The International Monetary fund said yesterday that it recommends that the Dominican government should accelerate and broaden the reforms within the electric sector. As reported by El Caribe, the IMF wants to reduce the sector's financial dependency on state funding and to improve the quality of service offered. These suggestions were made during the fifth review (3-16 August) of the authorities' economic program that the IMF is supporting through a 28-month stand-by arrangement (in the total amount of about US$635 million). The IMF also suggests that the government should ensure fiscal stability, which it said was being threatened by "sluggish revenue performance." The institution suggests that the Congress approve pending legislation aimed at establishing a clear judicial framework for efficient handling of fiscal policy. The note also refers to a motion by the IMF that pushes the government to create a viable method of recapitalizing the Central Bank.
Other sectors favor that instead of increasing taxes, the government reduce its spending, in order to free the money for priority use.
See http://www.imf.org/external/country/dom/index.htm
President Leonel Fernandez presided over the inauguration of a new aqueduct for the area around Boca Chica yesterday, and the appearance of Presidential Minister Danilo Medina at the President's side spiked rumors of a deep rift between the two PLD party leaders. Rumors had been circulating about Medina's absence from several official activities recently, and many "observers" were saying that Medina had resigned his post to dedicate his time to his own Presidential aspirations.
The offices of the Department of Taxes and Customs have agreed to abolish, as from September, the VAT (ITBIS) on products used by select companies of the tourism industry that have the approval of the Ministry of Tourism. According to Hoy, Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez made the announcement yesterday as part of a series of incentives that the government has introduced to assist the tourism sector. In January, VAT and import tariffs on raw materials used by a selection of local companies to produce items destined for the tourism sector will be removed. These measures are in response to complaints about the application of Law 158 that regulates tourism. The law says that items imported for use by the hotel sector are to enter tax-free. These new measures will be in force until January 2007 when other dispositions will take effect. Internal Revenue director general Juan Hernandez signed off on the agreement.
The Ministry of Tourism will approve the companies that can adhere to the provision. As reported in the Listin Diario, only hotel companies that adhere to guidelines of the Consejo de Fomento Turistico (Confetur) will qualify for the exemptions.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Subero Isa says that the Dominican Republic's maritime laws are out of date and need a complete revamping. Subero said that the Commercial Code that covers maritime issues has no reason to exist, makes no sense and even worse, "has little to do with present day globalized trade." Subero made these comments at the First Central American and Caribbean Meeting on Maritime Legislation and Arbitrage.
Spanish ambassador Almudena Masarrasa has joined her French colleague in criticizing what she called a "cloudy" judicial climate in the Dominican Republic. The Spanish ambassador also looked hard at issues such as corruption and the non-fulfillment of laws and contracts. She cited as an example the case of an investor who discovers that "the same land is sold two or three times because there is no reliable title registry." The diplomat said that the problem was due to any lack of laws, but rather the fact that the laws are not respected or were difficult to carry out. She suggested a more efficient public administration. Masarrasa talked to the press after a lengthy meeting with Vice President Rafael Alburquerque that dealt with Spanish aid programs. She said that since the shelving of the Artificial Island project no investor has approached her office.
Earlier this year, shortly before ending her term in the Dominican Republic, the director of the United States Agency for Development (USAID), Elena Brineman had pointed out that the main problem Dominicans should confront was "corruption, corruption, corruption."
The Dominican Foreign Office announced yesterday that the government has not looked for nor has it requested Norway's assistance for solving problems between the DR and Haiti. The Chancellery said that it was issuing the statement in response to an article that appeared in the local press referring to a conference in the Norwegian city of Krisiansand, and which apparently called the conference a forum to promote conciliatory conversations between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The note from the Chancellery said that the DR and Haiti already have diplomatic relations and very active consulates that deal with immigration issues. The note further stated that steps are under way to reactivate the Mixed Bilateral Dominican-Haitian Commission which has a long list of pending items on its agenda.
The Haina generating facility, EGE-Haina, says that a delay in payments from the three power distributors (the EDEs) had led to a reduction in generating capacity due to low fuel levels. This situation explains the increased number of blackouts in Santo Domingo and the Cibao Valley in recent days. The situation was better yesterday as the Sultana del Este was back to full capacity together with the two Puerto Plata Electric Corporation units, which are also back on line after receiving fresh fuel supplies. There was also a delay in the arrival of a shipload of fuel due to Tropical Storm Ernesto's passage through the Caribbean.
Businesswoman and lawyer Marisol Vicens has protested against a change in the rules that govern the status of non-regulated electricity consumers. According to the former president of the Association of Young Entrepreneurs, the Superintendent of Electricity is in breach of the General Law of Electricity by increasing the minimum consumption required for the non-regulated status from 0.2 megawatts to 1.2 megawatts. Vicens told reporters that "this disposition breaks the law, affects the entire system and does not generate the confidence that is needed, since it goes against the ability to compete." She cited Law 125-01, article 108, which states that as from 2005 a client only needs to consume 0.2 megawatts to classify as a non-regulated consumer. El Caribe tried to talk with Francisco Mendez, the superintendent, but he did not return their calls. Meanwhile, the industrialists' association (AIRD) will be meeting with representatives of hundreds of its members who are very large consumers of electricity, in order to establish their policy with regards to the new rule. According to Jose Luis Moreno San Juan, the director of the Energy Institute at the UASD, the crux of the matter resides in the inability of the generators and the distributors of electricity to provide transparent costs. That, plus the fact that the distributors do not want to lose their best paying customers who, under the provisions of the law would have access to low price fuels and incentives to provide their own electricity.
This violation of the Electricity Law is not new. Since the law's approval, the Superintendence of Electricity has consistently broken it with regards to provisions that would benefit paying consumers in the Dominican Republic versus the finances of the power companies. The problem nevertheless becomes crucial today, given the high cost of petrol. The consistent increases and high cost of electricity in the DR is obliging companies to take a less complacent attitude towards the violation of the law, given that their own survival is at stake as they struggle to bear the burden of the excessive power charges. In the DR, the pool of consumers who pay for the service regularly is burdened by the larger pool of those who do not.
It's kind of difficult to find a "publico" or taxi that does not use LPG (Liquid Propane Gas) as fuel. Some estimates put the number of businesses that install LPG equipment in cars at 300 or 325. The reason is purely economic: propane is much cheaper then gasoline. Neither is it difficult to find late-model cars and SUVs lined up at LPG stations, and they are not buying gas for cooking. The equipment installers and importers are estimating that 95% of all public transport cars and vans are going to use LPG. Official numbers indicate that LPG consumption has risen by 24% in recent months, while regular gasoline sales have dropped by 40%. Official estimates place the number of vehicles using LPG at 36,000. The tax collector has lost RD$4.0 billion as a result of the decrease in gasoline sales.
Television personality Lissette Selman was impressed by the tales she heard about young Rolkin Israel Lorenzo Jimenez. She became even more impressed while interviewing him on her show "Latitude Zero" (Telesistema, Channel 13). The young man, just 14, from Maria Trinidad Sanchez (Nagua) province stood out from the moment he started answering questions. His knowledge of history and his ease of expression made him the darling of the television cameras. As the young man walked out of the dressing room, he recognized journalist Orlando Gil, a Listin Diario columnist, whom he greeted, telling him that he enjoyed reading his column every day. After answering the very first question, the personnel in the studio paid close attention to their monitors, fully amazed at young Rolkin Israel's intellectual capacity. According to Listin Diario, all other work around the studio halted during the entire filming of the interview. A small child who does not look his age, Rolkin Israel has his plans all laid out. In three years, when he finishes high school, he will enroll at a university and study law and political science and then begin a career in politics. His plan calls for a municipal council seat, then the mayor's job, then a deputy in Congress and after a few years, the Presidency. He stated his goal quite clearly: "To serve the country." When he said that one of his first moves would be to reduce poverty, he answered the unasked question. "You will ask how this will happen. Well, by creating jobs, by applying a plan of social assistance that reduces the cost of basic needs and facilitating housing for the poor."
Residents of Santiago's Pueblo Nuevo barrio took to the streets in protest against the postponement of the trial of two police officers accused of killing a young girl, her aunt and an alleged criminal last April. According to Listin Diario, the protests started when friends and neighbors of the two women killed by Antonio Margarin Hernandez and Jose Juan Francisco learned that the accused had not arrived from the jail in La Vega and that the preliminary hearing at the First Court of Instruction would have to be rescheduled. In the Pueblo Nuevo barrio, tires were set on fire and the police called in to maintain order. Over 100 tear gas canisters were used to quell the rioting.
At least thirteen police officers were killed and their weapons taken during the first half of the year. At least nine of the killers are still not known to the police. According to El Caribe, ten policemen died in fights of different kinds, ten died for undetermined reasons and one was killed during "a confusing incident." A total of 48 members of the National Police have been killed in violent incidents during the first half of this year.
New York-born Imilse Emilia Garcia Jimenez, daughter of Dominicans Olivia Jimenez of San Pedro de Macoris and Rafael Garcia, native of Santiago de los Caballeros, has just married the son of the President of Nigeria. As reported in Hoy, she married Olumuyiwa Obasanjo on 17 August in a traditional ceremony in the city of Oata. Imilse is a business administration graduate from the University of St. John in New York City, where she met her husband who is a law graduate. After two years together, they decided to tie the knot.
http://www.nigeriafirst.org/article_6377.shtml
Also see
http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/articles/726/1/Olu-Obasanjo...
http://www.nathanielturner.com/motherstellaobasanjo.htm
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