The Dominican Republic has become slightly more competitive, according to the "Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007" published by the World Economic Forum. The nation progressed from the 91st spot to the 83rd position. Unfortunately for the Dominican Republic, three members of the proposed DR-CAFTA agreement are far ahead in the rankings. Costa Rica is listed in 53rd place, El Salvador is in the 61st spot and Guatemala, previously below the DR in the 95th spot, improved its ranking by twenty points and is currently in the 55th spot. Only Honduras (93) and Nicaragua (95) are ranked lower among the DR-CAFTA nations. This information comes at a time when the national media has been reporting a number of difficulties in doing business in the DR. Previous reports of fast-tracking the registry of commercial entities was torpedoed last week when Diario Libre published a report by Maria Isabel Soldevila that established the requirements needed to set up a business one by one, with time and costs. The conclusion was that it takes more than a month and over US$3,000 to set up a small business in the DR.
See http://dr1.com/news/2006/092706_WEF.pdf
The Dominican Republic Senate has declared itself to be in permanent session in order to get the passage of the legislation needed for the country to enter the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement. Recent comments by US ambassador Hans Hertell said that there was no set date for the Dominican entry into the agreement and that the country was losing a lot of money as a result of the repeated postponements. With the new push, the Senate Commission on Industry and Commerce and Free Zones has restarted the study of the various bills. The package of laws is necessary for entry into DR-CAFTA includes modifications to the Law on Copyrights and Trademarks (Ley de Derechos de Autor y de Propiedad Industrial), and the recently passed Law on Government Contracts for Goods and Services.
The contract that would hand over the inspection of all vehicles in the Dominican Republic to a Spanish company is not going to be approved, according to Public Works Minister Freddy Perez. According to Perez, the contract will be rejected because of clauses that will hurt the nation's finances. The news comes after a series of articles in Diario Libre that pointed out each and every one of those clauses. The minister pointed out that he had told the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Julio Cesar Valentin, that he (Perez) was no longer in favor of the deal. The case dates back to September 2005, and had caused quite a stir in the press and on TV discussion shows. After the contract was once more placed by the government on the Chamber of Deputies agenda, even more questions were raised. According to Diario Libre, the explanations given by the Spanish company's president, Joaquin Alvis were not sufficient to dispel the uncertainties surrounding the contract. That, plus the fact that Gianfranco Fiorenza, named as head of the International Business and Trade Company, has not shown up to testify at the hearings on the contract. Sources reported to Diario Libre that the commission studying the deal was recommending a unanimous 'no' vote by the chamber.
The government body that coordinates the electricity system informed the media yesterday that the blackouts have not ceased, despite the increase in energy production. A total of 1,500 megawatts were produced, but reports from different parts of the country told of eight to ten-hour blackouts. According to the Superintendent of Electricity (SIE), the problem resides in the fact that transmission lines have failed in at least nine places, leading to continued blackouts. According to the SIE there was a peak demand of 2,015 MW and a peak production of 1,586 MW, a 21% deficit. Of the 225 lines that carry 69 KW, nine failed. There were reports of transmission failures in the Sanchez, Pimentel, Nagua and Samana areas. In the north, 33 out of 170 circuits were out of service for one reason or another. In the south, there are 162 circuits and 40 of these were off line. In the east, which has 167 circuits, there were 32 failures.
After weeks of positive reports from the Police and security services, it appears that the effects of last July's Presidential decrees are wearing off. Today's newspapers are reporting a renewal of violence at pre-decree levels. Three people were killed on the Padre Castellanos Avenue in Santo Domingo, in a confusing incident that the police have yet to clear up. In the Los Alcarrizos district of Santo Domingo, newspaper and radio journalist Facundo Lavatta was laid to rest, after being killed by an unknown gunman while playing dominos in a corner store near his home. The Police say that they have some leads in the case.
In Navarrete, public protests filled the streets with burning tires, garbage and tree branches as people protested against the death of FALPO spokesperson Elvis "Onny" Rodriguez, in what the police described as "an armed confrontation with a police patrol." FALPO is the acronym for the "Broad Front for Popular Struggle", the leading organization that organizes protests against blackouts and lack of public services in many areas of the Cibao region. As a result of the incidents in Navarrete, public demonstrations in support of FALPO took place in San Francisco de Macoris where a lieutenant, a sergeant major, a corporal and a student were wounded. Gunshots and rocks were the order of the day in San Francisco as students at the UASD branch in town reacted to the news of Elvis Rodriguez's death. Masked youths engaged in a shoot-out with police inside the CURNE campus. The university branch director claimed that they were not students at the university. Apparently the wounded student had been attacked by seven masked individuals who were shooting and throwing garbage in the streets. According to Hoy, the young man was traveling towards the main San Francisco de Macoris police station.
El Nacional reported over the weekend that liquor-vending operations continue to sell to drivers.
Official figures for the 2006 dengue outbreak are now pegged at 3,933 cases and 37 deaths, according to the National Epidemics Center (DNE). This is the most serious outbreak in recent years, far surpassing the 2003 epidemic. Even the country's richer and more famous citizens are not immune to the virus carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. Listin Diario carries a front-page photo of singer-politician Sergio Vargas' son, who is suffering from the illness. Vargas was affected by the epidemic, losing a nephew to the hemorrhagic variety of dengue fever, and his son has been in hospital for five days with the same type of fever. Of the 3,933 cases reported so far, only 150 have been diagnosed as being of the hemorrhagic variety. According to the minister, the incidence of reported cases has diminished over the last two weeks, possibly in response to the government's spraying efforts.
Despite the prosecutor's request for an indefinite closure order for the Praia nightclub, the judge handling the case, Roman Berroa Hiciano, has ordered a three-month closure. The magistrate said that this should give the investigators enough time to make their case and to study the events surrounding the death of student Pura Nunez on 16 September. The District Attorney for the National District, Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero, had requested that the popular nightspot be closed indefinitely. The magistrate said that the DA's request was unconstitutional in the sense that it would deprive the owners of their basic right to work in a legal manner.
Pressure from milk producers and from the milk industry is trying to adjust the assignment of the quotas for importing milk. Yesterday, the Dominican Dairy Producers Association (APROLECHE) and the National Cattle Farmers Association joined forces to urge the government to take over the import of powdered milk coming from Europe and to make the distribution of the milk "more democratic." According to Hoy, some of this milk should be handled by the cattle farmers and milk producers as a way of lowering their production costs. The two spokesmen, Erick Rivero and Arturo Biaggi, said that it was not right that one individual should control 50% of the milk imports into the Dominican Republic. They said that this permits price gouging, and forces milk processors to go through intermediaries in order to get their raw materials. According to Biaggi, if milk powder were imported in the manner suggested by APROLECHE, the cost of the final product would be substantially reduced.
The District Attorney for the National District, Jose Manuel Hernandez, has received the proof of malfeasance by the Ministry of Education under Milagros Ortiz Bosch from current minister Alejandrina German. Although Ortiz Bosch told Hoy reporters that the case would not "tarnish her reputation", German and her staff are filing a complaint stating that over one million pesos per day was misspent on the school breakfast program during the former administration. In fact the exact figure is nearer the two million peso mark, RD$1,855 441. The complaint states that over 300,000 of the school breakfasts were "lost" each day. The brief accepted by the DA says that each day 371,832 rations were sent to unknown locations since they exceeded the total enrollment of the schools that were taking part in the program. As well as the documents relating to the school breakfast program, German also handed over documents relating to the theft of a large number of school desks and other furniture from government warehouses, and the papers relating to the purchase of a commercial plaza in Puerto Plata for RD$11 million. German left seven boxes of files with the DA.
The recent furor caused by the discovery of the allegedly forged signature of one of the magistrates involved in the Plan Renove fraud case on a letter purporting to express willingness to accept a bribe was further heightened yesterday as Pedro Franco Badia, one of the accused, explained at a press conference how he came to receive the letter. Diario Libre calls the letter "a forgery that offers the judge RD$5.5 million in exchange for a favorable verdict in the Renove case." Franco Badia said that the letter was given to him by a person known only as "Arturo", who supposedly has some influence in the judicial department. Franco Badia and his lawyers assured reporters that as soon as they read the letter, they handed it over to the magistrate involved in the case, Jose Uribe Efres because they believed he would have nothing to do with such a bribe. The Attorney General is looking into the case.
The National Department for the Control of Drugs (DNCD) has arrested 47 suspected drug dealers and removed 49 packets of cocaine, crack, and marijuana after several drug raids in Santo Domingo and other parts of the country. The DNCD's raids spread all the way to the Samana province where the police were able to confiscate large amounts of drugs. The raids in Santo Domingo were concentrated in the areas of Capotillo, Villa Juana, Cristo Rey, and Villas Agricolas. Raids also took place in Boca Chica, San Cristobal, Santiago, Jarabacoa, La Vega, San Pedro de Macoris, Puerto Plata, and La Romana.
According to the executive vice president of the Association for Health Risks Administrators (ADARS) Jose Cruz Pichardo, 25% of the Dominican population doesn't have the proper identification, which translates into more than 2 million people. Two representatives for the National Social Security program said that the large number of undocumented Dominicans is a major hurdle for the application of the social security program. The problem is traced back to the delay in the government implementing registration of births at hospitals. In the DR, the law obliges the father to register a child, and gives only 30 days to do so. After that, a tedious and complicated process must be met.
The Expo-Cibao 2006 opens tonight at La Barranquita sports complex, located on the south side of Santiago, across the river. This is by far the largest commercial, industrial and agricultural exhibition in the Dominican Republic. Chamber of Commerce president Ricardo Fondeur told reporters that over a million people are expected to visit the huge complex over the next five days, and more than RD$100 million worth of business will be carried out. This is the eighteenth year that the Chamber of Commerce has staged this show, outgrowing sites like the main parking area of the PUCMM campus in Santiago and the area surrounding the Municipal Palace. Today's Expo-Cibao will use the entire Barranquita complex, including the five main buildings and the Olympic Stadium. According to Ivan Reynoso, the chamber's executive director, more than RD$1.5 billion in sales have been concluded during the previous versions of the fair. The event features 550 stands sponsored by 250 commercial, industrial or agricultural entities. All today's newspapers carry excellent guides to the free entertainment activities on offer, especially children's events and cultural features.
Dominican music was well positioned in the 7th Annual Latin Grammy Awards nominations list announced yesterday. The nominations celebrate established artists and creative professionals along with emerging talent. The 7th Annual Latin Grammy Awards are set for 2 November at Madison Square Garden in New York and will be broadcast live on the Univision network from 8 to 11 pm ET. The awards feature 47 categories. Dominican nominees were Chichi Peralta, Eddy Herrera, Milly Quezada, Johnny Ventura, Michel Camilo and Anais.
Anais won a nomination in the very competitive Best Female Pop Vocal Album for "Asi Soy Yo", Univision Records. Dominicans dominated three of the five merengue nominations in the category of Best Merengue Album: "Amor de Locos", Eddy Herrera (J&N Records/Norte), "MQ", Milly Quezada (J&N Records) and "103 Boulevard", Johnny Ventura (MP). Chichi Peralta was nominated in the Best Contemporary Tropical Album for "Mas que Suficiente", Venemusic. Michel Camilo was nominated in the Best Classical Album category, for "Rhapsody in Blue", Michel Camilo & Ernest Martinez Izquierdo (Telarc Jazz). Michel Camilo will be at the National Theater on 29 September in Santo Domingo and at the Centro Espanol on 30 September.
http://www.grammy.com/Latin/7_latin/
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