| Daily News - Tuesday, 03 October 2006 |
According to the Director of the National Planning Department (ONAPLAN), Guarocuya Feliz, the national budget for next year could be 9% or 10% higher than this year's, or approximately RD$238.5 billion. El Caribe reports that Feliz was speaking to journalists at the Presidential Palace after meeting with the Presidential Technical Minister Temistocles Montas and other members of the economic team.
Guarocuya Feliz commented that next year's budget would be affected by mounting pressure to repay debts with various international organizations.
Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso traveled to Africa to meet with his colleagues from South Africa, Botswana and Egypt, in the hope of securing support for the Dominican Republic's bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Morales Troncoso is also looking to establish diplomatic relations with these nations. Guatemala and Venezuela are also seeking the non-permanent membership.
The 0.4% tariff on the import of goods into the Dominican Republic should be removed because it is in violation of DR-CAFTA, according to a report in Diario Libre. The tariff is being considered by the Customs Department as a commission on the value of the goods entering the country, but in reality ends up being more like a regular tax. Though the government needs to change regulations as part of the DR-CAFTA agreement, it is not willing to give up the income derived from the tariff so there is speculation that the government will modify the law and change the tariff to a rate on the volume of the goods imported.
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) receives over 200 applications a day for Dominican ID cards (cedulas) from Haitian citizens using fake birth certificates. JCE investigators have not established who is behind the "mafia" that sells these birth certificates to Haitian nationals. The black market in illegal documents has become big business in the country, according to JCE officials. The high number of Haitians with fake birth certificates applying for ID cards is reported at both the National District and Santo Domingo province JCE offices, according to a report by Diario Libre. Juan Carlos Sanchez, director of the ID department at the JCE, told Diario Libre that the process includes the submission of birth certificates that aren't registered in the books at city halls, using the legal birth certificate of a person who has never applied for a cedula, or using birth certificates belonging to dead people.
The foreigners are reportedly paying between RD$3,500 and RD$4,000 for the fake documents.
JCE officials admit that they are not fully equipped to deal with Haitians who try to obtain Dominican documentation illegally, or with foreign and Dominican criminals who are fugitives from justice, who come to the country and obtain false documents. A recent report by Diario Libre claims that the Dominican Republic is becoming a target for criminals avoiding prosecution, since it is relatively easy to obtain fake documents here. The Director of the Civil Registry Servio Tulio Almanzar concurred with colleague Juan Carlos Sanchez that the ease with which forged documents can be obtained is alarming, but that it will be almost impossible to stop until there is a standardization of the identification card process. Sanchez said that fingerprint testing technology would eliminate the practice.
The week has started with an increase in the duration of blackouts, which according to the distribution companies Edesur and EdeEste are being caused by a damaged substation. Edesur said that it continues to program outages in Santo Domingo's central residential areas, especially in middle and upper class neighborhoods, because the Haina and Itabo generating plants are out of service, as reported by Diario Libre. The distribution companies say that longer blackouts than usual are set to continue throughout the province of Santo Domingo due to the failure and low production of their power generators. EdeSur informed that Santo Domingo's upper and middle class neighborhoods, which usually receive 24 hours of power, would continue to experience blackouts throughout the week.
The Itabo-Haina facility is working with a 66.5% deficit, providing only 142 MW of the total 425 MW installed capacity. EdeEste says that damage to the Hainamosa substation that occurred on Sunday night caused three circuits that provide power to many neighborhoods in the area to go out of service. The fault is reportedly affecting 13,259 clients.
The Dominican Industries Association (AIRD) is rejecting demands by Energy Superintendent Francisco Mendez to charge a tax to non-regulated consumers of energy, or companies with large consumption of energy. But AIRD president Yandra Portela responded to Mendez's demands by saying that the Superintendent should be focused on making sure that companies comply with the law, and not to explain why companies break the laws. She also called on the Superintendent to figure out which companies don't pay their electric bills, in order to make them pay.
Mendez has proposed a tax on energy bought by large companies, who buy their energy from the directly from the generators, not the distributors. This would be in violation to the Electricity Law.
Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez is advising the public to drink a lot of liquids to prevent the flu that is common at this time of the year. He also said that people could alleviate symptoms by taking acetaminophen, and recommended avoiding antibiotics. He said that health centers have the medications and the necessary equipment to look after patients' demands. Emergency rooms at public and private hospitals and clinics are full of patients with respiratory problems, according to a report by Diario Libre.
A shortage of fuel is affecting several parts of the country, including Santo Domingo, Santiago and San Cristobal, but the Ministry of Industry and Commerce says that the deficit will be resolved next Thursday with the arrival of two tankers carrying 415,000 barrels. Lopez admitted that the tankers were late in arriving. He explained that one of the tankers is coming from Houston, Texas carrying 200,000 barrels, and the other is from Colombia, carrying 215,000 tankers. Another tanker coming from either Venezuela or Colombia is expected to arrive later in the month.
Judge Mery Laine Collado Tactuk of the Fifth Chamber of the National District Labor Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by Pedro Castillo, former president of Banco del Progreso, who was seeking RD$700 million in damages against the bank and Grupo Progreso. Clave Digital reports that the judge issued her ruling on 29 September and made it public yesterday. The 145-page sentence rejects Castillo's request to be reinstated as president of the bank and Grupo Progreso. According to the judge, the termination of Castillo's contract was justified and the bank was not liable.
The suspected murderer of Augusto Beras Goico Guzman, nephew of TV personality Freddy Beras Goico, has been apprehended. Jose Martinez Alcantara was caught by the Police six years after he allegedly shot and killed Beras Goico on Avenida Abraham Lincoln while attempting to rob the young man who had just withdrawn money from the bank to pay his child's school fees. Two others involved in Beras Goico's death are already behind bars.
The director of El Caribe and vice president of the Inter-American Press Society (IAPA) Manuel Quiroz, speaking at the society's 62nd General Assembly in Mexico City, expressed his concern about the recent assaults on journalists in the Dominican Republic, and stated that the increased violence would affect journalistic work. In his speech, Quiroz listed the murder of two journalists in the last six months, the launch of an explosive device to the vehicle of another journalist, and the attack on a photographer by the Police during a National Theater event. Quiroz continued by citing the recent interrogation by Drug Enforcement agents looking to uncover a writer's sources. Quiroz said that it is a journalist's duty to report the news to the public without limitation or censorship, and that espionage and aggression towards journalists greatly hinders the process.
A major accomplishment of community empowerment, the Damajagua Visitor and Conference Centers and new facilities at the Damajagua eco-tourism site were inaugurated on Friday, 29 September in the presence of United Nations representative Niky Fabiancic; Moises Pineda, director of the Inter-American Development Bank; William Brands, deputy director of USAID; Romeo Massey and Don Clark, director and deputy director of US Peace Corps; and Helene Guillot, senior trade commissioner for the Embassy of Canada. Representing the Dominican Republic were Environment Minister Max Puig, Andres Vanderhorst, director of the National Competitiveness Council; Cesar Jose de los Santos, governor of Puerto Plata, the mayors of Altamira and Imbert; Bernardita Abbott, deputy minister of Tourism; and representatives of the Puerto Plata tourism movement. Speaking in representation of the Association of Guides of Damajagua, Pablo Araujo told the story of how they got to this point and all the players involved. Special notice was given to Peace Corps volunteer, Joe Kennedy.
The event also saw the presentation of the co-management agreement between the Ministry of Environment and the Association of Damajagua River Guides (AGRD). The ceremony took place at the new center that is located at Los 27 Charcos de Damajagua, three kilometers south of the town of Imbert, in Puerto Plata province.
Although barely known by people outside the Cibao, the 27 Charcos (27 levels of natural pools and waterfalls) is an adventure tourism site that is visited by more than 50,000 people each year. The site is co-managed by the community, the Ministry of Environment and a board. RD$30 of every admission ticket sold goes to a community fund.
The Visitor Center was funded by a FIPA (Environmental Protection Investment Fund) grant from USAID and the Conference Center by PPS/FMAM (Global Environment Fund). The projects were supervised by the Ministry of Environment and the United States Peace Corps.
See http://www.27charcos.com
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