President Leonel Fernandez is committed to bringing economic, social, cultural, political, scientific and technological changes to the Dominican Republic. During the inauguration of the new state university (UASD) regional campus in Puerto Plata, President Fernandez said that the country needs people with the right skills and said that his government would work tirelessly to make this utopia possible, and to fulfill the dream of a true transformation that eliminates poverty once and for all. President Fernandez encouraged the university community to become a center for scientific research and development.
He encouraged the university to serve Puerto Plata's human resource needs, particularly in areas of the tourism industry. "Universities cannot be places where only knowledge is served," he said, encouraging the university community to take a more proactive role.
The extension of the UASD, which has been under construction for many years, was inaugurated at a cost of over RD$500 million. The Fernandez government also announced the repaving of the Puerto Plata-Cabarete highway, the completion of public schools at the Amistad sugar cane community, the reconstruction of the Antera Mota public school and the Palma Sola aqueduct.
President Leonel Fernandez has inaugurated a modern emergency room with capacity for 30 patients at one time in pediatrics, internal medicine, gynecology-obstetrics and surgery specialties at the Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital in Santo Domingo. The room was named after Joselito Hernandez, the boy from Gualey who lost his sight when he was hit by a stray bullet. Joselito was treated at this hospital. The government reported that accidents from stray bullets have been almost eliminated, following the implementation of the prohibition to sell alcohol after midnight on weekday nights and to 2 am on weekends and holidays.
President Leonel Fernandez's proposal to bring the Presidential and Congressional elections closer together was broadly welcomed by a range of party and civil society leaders yesterday. El Caribe reports that PRD vice president Milagros Ortiz Bosch is in favor of the suggestion but said that her party would express its formal position during the next meeting of its political commission. PRSC Secretary General Victor Gomez Casanova said that this proposal had been made by his party and delivered to the National Dialogue Coordinator Msgr. Agripino Nunez Collado. The idea is also supported by human rights activist Domingo Porfirio Rojas Nina who proposes that the elections should be held on July 1st in order to reduce the transition period, which he believes is too long and tedious. The proposal is also supported by Deputies Marino Mendoza (PRD), Ramon Antonio Cabrera (PLD) and Jose Gonzalez Sanchez (PRSC) who believe that a discussion needs to be held on the question of how the dates should be changed. The president of the Board of Directors of the Institutionalism and Justice Foundation (FINJUS) Georges Santoni Recio said that Fernandez's proposal is valid and should be discussed. Santoni recalled that the separation of elections began with a constitutional accident in the mid-1990s, when Balaguer's term of office was reduced to two years.
President Leonel Fernandez has returned the bill that modifies the Criminal Code to Congress, and included several observations and recommendations among which are the demands made by women's rights organizations and others who believe that abortion should be de-criminalized when the mother's life is in danger or when pregnancy is the result of rape. Also, feminist organizations have requested harsher punishment for felonies related to domestic and gender violence. Clave Digital reports that the President sent a letter dated 23 August to Julio Cesar Valentin, president of the Chamber of Deputies, in which he asks that six observations to the bill approved 26 July 2006 be considered. He seeks to achieve higher levels of consensus and functionality.
First Ladies from Central America, Belize, Panama and the Dominican Republic will be meeting in Santo Domingo from 6 to 8 September to discuss the Strengthening of the Family as an Axis for Integral Development. First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez will be hosting the event.
President Fernandez will again be one of the Dominican Week speakers, with a talk scheduled for New York City on Wednesday, 20 September from 7:30 to 10:30 pm at the Model Room, of the New York Yacht Club. The 14th Dominican Week will be held this coming 18 September through 21 September with events scheduled for Washington, D. C. and New York City.
Dominican Week seeks to strengthen the ties between Dominicans and Americas, as well as to foster bilateral trade and promote the best Dominican values. During the event, well-known speakers and panels of Dominican and American experts will explore topics about doing business in the Dominican Republic, economic integration and free trade.
Workshops have been coordinated on DR-CAFTA in Washington, DC with Dominican Ambassador to the US Flavio Dario Espinal (contact esalazar@amcham.org.do), a discussion on Constitutional reform with Daniel Erickson of Inter-American Dialogue, Jonathan Hartlyn of UNC-Chapel Hill and Roberto Alvarez, Dominican ambassador to the OAS at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, and a discussion on how the DR is affected by the threat of the high cost of petroleum with Frederic Emam Zade of the Global Foundation and Radhames Segura of the CDEEE. (Reservations with m.rodriguez@funglode.org).
For New York City, an event to honor Dominican teachers has been scheduled at Hostos Community College, as well as the presentation by President Leonel Fernandez on his first two years in government (contact esalazar@amcham.org.do). A discussion on DR-CAFTA challenges with Eddy Martinez is also scheduled (reservations m.rodriguez@funglode.org). In addition, there will be a panel discussion on the Dominican Diaspora and Dominican Capital Markets, hosted by Dominicans on Wall Street and Goldman Sachs, with the participation of Jose Maldonado Stark of Russin, Vecchi & Heredia Bonetti, Marcos Troncoso of Emprende, Frank Abate, of Women's World Banking, and Jose Luis Martinez of Bear Sterns (reservations dows_news@yahoo.com).
For more on Dominican Week, which is organized by the law firm of Russin, Vecchi & Heredia Bonetti, see http://www.rvhblaw.com/index_en.php?zona=dominicanweek
Lawyer Marisol Vicens Bello writes in El Caribe this week on how Dominicans have yet to learn how to demand our rights. She comments that the double phenomenon of the failure to fulfill the law and citizens' reduced capacity to demand the laws, has encouraged the proliferation of laws that are voted in, but not with the intention of their ever being complied with, but for the political effect they may have, to fulfill international requirements, or to give the nation an air of modernity. "That is why we need to train citizens to be the guardians of the fulfillment of the law and to know how to demand their rights, with the same zeal that they meet their duties," she writes. She adds: "We need to lose our fear of authority, that it may not be confused with respect, and understand that to transform the culture of failing to implement laws, we need citizens and organized groups that can demand the end to the violation of the law, by the due resources." She suggests training children in schools in awareness of their rights and obligations.
Vicens mentions that the fulfillment of the law is now at the discretion of those in power, and that this needs to be changed.
As an example, she points out that recently the Superintendence of Power (SIE) issued a resolution setting the maximum demand required for a user to achieve non-regulated user status at 1.4MW. She says this is in violation of Art. 108 of the Electricity Law that clearly establishes that this should be 0.2 MW as of 2005.
The Other Fair will take place at Parque Duarte this weekend, on Calle Padre Billini in the Colonial Zone. The event is a takeoff on the "10 Years of the Vision of President Leonel Fernandez" fair that was held earlier this month on the grounds of the Feria Ganadera. That event consisted of government department pavilions showcasing what the government perceived as achievements in the first two years of the current term and from President Leonel Fernandez' 1996-2000 government.
Guillermo Pena, one of the alternative fair organizers, said that the event is not a political one, and is held to present the reality the nation is experiencing. He said that during the Hipolito Mejia government, the same group organized the "Ya esta bueno ya" protest.
The activity aims to show the serious problems affecting the country, including government corruption and the lack of public services.
A poll by Clave weekly newspaper states that 72% of respondents believe that Congress will work with transparency. Twenty-five percent said they do not expect transparency and 3% did not know.
According to a report by Clave weekly newspaper, if the Presidential elections were to be held today, the PLD would obtain 62.4% of votes and this would happen whether Leonel Fernandez, Danilo Medina, or Jaime David Fernandez are the Presidential candidates. This is confirmed by a poll conducted by Spanish firm Insight S.A. during August. The poll surveyed 1,203 people over the age of 18 around the country, and found that the PRD would only get 25.2% and the PRSC would get 11.4%. Only 1% would vote for another party. This poll comes at a time when 48% of Dominicans have a favorable opinion of Leonel Fernandez's work as President during this term. Only 21% classify his administration as bad or very bad and 31% are neutral.
The Dominican Republic has been one of the Latin American countries that has sustained the highest growth rate over the last 50 years, but the wealth has not crossed over to the general population, according to a Country Strategy Document (Documento de Estrategia Pais 2005-2008 prepared by the Agencia de Cooperacion Espanola. The Spanish government development agency, which works in the DR, says that the poor distribution of the fruits of economic growth ranks the DR in the 173rd place on the United Nations human development index. The document explains that while 20% of the population manages 53.3% of the income, the 20% poorest group only receives 5.1%. Basing their calculations on data from the World Bank, 45% of the rural population and 31% of the urban population lives below the poverty line. The Spanish agency points out that given this reality, it is surprising that the government continues to dedicate such a small proportion of the national budget to social expenditure.
Do your best to keep your power consumption to 700 kWh, because if you go one kilowatt/hour above that, your bill will go up 55%. Diario Libre puts into writing what anyone that has consumed more than that in their home has painfully discovered. That means, if you pass the 700 kWh mark, you will notice a one month to another 55% increase in your bill, even if you haven't added any new apparatus.
The power tariff is structured to penalize high consumption. Bills start at RD$3.12 per kWh for consumption from zero to 200, then 201 to 300 is billed at RD$4.71, and 301 to 700 is billed at RD$7 the kWh. But once you step over the 700 kWh mark, your entire consumption will be charged at the flat rate of RD$8.57. That means if your present monthly bill for 700 kWh was RD$3,895, if you go up to 701 kWh, your bill will come for RD$6,007.57.
An agreement signed between the Dominican Republic and Canada in 1976 may release Verizon from having to pay approximately US$500 million in taxes to the Dominican state for the sale of the company to Mexican company America Movil. Diario Libre reports that the agreement between the two countries is aimed at avoiding double taxation. Canada is the only country with which the Dominican Republic has signed this sort of agreement, which was aimed at promoting foreign investment in the DR. Verizon Holdings is a Canadian company, according to the report. Also, the sale transaction took place in Canada.
The National Drug Control Department (DNCD) has announced the arrest of eight military personnel who were caught with 16.55 kilos of cocaine. They are members of the Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA). Three were arrested in Sosua, Puerto Plata on 2 July, while they were driving a vehicle containing the drugs. Another four members of CESA were involved in the case, including Navy Second Lieutenant Gustavo Antonio Polanco Perez. Also arrested were Sergeant Alexander Polanco, Nahum Emilio Angeles Garcia, Alexander Teffany Polanco, Corporal Jahanci Argelia Robles, Juan Arturo Garcia, Luis Fermin Marte, Giselle Pena Santana and Julio Rodriguez Campos, all members of the Air Force and assigned to CESA. Polanco Perez was fired by the Navy Chief of Staff and sent to the Puerto Plata prosecutor for legal processing, according to DNCD spokesman Roberto Lebron.
Diario Libre reports that 156 CESA agents have been fired since 2004 for their involvement in drug cases, or for testing positive for drug use.
Last July there were 187 murders in the country but during the first 21 days of August, only 88 violent deaths were reported. Diario Libre indicates that if the trend towards increase verified constantly since 2002 had continued, 193 murders would have been committed during that time period. This represents a 30% reduction in violent deaths since the application of emergency measures against crime, which seems to show that the measures have been effective. Some are criticizing the fact that the anti-crime measures, which include mixed patrolling, affects the constitutional right to freedom of movement and to gather without disrupting public order. However, the public is expressing support for the restrictions.
Legendary Argentine tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri is going to be performing in September in Santo Domingo. His performance is scheduled for Friday, 15 September at 8 pm at the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel. For more on events, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar
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