setback when they lost yesterday to the Leones de Escogido at their home stadium. The Estrellas were leading the game 5-4 going into the top half of the ninth inning when Escogido exploded for a six-run rally to put the game out of reach.
STANDINGS
| Team | Games Played | Won - Lost | Games behind |
| Tigres | 47 | 30 - 17 | -0- |
| Aguilas | 45 | 25 - 20 | 4.0 |
| Azucareros | 46 | 24 - 22 | 5.5 |
| Leones | 46 | 23 - 23 | 6.5 |
| Estrellas | 45 | 20 - 25 | 9.0 |
| Gigantes | 47 | 16 - 31 | 14.0 |
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