The Dominican Technological Institute (Indotel) has inaugurated 2 new cyber classrooms, one at the Dominican National Library and one at the Casa de la Juventud. The cyber classrooms come complete with computers that are high speed internet compatible. The classrooms also include a Windows 2003 server, wireless internet access, 21 UPS outlets, high resolution scanners, anti-virus programs and Encarta encyclopedia.
Industry and Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia is threatening local cement manufacturers with cement imports, free of tax, in order to force the price cuts. Garcia feels prices are too high, especially when taking into account the petroleum price reductions in recent weeks. Cement has climbed to cost RD$180 up from RD$125 in only a few months.
A cargo transportation strike called by the Dominican Transport Federation (FENATRADO) is affecting several ports in the DR. The strike is being staged in protest against the sentencing of a group of transportation union leaders who took part in the Renove Plan, and who stand accused, together with others, of fraud for over RD$1.8 billion. The ports and operations platforms of trucks and lifters were taken over by well-armed police troops, according to a report by Diario Libre. In Haina Oriental port, police and AMET cranes were on the lookout for any attempt to block the flow of traffic. FENATRADO president Blas Peralta said that the strike has been 95% effective and that they have also stopped the transport of merchandise at the border crossings with Haiti. Peralta, who is one of the accused in the case, said that he believed the Supreme Court of Justice ruling would be affected by the influence of the Executive Branch. Fenatrado is threatening truck stoppages on a larger scale.
Government spokesperson Rafael Nunez described the work stoppages as "threats" and "blackmail," and is quoted in El Caribe newspaper as saying that the government isn't scared of their threats.
The Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus) also released a statement against the protests claiming that the actions of the transportation companies are unacceptable.
A letter bearing the signature of Jose Uribe Efres, the president of the Criminal Chamber of the National District Court of Appeal, is a forgery, according to the president of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) Jorge Subero Isa. In the letter, Uribe allegedly agrees to favor the release of three of the accused in the Plan Renove case in exchange for RD$5.5 million. According to a report in Diario Libre, Subero Isa revealed the forgery after Pedro Franco Badia's attorney Francisco Taveras delivered the letter to Judge Uribe.
President of the Supreme Court of Justice Subero Isa has said that this is a serious situation with deep implications for the credibility of the judicial process in the country. He has assured a full independent and impartial investigation.
There is still no firm date for the Dominican Republic's entry into DR-CAFTA, according to United States Ambassador Hans Hertell. Hertell says that the delays mean that the DR is losing opportunities for progress. The diplomat stated that the implementation of the treaty still requires the passing of a package of laws by the Dominican Congress and the approval of the US President, as reported by Diario Libre. Hertell was speaking after the inauguration of new X-ray equipment donated by the US government at Caucedo Multi-Modal Port. According to the ambassador, without exceptions, all countries that have signed free trade agreements with the United States have progressed and developed their economies to new levels.
The Dominican Association for Dairy Industries (Adil) has called for the government, and not a particular industry, to assume the responsibilities for managing the import of powdered milk from Europe. In a press release the heads of local dairy industries are calling for Dominicans to take advantage of the up coming V Round of Negotiations for the Agreement for Economic Partnership between Europe and Asian, Caribbean and Pacific nations to change the mechanism that determines the import quotas for powdered milk. The press release clarifies the position that for 10 years only one European country has benefited form the current format and that only one Dominican importer has benefited equally and that it's time for a change.
A report released by the Energy Institute at la UASD University entitled, "Memorial de Agravios al Consumidor," testifies that the power distribution companies are taking advantage of the Dominican public and are not fulfilling their obligations according to Dominican law. President of the Institute, Jose Luis Moreno San Juan says it is not credible that the same company that sells power also sets up the counters that will eventually charge you for energy consumption. He continued by saying that each month the companies must credit users with millions of pesos and that since August of 2004 they have had to credit users with RD$325 million to users that have claimed fraudulent charges.
Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda has been hospitalized at Clinica Corazones Unidos suffering from endocarditis, a bacterial infection near the heart. Almeyda himself said that the infection could only be fought with powerful antibiotics, which are being administered intravenously. He is reported to in good spirits, says Diario Libre.
According to research by the Center of Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia, the dengue virus that is currently affecting the Dominican Republic is not mutant, but rather Grade II. Public Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez said that this confirms the results of studies carried out locally, as reported by Diario Libre. Rojas Gomez assured that there had been a slight reduction in the spread of the illness over the last few days, adding that he hoped that there would be a significant decrease in the number of dengue cases by the third week of October or the first week of November. When comparing the behavior of the illness over weeks 36 and 37, the health official said that there had been a decrease in the number of cases over the last week. The number of dengue cases so far this year is 3,620.
Drug traffickers are having a tougher time of late using the Dominican Republic as a drug intermediary. The National Drug Control Department (DNCD) has displayed the 28.4 kilos of heroin and 25.1 kilos of cocaine which were seized at the Haina Oriental port when they were going to be shipped out of the country in a container, and arrested a Dutch-Dominican citizen who was traveling to Madrid at Las Americas International Airport, with cocaine hidden along the legs and hems of 24 pants he was carrying in two suitcases. The shipment seized in Haina was detected last Sunday in a container headed for Puerto Rico, according to a report by Listin Diario. DNCD spokesman Roberto Lebron said that the drug was discovered in presence of Santo Domingo Province assistant prosecutor Joselito Cuevas Rivera, and that several people, including taxi driver Victor Antonio Paulino, are being sought in this case.
The Specialized Airport Security Corps (CESA) informed that it has fired 226 officials and members for testing positive in drug tests that are carried out on officers in charge of security in the country's international airports. The information was disclosed by Major General Juan Bautista Rojas Tabar, who added that the tests are also conducted on civilian employees working at different institutions in the air terminals, according to Diario Libre. Rojas informed that both military and civilian personnel have been subject to the recent tests and that no matter a persons last name, or affiliation, they will be subject to dismissal.
Police have announced the arrest of one of the five men suspected of robbing a branch of the bank the National Association of Savings and Loans. The robbery took place on 7 February 2006, at the branch located on kilometer 7 of the Mella highway. Though two other men in connection with the robbery had been arrested but they escaped on 21 August 2006, while being transferred for prosecution. Pablo Arias Melo was arrested in Cancino I on Friday night. During the heist guard Horacio Martinez Montero was killed, and the men charged with the crime are still on the run.
The judge of the Fifth Instruction Court of the National District rejected filing the case against retired colonel Pedro Julio "Pepe" Goico Guerrero, who is accused of asset laundering, according to a report by Listin Diario. Judge Natividad de los Santos declared that the case against Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo was not pursuable due to the legal obstacles against him standing trial, as the accused is detained in the United States, so the local case cannot begin until his case in the US is completed. The custody of belongings seized from Paulino Castillo will remain in the District Attorney Department. The judge made her decision after assistant prosecutors Francisco Polanco, Gustavo de los Santos Coll and Luis Gonzalez, who had requested that the case against Goico should continue.
Tomorrow the National Symphony Orchestra (OSN) will be celebrating its 65th year and will be returning the National Theater Eduardo Brito. Also on 11 October there will be a Symphonic Concert on the main stage of the National Theater. A homage to the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth was celebrated last Wednesday, and was one of many events leading up to the anniversary celebrations. For more events, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar
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