President Leonel Fernandez has suggested that the National Council of Magistrates (CNM) select the new Central Election Board (JCE). The CNM was created by the Constitutional reform of 1994 in an attempt to ensure the independence of the judicial branch and is responsible for appointing the Supreme Court judges. The President also suggested increasing the membership of the council in order for it to have broader representation from different sectors. Former President Hipolito Mejia rejected the plan, saying it was unworkable. In the first place, according to Mejia, there was not enough time and in the second place, the political parties were the most appropriate for choosing the electoral magistrates. Current JCE chief magistrate, Luis Arias, told Listin Diario that he thought the President's proposal quite fair since it broadens the consensus for such selection.
President Leonel Fernandez has complained about political parties being accused of promoting clientelism. As reported in El Caribe, he said that it is the people with their many needs that put the pressure on politicians by seeking handouts to solve their problems. Fernandez was speaking during a seminar organized by the government on Political Parties and Electoral Organizations. He said that he leaves his house and is approached by 40 or 50 people asking for money for medicine or to bury a relative. He explained that if he doesn't give a handout, these people are bothered, and accuse him of being insensitive and then visit another politician. "It is a phenomenon that is badly understood by political analysts, and only we who practice politics understand. He who lives it knows that clientelism is a bottom-up phenomenon," he said. He believes that the fact that many people see political parties as a way of social mobility is a weakness.
New Chamber of Deputies president Julio Cesar Valentin has defended the allocation of funds to NGOs controlled by members of Congress, saying that these were the mechanisms used by the legislators to help poor people in their provinces. Valentin is quoted in El Caribe, speaking up in support of legislators receiving an allocation of funds for social works in their provinces. He assured El Caribe reporter Arismendy Rodriguez that the average amount assigned to each congressional NGO was lower than the Latin American average. Nevertheless, Valentin agreed that legislators who decide the national budget should not legislate in their own favor. He said it would be better to create a special fund and allocate funds to the legislators based on projects they would sponsor and create the mechanisms for GAO auditing and follow up these projects.
Jesuit priest Father Cela commented that the job of legislators is to legislate, not carry out works in their communities. Cela, as reported in Diario Libre, says that that this should be the role of municipal authorities and government ministries. He said that to give legislators funds is not only corruption, but also a way of promoting clientilistic policies that the country certainly does not need.
There is an ongoing debate about the non-governmental agencies included in the National Budget for which legislators are not held accountable, and which they use for political patronage. Now that most of the legislators were not re-elected, there is political opinion being generated to pressurize the new legislators to refrain from creating NGOs.
The Executive Commission for Public Health Sector Reform (CERSS) has recommended to the executive branch that therapeutic abortions be allowed under the penal code. The commission reminded the executive that other nations have legalized this practice, especially in cases of rape and where a fetus suffering from degenerative hereditary defects is involved. The commission also pointed out that if the law is passed as it now stands, it will be limiting the freedom of a rape victim to express her desire to terminate the pregnancy. While recognizing the right to life as consecrated in the Constitution of the Dominican Republic and the American Convention on Human Rights, the commission also said that they felt that there were cases that deserved an exception do exist, such as the case of an unviable fetus that threatens the health of the mother.
The Herrera Industrialists Association (AEIH) is urging the government to start applying the necessary measures to resolve the energy crisis. The position of Herrera is that there is a consensus that the problems are: the need to improve collection efficiency for electricity supplied, to renegotiate the contracts with the power generators and to find ways of reducing the country's dependency on petroleum. As reported in Diario Libre, AEIH pointed out that a year ago the government announced that the contracts with the power generators would be renegotiated, but nothing has been done about this. The AEIH says that the government should declare a "state of emergency" in the sector.
The National Council of Business (CONEP) suggests that instead of imposing new and higher taxes on the people and businesses, a government austerity policy might well serve the same purpose. She urged that the government act with "caution" when imposing new tax measures in order to finance the recapitalization of the Central Bank. The organization criticized the idea of a new internal bond issue to secure funding for the bank. El Caribe reports that CONEP's rejection of the measures suggested by the Presidential economic team rests in the fact that small and medium sized businesses have been already penalized by three tax reforms over the last three years. CONEP reminded the government that the 2004, 2004 and 2005 reforms were carried out precisely in order to solve the problem of the quasi-fiscal deficit facing the Central Bank for which the government is calling for another tax increase. This deficit is represented by the amount of money needed to pay the interest on the certificates of deposit the bank issued in order to reduce the circulation of all the money used to rescue BanInter and other depositors in the crisis of 2003. According to CONEP, "this policy of austerity and rational public spending will also contribute, moreover, to the fulfillment of the objectives of the agreement that we have with the IMF." And so, CONEP joins the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE) in asking the government to reduce spending.
The National Sugar Council (CEA) has announced the leasing of two of the better-known sugar mills in San Pedro de Macoris to Ethanol Dominicana. The company is supposed to invest US$30 million to refurbish the sugar mills Consuelo and Boca Chica. According to the director of the CEA, Enrique Martinez and Eddy Martinez, the head of the Dominican Center for Exports and Investments (CEI-RD), Ethanol Dominicana is an enterprise composed of Techo Deah, TallOil and Swedfund. The new company's production goal is 3,000 liters of ethanol per day or 15,000,000 liters per harvest cycle. Ethanol Dominicana announced the installation of an ethanol production facility that will be ready for the next sugar harvest starting in December. The ethanol will be sold in the United States since the Dominican Republic does not yet have infrastructure that is needed for its sale, and the regulations for handling ethanol do not exist in the legal codes.
The Coalition for the Defense of Protected Areas is denouncing the fact that the Minister of Tourism is a leading participant in a tourism project that violates the law. The Coalition points to the case of Vistamare in Samana, that is already under construction without having presented the required environmental impact study, and for which an unprecedented exception by Presidential decree was obtained for the company to make use of the 60 meters of seafront. Vistamare is a 140-unit development with ocean views. According to a report in Hoy, the development will call for a RD$580 million investment. Properties are for sale for US$168,300 to US$388,080.
As reported in El Caribe, the Coalition has presented the case to the National Ethics Commission. Copies have also been sent to the government's anti-corruption department (DEPRECO), the Foundation of Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), Citizen Participation (PC), the Supreme Court of Justice, Greenpeace of Spain, Ecologists in Action, the National Competitiveness Council, the Ministry of Environment, Environment Attorney General's Office, and to the Inter-American Press Association.
Presidential Decree 688-05 November 2005 authorized the builders to "make use of the 60 meters of seafront located south of the Samana-Las Galeras highway, in Los Naranjos. Nevertheless, the same decree made it conditional for the hotel company to meet the Ministry of Tourism and Environment's requirements. The Coalition says that the project does not have permission from the Ministry of Environment to start construction. Deputy Environment Minister Zoila Gonzalez said that the company could be penalized for starting construction.
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez is listed first as the founder and "one of the principals of the project" on the Vistamare aparthotel website. The website highlights the fact that Jimenez is the current Dominican Minister of Tourism, in his second term after serving in the same post from 1996-2000. Other "principals" are Gevisa, described as a well-known development and real estate company in Santo Domingo. Gevisa is also the developer of Pueblo Bavaro in Punta Cana, another development linked to the Dominican Tourism Minister. Felix Antonio Jimenez is also listed as a "principal" and as the architectural project designer. He is described as president and founder of Turinter, one of the country's leading tour operators.
The Coalition is also protesting about the fact that Tourism Minister Jimenez handpicked Francois Fontes of the French company Argos to carry out the ground organization plan for Samana that categorized the property used for Vistamare. Argos and Fontes are the same people who bid for a free concession for the protected Bahia de las Aguilas land in Pedernales to develop eco-lodges.
The Coalition mentions that the Ministry signed a contract with Fonte last year for EUR270,000 to carry out the ground use plan for Samana.
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez's was not available for comment because he is abroad, according to his communications department.
http://www.samanavistamare.com/theteam.htm
Jobs in the Industrial Free Zones (ZF) have dropped by 21% over the last year and a half. According to the National Council of Free Zones, a total of 41,273 jobs have been lost, mostly in the free zone textile sector. While textiles, shoes and electronic manufacturing companies lost jobs, the tobacco sector, mostly dedicated to cigar manufacture and leaf processing, increased the number of workers by 4,000. Pharmaceuticals and agro-industries also saw an increase in the number of jobs in their respective fields. The job losses, according to El Caribe, was one of the reasons that President Leonel Fernandez met with the free zone leaders this week to discuss ways of reversing the negative trend.
About 58,000 small and medium scale cattle farmers will be affected by the DR's entry into the DR-CAFTA agreement, according to Vice-Minister for Agriculture Luis Ramon Rodriguez. These are mainly small dairy producers who will be swept away by the influx of milk from the United States under the CAFTA arrangement. Rodriguez is a member of the Dominican team that is currently in Washington to iron out the details of the agreement that by the most optimistic estimates, will start in November. To counter the effects of CAFTA, Rodriguez is recommending that the cattle farmers join the government in an effort to obtain better genetics and nutrition for the small and medium cattle operations. He told Listin Diario reporter Modesto Rodriguez that "there is no way to work with the 69,000 cattle farmers in the Dominican Republic, 58,000 of whom own 10 heads or less. We must focus our support." During the meeting between agriculture department leaders and members of the local dairy industry, producers, cheese makers and bottlers, Rodriguez pointed out that CAFTA gives the DR 10 years to "to do what we can to save that part of the sector that is capable of being saved... in other words, some five or six thousand milk producers." Rodriguez said that CAFTA gave the US and the Central American countries the opportunity to send 270 tons of milk per year to the DR until 2020. After that, milk will enter with no limits. As the minister said, "We have 20 years to increase production by 270 tons a year but after 2020, the market will be open."
On the positive side, though, the lower cost of imported milk would benefit local consumers.
A lightening strike on the radom at Las Americas International Airport sizzled the radar unit and left the airport operating on manual. The Director General of Civil Aeronautics said that the radar was being repaired as quickly as possible. Air traffic controllers are handling flights like they did years ago after the lightening strike of the very top of the dome burned up the radar's electric circuits. The airport handles 70 flights a day.
The Public Health department has announced 46 new cases of dengue fever, bringing the total to 2,675, of which 12 are hospitalized at Plaza de la Salud. Nine of these patients are suffering from the hemorrhagic type of dengue. This year's outbreak, according to Listin Diario, has caused 27 deaths, nearly 1% of all cases reported. In August the Ministry of Public Health (SESPAS) recorded 665 cases and four deaths. Staff at Plaza de la Salud say that there have been no deaths as a result of dengue fever at the center.
In the areas of Los Praditos and Los Alcarrizos in Santo Domingo province, the Tropigas Company was spraying to control the mosquitoes that are the vectors of the disease, and announced plans to expand the fumigation programs around the entire country.
Dengue is a tropical disease that can be prevented and cured. The deaths have occurred because the symptoms of the disease have been confused with those of a common cold and the persons do not receive treatment on time.
See http://dr1.com/travel/prepare/health.shtml#18
Provincial authorities, the Ministry of Environment, the police and the army have all begun to enforce the plan aimed at reducing noise levels in Santiago. These efforts also serve to complement the anti-crime campaigns currently under way. The program began in the area around the city's famous Monumento last night. This is an area where young people gather to stage competitions with the music equipment installed in their vehicles. Provincial governor Jose Izquierdo told El Caribe that the patrols were equipped with devices that measure the noise levels needed to enforce Environmental Law 64-00. Violators will have their equipment seized, and if convicted, a prison term. Anything over 65 decibels is considered to be excessive and is subject to punishment.
The famous Ambis I nightclub in Santiago de los Caballeros has closed its doors permanently, according to owner Santiago Polanco. One of the premier tourist spots for nightlife and dancing, Ambis was seriously affected by the Presidential decrees that reduced the hours of sales for alcoholic beverages. Polanco talked to television commentator Jose Gutierrez, and he said that for 20 years Ambis I had opened at 11pm, closing in the wee hours of the morning. Polanco said that he was tired of fighting the effects of Decree 380-06.
David Ortiz, the beloved "Big Papi" of the crippled Boston Red Sox returned to Fenway Park last night. The fans received Ortiz with a standing ovation that lasted for several minutes. Unfortunately, Ortiz went 0-3 with a walk, but Boston won 1-0 over the Chicago White Sox. Ortiz had been sidelined with an irregular heartbeat that doctors still have not come up with an explanation for.
The Barcelo Foundation and the Spanish "Cometas de Esperanza" (Kites of Hope) group are beginning their joint project to rescue the "garbage divers" who scavenge on the Rafey open-air garbage dump in Santiago. The kids range from age 5 to 14, and according to a study carried out by the organizations, they have never attended school. The project director Oscar Faes Garcia said that the groups have already built a school in the Santa Lucia barrio, and it is there that the children will receive instruction in the three Rs as well as technical job training and music. The foundations will ensure a complete supply of materials for the school as well as the uniforms for the students. According to Faes Garcia, the Spanish organization wants to educate the children so that they do not look upon the garbage dump as an easy source of income.
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