President Leonel Fernandez announced yesterday he would fulfill the campaign promise made and ordered that the Dajabon to Loma de Cabrera highway construction should re-start immediately. Government spokesperson Roberto Rodriguez said that he was on his way to the frontier province to hand over the RD$20 million check to the construction company. President Fernandez was responding to the demands of Angel Sosa, who started out seeking to recover his lost government job with a pilgrimage carrying a 30-lb cross. Given the publicity he generated, he chose to walk 305-kms to the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo, turning his demands into a crusade for provincial demands.
President Leonel Fernandez has announced a plan to expand efforts to disarm the civilian population and to seek people who have illegal weapons in the Dominican Republic. Yesterday, the Council for Democratic Security looked at the results of the first month since the Presidential decrees limiting the sale of alcoholic beverages were instituted. The Minister of the Interior said that the number of homicides had gone down, and the Metropolitan Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, said that the entire country was experiencing the effects of better security. According to Listin Diario, the disarming of the general population will take place in keeping with the regulations worked out by the Ministry of the Interior and the Police. The President also announced that a new program to improve living conditions for police and military personnel would go into effect within one month.
At the end of the meeting of the Council for Democratic Security, President Fernandez told reporters that he would not modify the decrees that limit the sale of alcoholic beverages. He said that the statistics show a marked decrease in homicides, violence and crime. According to El Caribe, the Hotel and Restaurant Association (ASONAHORES) had requested that the Executive to modify the decrees for the tourist areas.
The National Drug Control Department, in a joint operation with agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States, has confiscated 24,000 ecstasy tablets, three vehicles and a gun. Five people were arrested in the operation, announced by Major General Rafael Ramirez Ferreiras, the newly appointed director of the CNCD. The arrested were Wendy Naomy Rijo, Richard Placencia Berroa, German Antonio Almonte, Gerinton Paulino Perez Mendez and Eusebio Jimenez Figueres. The arrests took place in a restaurant parking lot on the Malecon, according to a report in El Caribe. The tablets were camouflaged inside a pair of pants hidden under the front seat of a Honda Accord vehicle, without license plates, that was driven by Jimenez Figueres.
The DNCD also announced the dismantling of drug processing and distribution centers in Sabana Perdida and Sabana Centro of the Province of Santo Domingo. Some 70 persons were arrested and 66 vehicles confiscated.
Experts from the United States will be assisting the Dominican government in monitoring key points in the eastern part of the country that have been associated with the drug trade. Over the last seven months, the government officials have seized over a ton of cocaine in the region. According to Diario Libre, the program's aim is to establish a reliable intelligence network in the region. National Office for Drug Control (DNCD) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officers are working together in the eastern part of the country and will be strengthened next week. US ambassador Hans Hertell said that the United States was pleased with the cooperation it has received from the Dominican government in fighting the newest trick in the drug traffickers' bag: dropping drug packages from low flying airplanes. Hertell said that the Dominican Republic was being "bombarded" with drugs from small planes, most of which come from Venezuela. He promised to make life "impossible" for the drug traffickers.
The government of the United States is helping to finance the activities of the citizen's watch group called "Participacion Ciudadana"(PC), an NGO that monitors governmental behavior and serves as a pressure group on important social issues. Over 90% of PC's operational budget is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In the United States, this sort of NGO is called Citizen's Watch and has been growing in popularity for more than three decades. There are groups similar to Participacion in Ecuador, Peru and Honduras. Diario Libre mentions that USAID has funded activities over RD$70 million worth of activities.
The relatives of a Naval officer shot to death upon arriving home in Santo Domingo attribute his death to his refusal to collaborate with people trafficking in Miches, where he was stationed. As reported in El Caribe, Naval officer Juan Urena Santana arrived at his home at 9:00pm from his base in Miches for a month and a half leave. By 1:00am he was dead. He had gone out for beers with friends and when he returned at around 1:00am he was shot to death by four men. His wife is demanding an investigation into her husband's murder. Urena had 21 years service in the Navy. "He was posted where money moves to allow for the illegal boat trips, where one can get lots of money, and look how we were living," she said. His brother Papi Urena said that he was murdered because he stopped a trip to Puerto Rico. Some three years ago, the officer had discovered a cache of illegal drugs when he was stationed at Macao. He was relocated from that post. The officer was known for his hard stand against illegal boat trips and drug smuggling wherever he was stationed.
There is no independent Dominican government organization that checks up on the calibration of the electric meters placed outside every client's premises, despite the fact that the state is called upon to be the regulator and inspector of the system. Listin Diario reports that Ede-Este and Ede-Sur spokespersons admit that the electricity distributors calibrate the meters in their own laboratories. However, the managers for the electricity distributors reaffirmed that the meters only measured the amount consumed by the client. In spite of these nice words, complaints from users in Santo Domingo continue to assert that the meters are wrong because even with eight-hour daily blackouts, electricity bills continue to increase. Yesterday reporters visited Ede-Sur and Ede-Este's laboratories in response to questions about the reliability of their meters. The Superintendent of Electricity was represented by an electrical engineer and the lab technician said that he specialized in electricity measuring. Both spokespersons for the Edes said that they felt that the government should create a unit specializing in the calibration of the electricity meters, since the Office of Quality Systems and Regulations (DIGENOR) does not have the funding for this. The Edes' representatives did reveal that since August 2004, the electricity distributors have paid nearly RD$370 million in claims for overcharging their customers, an average of RD$16.8 million per month.
In a separate item in Diario Libre, the paper explains how the design of the billing system used by the electricity distributors enables huge increases in the monthly bill. The article shows how just a small increase in usage can produce as much as a 47.7% increase in the monthly bill. For example, if a client's usage goes from 300 kw/hr per month to 350 kw/hr per month, the bill will increase from RD$1,095 to RD$1,620, an increase of nearly 48%. In the case of many middle class homes, a 25% increase in usage, say, from 700 kw/hr to 875 kw/hr, will produce a 38.5% increase in the electricity bill. There are four rates for usage: From 0-200 Kw/hr is RD$3.12; from 201 - 300, the rate is RD$4.71; from 301 - 700, the rate is RD$7.00; and from 701 kw/hr to 1000 or more, the rate is RD$8.57 per Kw/hr.
Electricity distribution company Ede-Este announced that it lost US$13 million during the month of July as a result of electricity theft by "traders who register an 80% decrease in consumption by manipulating the electric meters or though direct connections." Ede-Este's general manager Jesus Bolinaga said that in July the company purchased US$40 million worth of electricity and only collected US$27 million. When the manager was asked about the large amount of blackouts experienced by users, he said that Ede-Este has instituted a system of control that only permits six- hour blackouts for any given circuit. Bolinaga said that "we do not provide a 24-hour electricity service since the Dominican population steals it." He said that a 24-hour service would mean a loss of US$26 million per month for the company. The manager said that Ede-Este has 321,000 clients and each one has a meter. He expects another 80,000 meters to be installed shortly.
Just 48 hours after Diario Libre revealed the misdoings of an Indotel employee who sold spy equipment over the internet, and 24 hours since his dismissal for unethical conduct, the Department for the Prevention of Corruption is looking into the case of Hector Manuel Castillo Morel. Meanwhile, the former Indotel official told Diario Libre reporters that people were trying to harm him since he was a possible candidate for the presidency of the institute that regulates telecommunications in the Dominican Republic. Castillo Morel said that his website had been created in 2000, but the site itself said that it was put up on the internet in 2005. Castillo said that he had close ties to the Presidential Minister for Technical Affairs, Temistocles Montas, and that as the director of electronic commerce it was only natural that he promoted this form of doing business. He denied any conflict of interest.
According to the National Federation of Private Schools (FENACEP), the Ministry of Education is demanding that each center award between five and ten scholarships to students sent by the ministry. According to FENACEP spokesman Fauntly Garrido, there appears to be an agreement, perhaps informal, that grants the ministry the right to send these students to private schools. According to Garrido, "the students who receive these benefits are not the poor children of this nation, but rather they are the sons and daughters of government officials in the Ministry of Education." A Vice-Minister of Education, Fausto Mota, denies the accusation and asks for specific cases to be cited, while affirming that the ministry would reject such a policy. He said that these scholarships are used to reduce the pressure on the public school system and for students from low-income families. The full article and a list of typical private institutions in Santo Domingo and their costs can be found at http://www.diariolibre.com/app/article.aspx?id=76608
The sale of most of Falconbridge Dominicana to Swiss company Xstrata has so far not been registered with the Tax Department, despite a 19 July request from the department to Falconbridge. Xstrata bought most of Falconbridge Limited's outstanding stock for US$20 billion on the Toronto Exchange. The purchase includes 85% of Falconbridge Dominicana. The Tax Department is currently seeking half a billion dollars from the sale of Verizon Dominicana's assets to a Mexican company.
The Chamber of Deputies has returned the two bills aimed at authorizing the artificial island and the loan package to be used to equip the National Police to the Executive Branch. Both bills had been passed during the last hours of the PRD-led Congress, and the President returned them to the Congress with observations. With regard to the artificial island, the President said that the Dominican Republic had no interest in the project and therefore the project should be rejected. The Chief Executive returned the US$132 million loan package because of the harsh criticisms of the way it was handled. The Chamber of Deputies declared the legislation to be "non-receivable" and returned it to the Executive.
The Indian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Mitra Vasisht, who is based in Havana, visited this week as part of preparations for the first-time visit of a Dominican President to India in January.
During the luncheon, which was hosted by the Commonwealth Countries Round Table in the Dominican Republic, Ambassador Mitra Vasisht said that India was attracted to establish a partnership with the Dominican Republic by what she described as President Leonel Fernandez' farsighted vision of. She envisions the Dominican Republic becoming a "vibrant hub and IT center in the region." She says she has come to learn from the DR and foresees a relationship of equal partners. She says work is advancing because of the strong relationships with Eddy Martinez of the Dominican Center for Export and Investment (CEI-RD) and the Ministry of Foreign Relations, which is enhanced by the recently appointed Dominican ambassador in India, Hans Dannenberg. She foresees increasing business in areas of IT, e-government and culture, including exchanges with the strong Indian movie industry.
She explained that the purpose of her visit was to continue exploring concrete projects that both countries can announce once President Fernandez visits in January 2007.
Eddy Martinez of CEI-RD explained that the relationship between the DR and India dates back to the days of Minister Eduardo Latorre under President Leonel Fernandez' first government. Martinez pointed out that he sees "great potential in partnering with a country that is becoming a world leader."
During the luncheon, Fernando Gonzalez, president of the Commonwealth Round Table, which represents the 53 Commonwealth member countries, highlighted the advantages Dominicans can secure by establishing relationships with a country no one would have thought of years back, such as India. He welcomed the ambassador's visit and said that the nation needs to be aware of the great potential for exchanges that can be of mutual benefit.
Fernando Rainieri, former president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the DR, said that in the area of tourism, the country could gain from attracting Indian hotel chains and airlines to the DR. He reminded Dominicans that by 2020, India is set to become the second source of travelers to the world, second only to China.
The Dominican Republic experiences an average of three earthquakes each day, and 94% of them are never felt by the people. The UASD Seismological Institute says that there are days with no tectonic activity, but then again there are days with eight or ten small quakes. The institute has identified 11 fault zones in the DR, and the main ones are along the Northern Mountain Range (Cordillera Septentrional), the Cibao Valley, Bonao, San Juan de la Maguana, San Jose de Ocoa and Enriquillo. The institute said that the Dominican Republic is a nation of high seismic activity since it is nestled between the North American Plate and the South American Plate as well as other tectonic features. According to Diario Libre, there were three significant quakes in the Cotui region and one in the northeast of Puerto Plata Province over the weekend. Juan Arias, one of the technicians at the institute, told Diario Libre reporters that the land has always shaken and will continue to shake, more or less.
The fourth named Tropical Depression of the 2006 hurricane season has formed way out in the Atlantic, near the Cape Verde Islands. Its name is Debby and all storm model plots show it does not represent a threat to the Dominican Republic.
See http://flhurricane.com/modelanimator.php?storm=4&year=2006
For weather updates, see the DR1 Weather & Beyond Forum at http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=34
The Dominican Professional Winter Baseball League has announced that baseball games for the winter season will start earlier, at 7:30pm, instead of the previous 8pm. The plan is to start earlier to finish earlier, now that there is a midnight limitation on alcohol sales. On Sunday and holidays, the games will start at 5pm. The next baseball season begins on 18 October.
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