President Leonel Fernandez is seeking to include closer dates for the Presidential and Congressional elections in the planned constitutional reform, according to a report by El Caribe. The President made this proposal to the commission that is studying the reform and representatives of 47 civil society organizations during a meeting at the Presidential Palace. Commission spokesman Msgr. Agripino Nunez Collado reported that the President is in favor of holding Congressional and Municipal elections if not in the same month, then several days after the Presidential election, or at least during the same year.
New official appointments and the results of the 16 May midterm elections have increased the influence of several families in government, according to a report in Diario Libre. The Pared Perez, German and Montas families are cases in point. Reinaldo Pared Perez is now the Senate leader, his brother Sigfrido Pared Perez is the director of the National Investigations Department, and another brother Carlitos is Danilo Medina's assistant. The German family includes Education Minister Alejandrina, her brother Mariano who is the director of the Provincial Development Department, and her husband Jose Maria Sosa, who until recently served as Administrative Deputy Minister of the Presidency and is now a Deputy in Congress. Alejandrina's brother Emigdio leads the government welfare program known as Plan Social. Temistocles Montas is the Presidential Technical secretary and his son Juan Carlos is his assistant, while his brother Ruben is president of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery. Two other Montas brothers, Jose and Gamalier, are mayor and Deputy for San Cristobal.
The report did not mention the new vice president of the Senate, Cristina Lizardo, senator for the Province of Santo Domingo and sister of General Controller Simon Lizardo.
Secretary General of the Dominican Municipal League and PRSC leader Amable Aristy Castro thanked PRD president Ramon Alburquerque for his solidarity in the case of the US Embassy announcing the cancellation of Aristy's non-immigrant visa. Alburquerque had warned that the morals and innocence of any Dominican citizen must be preserved because when public figures are accused without sufficient proof, democracy is affected. In a letter to Alburquerque, a copy of which is on file at El Caribe, Aristy Castro states that he has nothing to regret.
Meanwhile, Listin Diario reports that PRSC president Federico Antun Batlle and the Mayor of Santiago, Jose Enrique Sued, have asked the United States Consulate to explain their reasons for revoking Aristy's visa. One of the most influential men in the eastern part of the country, Aristy has expressed his interest in running for President on the PRSC ticket. Aristy's daughter is the major of Higuey.
The bill for the selection of an Ombudsman is back in study commission. This initiative, which has been in Congress for over five years, was one of the first items on the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies first session during the current legislature. The post of Ombudsman, or Public Defender, was created by Law 19-01 and approved in 2000. According to Clave Digital, the law states that the Chamber of Deputies must submit three candidates for the position of Ombudsman and send them to the Senate for final selection. A special commission led by former Deputy Licelotte Marte de Barrios evaluated more than 100 aspirants and chose a shortlist of three candidates for the position of Ombudsman and Assistant Ombudsman, but the bill was not approved. The difficulty of this selection lies in the fact that approval must come from two-thirds of the entire Chamber of Deputies and the three parties represented did not reach an agreement. It is expected that the Deputies will look over the existing trio, re-evaluate the candidates and call for new candidates to express their interest in the post of Public Defender.
According to Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, the government continues to seek support for a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. "We are working on the promotion of our candidacy... it is one of our goals for 2007," said the Minister on the Matutino 11 news program, as reported by Listin Diario. To achieve this, the DR must convince 129 countries out of 193 United Nations members. Interestingly, by presenting its own candidate, the DR does not have to endorse the US-backed Guatemalan candidate, nor the Venezuelan candidate.
News reports indicate that the Duarte Highway patrol in place since last week is working. The patrol offers AAA-type vehicle assistance. The government has assigned four SUVs and two helicopters to patrol the highway. The Duarte highway has been divided into four or five sections, each with 24/7 patrols. The patrols were introduced to assist drivers involved in car accidents, many of which had been vandalized after the accident, and to crack down on cargo truck robberies that had been taking place, in addition to contributing to safe driving for commuters along the 166 km stretch between Santo Domingo and Santiago. The numbers to call for any problems, as posted earlier in the DR1 Forums, are:
Between Kilometer 9 and Villa Altagracia - 809 315-6820
Between Villa Altagracia and Piedra Blanca - 809 315-6821
Between Piedra Blanca and Bonao - 809 315-6822
Between Bonao and La Vega - 809 315-6823
Between La Vega and Santiago - 809 315-6824
Large and small private clinics as well as different hospitals in Santo Domingo are reporting a rise in dengue cases. Centro Medico Real is currently treating 10 cases and the General Hospital at Plaza de la Salud receives between three and five cases daily, as reported by Listin Diario.
Dengue is not known to affect tourists as the conditions under which it occurs are not those of tourist areas - such as open fresh water bins. Dengue fever, caused by a mosquito-borne flavivirus, is found in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. In its acute form, dengue is characterized by flu-like symptoms including severe pain in the head, eyes, muscles and joints. Some patients, particularly infants and children, develop "dengue hemorrhagic fever", a severe and sometimes fatal variation involving circulatory failure and shock. The incidence of both forms of dengue infection has recently been increasing, as expanding urbanization enlarges the regions inhabited by the Aedes mosquito vector. Mosquitoes capable of transmitting this disease are also found within the United States.
Dengue fever is more prevalent when it has been raining constantly.
Victims typically experience a sudden high fever, headache and intense body pain about 5-8 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. A measles-like rash near day 3 of the fever can help distinguish dengue from other tropical illnesses.
The acute illness usually concludes on its own after about a week, but fatigue and depression can last for weeks or months in some cases.
There is no vaccine against dengue. The best protection is to use repellents. While most mosquitos bite between dusk and dawn, Aedes mosquitos are most active during the day, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. They usually breed in urban areas in man-made containers filled with relatively clean water. The Dominican government carries out major public health campaigns to make people aware of the dangers of storaging uncovered water.
The National Drug Control Department has fired another 13 officials and servicemen accused of committing serious mistakes or guilty of negligence in anti-narcotics operations. This takes the number of DNCD members fired in the last 72 hours up to 23, as reported to Clave Digital by DNCD Director Major General Radhames Ramirez Ferreira, who said that the fired officials were members of the Armed Forces or the Police Department. He specified that not all military personnel who had been withdrawn from the DNCD had made serious mistakes, but some had acted "timidly and hesitantly" towards drug trafficking. Some of the fired officials and servicemen were sent back to the Air Force, the Navy, the Army and the Police, and will serve time under arrest. The group is believed to include colonels, majors and lieutenants, most with over 10 years service.
An inadmissibility recourse presented by former Central Bank Governor Jose Lois Malkun in relation to a lawsuit filed by former Baninter President and CEO Ramon Baez Figueroa, was rejected by Judge Delio German of the Fourth National District Instruction Court on Wednesday afternoon. The judge considered that the recourse was untimely, as the Justice Department has not yet presented a decision on the lawsuit. Baez is accusing Malkun of violating the Monetary and Financial Code (183-03) during the Baninter liquidation.
Civic Movement Participacion Ciudadana is to train 1,520 people from 38 municipalities in the country's 32 provinces in the context of a National Workshop against Bank Fraud Impunity that will take place on Saturday, 26 August. The activity is aimed at following up on the legal proceedings against people accused of bank fraud. Participacion Ciudadana believes that the magnitude and impact of the bank frauds on Dominican society have to be understood by the population for it to become a plaintiff in the cases.
The rector of the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, Miguel Escala emphasized that community integration is the missing link for halting the deterioration and neglect of public schools nationwide, as reported in Hoy. He made these comments during an event in which the university accredited 118 top students who will receive RD$4 million in scholarship programs at INTEC this school year. The initiative brings many of the best public school students to the university. The winners include four public school students from Santo Domingo, 10 from public schools in the provinces and 88 from private schools in Santo Domingo and the rest of the country.
The Weather Department is forecasting that the current scorching temperatures will continue through 1 September. As reported in Hoy, Luis Felipe Jerez of the weather department reports that hot winds are blowing over from the east to the southeast bringing hotter temperatures and humidity to the island. A high of 33C was reported for Santo Domingo, while 35C was reported for Samana and 34C for Barahona.
It's fiesta time in Bayahibe this weekend, with an event called "Vive Bayahibe" scheduled for the Friday, 25 August to Sunday, 27 August weekend. The event offers tourists a chance to interact with the local culture. It is sponsored by the Romana Bayahibe Hotels Association, the Vive Bayahibe Committee (Bayahibe Alive), and the Romana Bayahibe Tourism Cluster (with USAID-Chemonics support). Most of the events will take place on Calle La Bahia, Bayahibe (from Restaurante La Punta to Restaurant Barco Bar), from 6:00pm to 2:00am. Attractions include typical dance music (perico ripiaos, trios, bachata, palos, and more), sale of Dominican products, arts and crafts, cigars, fruits and sweets, and art exhibitions. Stages have been set up all around the town. Because of the proximity, the event is of special interest to guests staying at the Dominicus, Bayahibe and La Romana hotels. There will be a free bus service to the town from these hotels. Bayahibe is a two hour trip from Punta Cana hotels and less than half an hour from La Romana. It is about an hour and a half from Santo Domingo.
Bayahibe is a main port city from where excursions depart to the National Park of the East beach and nature attractions.
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 1996-2008. DR1. All Rights Reserved.