On 1 January 2006, President Leonel Fernandez issued Decree 1-06 declaring 2006 as the "Year of Job Creation", and at the time, the government set the goal of recovering 500,000 lost jobs. Since then, the government says that some 114,000 jobs have been generated which according to Listin Diario leaves the government 385,000 jobs short of its goal. This data complements figures issued by the Central Bank earlier this week (see yesterday's DR1 News).
Starting today, construction of the Santo Domingo metro will extend along Correa y Cidron Street between Maximo Gomez and Abraham Lincoln Avenues. In spite of complaints from neighbors and business organizations who say they were not given sufficient advance warning about this work, the Office for the Reorganization of Transport (OPRET) is finalizing details for the relocation of storm and waste disposal sewage systems along Correa y Cidron.
In its quest for more revenue, the Tax Department has announced that as of 1 January 2007 all businesses will have to adhere to the new project, "Regulacion, Emision y Entrega de Comprobantes Fiscales," as reported in Clave Digital. The program for regulation, issuing and delivering of bills was published today as Decree 254-06 in local newspapers. It is a follow up to the first part of the Anti-Tax Evasion program that began with the interlinking of credit card sales to the DGII system. The credit card program resulted in an increase of 18.9% of reported sales, and in 2006 reported sales are expected to increase by 30.1%.
Juan Hernandez, director of DGII, says that with the implementation of the requirement for companies to tie in their billing system with the DGII, he expects that tax evasion will drop to the 1999 level, when it was under 30%, one of the lowest in Latin America.
The program also seeks to increase the number of businesses that pay taxes.
The authorized DGII bills will be necessary for companies to receive credits for payment of ITBIS to suppliers and to deduct expenses for payment of the income tax.
The request for bills can be made at any DGII office or online at https://www.dgii.gov.do/e-dgii/)
The implementation of DR-CAFTA will result in stronger government institutions in the Dominican Republic, as reported by Diario Libre. Legislation on government purchasing is the first step in that process. In an open market, assigning contracts on a one-to-one basis infringes free trade regualations and has an "enormous political cost for the Executive Branch," according to priest and economist Jose Luis Aleman. Aleman added that "the Executive Branch is so powerful in the Dominican Republic because it can award investments and contracts for purchase and sales and publicity, it is scandalous." Stricter customs rules would also contribute to improving the quality of products entering the local market and making imports and exports more transparent. The strict quality regulations required by the United States market will force local producers to increase their standards. The treaty also affects workers rights and guarantees regulations aligned with international rules that must be respected in order to compete in the international market.
One of the most important issues is the fight against the worst excesses of child labor. According so estimates by the International Labor Organization, in 2004, 426,000 children and young people were working in the Dominican Republic.
Equally relevant is environmental protection. The treaty states that it is inappropriate to promote trade and investment through the weakening or reduction of protection established in internal environmental legislation.
Numeric portability is one of the requirements of DR-CAFTA, which the Dominican Republic aspires to enter on July 1st. INDOTEL reports that as of March this year there were 907,124 wireless telephone lines in this country.
According to estimates by the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (INDOTEL), installing the "mobile telephone number portability", or the ability of a customer to retain their existing phone number when changing their carriage service provider is pending implementation. This change will require an investment of approximately US$25 million, as reported by the weekly newspaper Clave.
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has released the final official vote counts and the definitive list of senators and deputies elected in the 16 May mid-term election. In addition, the Board ratified the annulment of 102,404 votes at congressional level, after reviewing each case. According to Hoy newspaper, the resolution ratifies the vote count on Bulletin No. 18 issued on 21 June 2006, which gave the PLD 1,391,115 valid votes, equivalent to 46.18%, the PRD obtained 1,058,049 votes equivalent to 35.1% and the PRSC obtained 425,562 valid votes equivalent to 14.13%.
The resolution contains the list of 32 senators and 178 deputies elected to serve for four years as of 16 August 2006. The ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) won 22 Senate seats, the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) won seven seats and the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) won four. In the Chamber of Deputies, the PLD won 96 Chamber of Deputy seats, the PRD 60 seats and the PRSC 22 seats. Election certificates will be given to each elected official next Tuesday, 27 June, during a ceremony in Hotel Melia Santo Domingo at 11am.
For a list of the 2006-2010 members, see http://dr1.com/business/government/national_congress.shtml
In their analysis today of the forces within the PRD, political analysts Orlando Gil of the Listin Diario and Hector Marte Perez of Diario Libre agree that former Public Works Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado is the political party's dominant force. Gil explained that while Vargas supported a change in the board of the PRD now led by Ramon Alburquerque (president) and Orlando Jorge Mera (secretary general) given the poor showing in the 2006 mid-term election, he accepted to leave the board as is in exchange for the decision to announce the party's Presidential candidate in November and not from January to May, as proposed by the group led by former President Hipolito Mejia (PPH).
Marte highlights that those who seek the Presidential nomination within the party in addition to Miguel Vargas are the former President Hipolito Mejia himself (the Constitution would have to be changed again), former Tourism Minister Rafael (Fello) Subervi, former Vice President Milagros Ortiz, and former attorney generals Enmanuel Esquea and Virgilio Bello Rosa. Of this group, only Vargas and Bello Rosa have not run for President before.
In the 2000 Presidential election, the party received 1.4 million votes. It won the congressional election of 2002 with 963,000 votes and lost with 1.1 million votes in the 2004 Presidential election, but the number of votes cast for the PRD declined again in the recent congressional election, when 931,000 voted for the PRD.
The Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) that for many years was hostile towards United States foreign policies, served as the venue for a farewell ceremony for the United States Embassy Political Attache Bainbridge Cowell, Jr., who has completed his mission in the Dominican Republic. The activity was organized by youth leaders from the PLD, PRD and PRSC in recognition for the diplomat's services in the country, according to a report by Diario Libre. The orientation and help offered by Cowell during the past three years for many university students to complete their academic training in the United States was pondered. The function was led by Ruddy de los Santos, president of the Youth Parliament, Cesar Dargan, from the PRSC, Wellington Arnaud, PRD, and Franklin Rodriguez, PLD.
Corruption and electricity theft are the main factors hindering the Dominican Republic from becoming competitive, according the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Director Elena Brineman who was speaking at a farewell ceremony in her honor last night, hosted by the National Business Council (CONEP). Brineman stated that the DR must challenge corruption and the theft of energy by the rich as well as the poor. "We have very clear data that indicates that most electricity is stolen by the rich, not the poor. There are some poor people stealing energy, but the rich are stealing more," she said according to a report by El Caribe. All sectors, rich and poor, must pay for the energy they use as this is the manner in which the energy problem can be solved, according to the diplomat. Brineman received a long ovation from the members of CONEP after her speech. She also admitted that the complaints from Dominican businesspeople about the high cost of energy are valid because this makes it difficult for them to compete. Present at Brineman's farewell, after six years at the head of USAID, were US Ambassador Hans Hertell, CONEP President Elena Viyella de Paliza, as well as members of USAID, the Dominican Free Zone Association, and the Dominican-Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and other special guests.
Santo Domingo Senator Jose Tomas Perez is asking for less talk, less theorizing and fewer workshops and more action to combat crime. Perez had proposed a bill that aims to modify the Penal Procedures Code that was rejected by Supreme Court president Jorge Subero Isa, who stated that the changes would violate the constitution and should be studied further. Perez says that his proposal seeks to avoid what is happening now that repeat criminals are released, despite having cases open for murders, kidnapping and other serious crimes. "The Penal Procedures Code is not to be blamed for the increase in crime, but there are articles and dispositions within that code that are incentives for crime," he stated. "Our proposal was sent to a special Senate commission and we invite all citizens to contribute their ideas," he stated.
Today's Listin Diario publishes an editorial in support of the modifications, stating that it is shameful that the Police frequently arrests criminals with long criminal records for more recent crimes and that these individuals are still free on the streets given the facilities in the present code that allows them to be released promptly. The newspaper says that the modifications would enable a criminal with open cases in the justice to be retained in prison, and would reinstate the 48-hour period for the arrest of an individual without a trial, and modify procedures that are being used as loopholes for prompt release.
Former banker and president of collapsed Banco Intercontinental (BANINTER), Ramon Baez Figueroa, spent 40 minutes at the District Attorney's Department on Thursday afternoon after being summoned to meet with the Coordinating Prosecutor of the Drug Trafficking and Abuse Department accredited with the National Drug Control Department, Gustavo Santos Cool, and assistant investigating prosecutors Francisco Polanco and Luis Gonzales Reyes, who listened to his version of an undisclosed investigation. A report by Clave Digital indicates that according to a source close to Baez the conversation was linked to investigations under way by the Justice Department in relation to US$10 million that TV journalist Guillermo Gomez had deposited in Baninter and Trust, and which the Central Bank exchanged locally for investment certificates in pesos. The District Attorney's Department is tracking alleged asset laundering activity. After the meeting, Baez and his attorney Juarez Castillo Seman declined to comment on the reasons for the meeting. Afterwards, District Attorney Hernandez Peguero explained that Baez had been summoned to hold a conversation in relation to a case under investigation, which could not yet be disclosed. The DA did specify that it had nothing to do with the BANINTER case.
Hoy newspaper's Que Se Dice column today reports that Chapter XIII of Law 253 on Transit of Vehicles establishes that: "Anyone driving a motorcycle on public highways should only do so sitting in the regular seat and cannot transport another person, nor should another person travel on a motorcycle, if not in a lateral coach or back seat complemented by special holdings (agarraderas y estribos). The newspaper commentary says that since the law is already in effect, all the authorities have to do is enforce it. Several have suggested that the Police ban two or more on motorcycles, as experience has shown that a large number of crimes are committed daily by multiple person carrying motorcycles.
The Police report that they have dismantled a major center for cloning mobile cell phones, operating from the Najayo jail. As reported in Hoy newspaper, the jail entrepreneurs milked telephone companies of an estimated RD$100 million. Inmates Lewin Cordones Guzman, Cosme (Barba) Jose Hernandez and Enadito (Gambao) Hernandez Lugo are accused of the crime. The Police confiscated laptops and mobile phones in the possession of the accused. The director of Prisons, Brigade General Juan Ramon de la Cruz Martinez told Hoy newspaper that the accused also had scanner machines that they used to clone the mobile cell phone numbers that they would then sell or hire to visitors to the jail. He explained that investigations started following a request from the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel). Indotel passed the case on to the Police's Department Against Electronic Crime of (Departamento contra Delitos Electronicos) that was able to dismantle the gang. It is unclear how long the scam had been in operation.
Cruz said that the case was passed on to state prosecutors in San Cristobal for prosecution.
Recently, Roberto Santana, in charge of a program to reform the prisons, complained that the reform was being held up by people who were benefiting from the status quo in the jail.
A child and a farmer died due to a lightning strike in Villa Riva, San Francisco when a tornado swept through central Cibao provinces yesterday, accompanied by strong thunderstorm. Reportedly, the man and the child were returning home on horseback when they were killed instantly. Signs and trees were toppled by the force of the winds. Two thousand families had to be relocated due to flooding. The Weather Department has warned that the rains will continue.
For current weather forecasts, see the last post on this Weather & Beyond thread of the DR1 Forums, http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50817
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