The Senate has approved a US$10 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to fund labor development projects in the informal sector. The loan is intended to help aid work projects for people between the ages of 16 and 29 who aren't currently working, are not high school graduates, or aren't currently enrolled in high school. According to the IDB, the project aims "to support the establishment of a national employment system, job training for young people and strengthening the mechanisms to deliver social assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable households". The Ministry of Labor and the Vice President's office, through the Social Cabinet's Technical Executive Directorate, will manage the first phase of the project.
The project hopes to train youth workers, strengthen the National System of Beneficiaries and finance technical assistance to improve their operations, in order to "fine-tune the methodology for selecting beneficiaries for social programs." The loan is for a 25-year term, with a 3.5-year grace period, and a variable interest rate. The IDB could eventually consider granting a $30 million loan for a second phase of the program.
For the full IDB report:
http://www.iadb.org/NEWS/articledetail.cfm?Language=En&parid=2&artType=PR&artid=2537
The country's entry into DR-CAFTA will have to wait until the Office of the United States Trade Representative revises fundamental Dominican laws that regulate the purchasing and contracting of goods and services by the state, industrial property, Law 322 and Regulation 578 which establish that foreign companies must be associated with one or more Dominican companies to take part in tenders or other methods of contracting in the DR. Foreign participation in this type of consortium cannot exceed 50%, however, depending on the technical complexity of the projects this percentage may increase to 70%. The information was disclosed by Industry and Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia, who said that these laws have not been returned by Washington, where they are being studied by the Office of the US Trade Representative.
The Public Health department is beginning a national campaign today to vaccinate people between the ages of 7 and 39 against measles and rubella. The campaign will run through 2 December and looks to decrease the amount of cases for the next 10 years. Because of the scale of the campaign, President Leonel Fernandez passed decree 420-06 where he declares National Vaccination Day a national priority, of public interest and obligatory in character.
Guarocuya Felix, Head of the Office for National Planning, has announced that the bulk of the 2007 national budget will be focused on the payment of the public debt, transfers to the energy sector, and government subsidies. Felix also added that the government would prioritize spending on education, health, employment, DR-CAFTA, institutional reforms and on meeting the UN's millennium goals.
The Dominican Corporation of State Electricity Companies (CDEEE) will have to come up with an additional US$10 million to combat the energy deficit caused by failures at the Haina and Itabo energy centers, which caused a recent wave of blackouts in Santo Domingo and other parts of the country. The private companies of Haina and Itabo have the capacity to produce an extra 195 MW of power, but the generators that generate the energy are out of service because of their elevated service costs. In response to the wave of blackouts the government has decided to fund the use of four of these expensive power generators: the Siemens one already in use, and three others. The cost to the government will be US$6 million. The government will also spend US$3 million on transporting the Estrella Del Norte energy boat from Ozama River to Haina to increase the low energy production there. One million dollars will also be used to address Santo Domingo's low voltage problems.
Papal Nuncio Msgr. Timothy Broglio's electric bill last month came to RD$47,000, leading him to ask for a solution to the critical situation in the electricity sector. "The situation in the electricity sector must be resolved and we are hopeful that will happen," said the Vatican's ambassador to the DR. He said that the fuel shortage that has developed over the last few days, the high electricity bills, and crime and violence in the country are serious problems that must be tackled by the government, the business sector and civil society representatives, as reported by Clave Digital.
More and more gas stations have continued to close due to the lack of gasoline for sale, but answers as to why there is no fuel in the country aren't coming as quickly. Yesterday Industry and Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia announced that there would be a full investigation into the workings of Refineria Dominican S.A. (Refidomsa), and the company Coastal, to establish the reason for the delays in fuel delivery, seeing that it isn't due to late payment by the Dominican government. Garcia says that the excuses given by Refidomsa aren't satisfactory because the refineries in Venezuela told Refidomsa on 4 September that they wouldn't be able to make the deliveries on time, and that a ten day-period would have been enough for them to get another ship here.
Accordingly, Refidomsa has decided to lift its rationing policy for regular gasoline, in place for the last few days in order to avoid a full fuel shortage, confident that the two oil tankers due to arrive from Houston and Venezuela will get here today. Diesel though will still be rationed, and there is a reserve being kept back, just in case, until Texaco comes to an agreement with the transport unions. The Gasoline Retailers Association (Anadegas) also gave their opinion on the gas shortage issue by stating, in Diario Libre, that the privileged use of fuel resources by the distribution companies is in breach of Dominican law.
El Caribe reports that the public is eagerly awaiting the arrival of two ships carrying 425,000 barrels of fuel to quench the country-wide gasoline shortage. Reporters verified that many gas stations which had been selling fuel on Tuesday were closed on Wednesday. Anadegas reported that 98% of its 497 service stations were out of gas.
ANADEGAS president Juan Ignacio Espaillat has told Hoy newspaper that Texaco is in violation of market laws for aggression towards national distributors and that they are trying to create a monopoly in the market by pushing around the retailers and also the transporters. Espaillat continued by saying that once the shortage is over the problems will not end until Texaco recognizes the rights of the transporters and the retailers to work legally within the petroleum industry. Espaillat also blamed the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, because although they were responsible for dealing with the issue, they have failed to do this.
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has temporarily stopped issuing the cedula identification cards because the office has run out of the plastic it prints the cedulas on. The shortage of plastic is due to the fact that there has been an increase in the number of people applying for the ID cards after the May Congressional and municipal elections. Jaime Frias Carela, president of the Santiago JCE, said that the office had previously issued 150 cedulas daily, and that after 16 May they have been receiving 400 to 500 applications daily.
Already the second largest bank in the Dominican Republic, the BHD bank increased its operations yesterday with the acquisition of the Personal Bank portfolio from Republic Bank. The purchase was approved by the Monetary Board on 28 September 2006 and came into effect yesterday. The BHD will now have 80 offices and 1,800 ATM machines around the country. The process of transferring existing accounts to the BHD has already begun. Spokespeople for the bank said that the acquisition was a strategic move to expand their business holdings in order to increase their local market share. Republic Bank is a Trinidadian entity that entered the market when it bought Mercantil Bank's portfolio in 2003. This is the second time a foreign bank sells its portfolio and remains a corporate baking entity. Citibank did the same in April 2006, when they sold part of their portfolio to Scotia Bank, of Canada. No details of either transaction were disclosed.
Ex Public Works Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado has thrown his hat into the ring for the PRD party's Presidential nomination. Vargas Maldonado introduced his campaign team yesterday at a rally at the Hotel Jaragua, and said that this moment represents a new course for the PRD party. The rally was attended by many leading PRD members, and during his speech Vargas said that it is time to change the "gray government that we have."
With a commitment before God and the country to bring decency to the nation and lead it to development, wellbeing and prosperity, former Hipolito Mejia administration public works minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado announced his campaign to be the PRD's presidential candidate for the 2008 presidential election, as reported in Diario Libre. The PRD has announced that their primary will be held in January 2008.
The former minister is currently facing accusations of links with Spanish businessmen named in the Marbella multi-billion euro fraud scandal. Vargas's main challenger for the nomination is former VP and Education Secretary Milagros Ortiz Bosch.
Clave newspaper continues with its expose on former Public Works Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado's questionable business deals. The weekly newspaper reports that he refused to speak to their reporters about the findings. He excused himself by saying he was concentrating on the announcement of his aspirations to the PRD candidacy for the 2008 presidential election. He has the support of former President Hipolito Mejia's PPH faction.
The newspaper looked into the business ties between Vargas Maldonado and Carlos Sanchez, Andres Lietor and Jose Avila Rojas, who are accused in the Marbella, Spain (Operation Malaya institutional corruption case) scandal. In addition to the Hotel Hispaniola deal revealed last week, this week's edition of Clave looks into the case of the sale of property at the Torre Boreo, adjacent to the Mirador del Sur park. Clave mentions that it appears that financial problems regarding the devaluation of the peso in 2003 affected the Constructora Zacarias building firm, and Vargas Maldonado, then Public Works Minister purchased several of the apartments, later transferring several to Carlos Sanchez and Andres Leitor (as per the domicile listed on their Dominican ID card) and others involved in the Spanish scandal. According to Clave, Vargas Maldonado intervened before the municipal authorities so that the tower could irregularly acquire a 200-meter chunk of Mirador del Sur parkland for the building's parking spaces.
Clave also reveals that the 69 apartment complex (Torres Geminis) going up on a 7,000 square meter lot at Anacaona Avenue on the corner with Luperon Avenue are also linked to Carlos Sanchez, who is in jail in Spain in the corruption case. Another building that is being linked to the Spanish real estate scandal is the Torre Winston Churchill, a 31-storey construction located at Bolivar and Winston Churchill avenues.
See http://www.clavedigital.com
Illegal flights continue over Dominican airspace, especially in the eastern regions, and the authorities aren't able to stop them because they do not have the proper equipment to monitor the country's airspace. A tri-dimensional radar system would be able to detect low flying planes that currently do not appear on radars. In the last 45 days authorities have been notified of 20 unidentified flights in Dominican airspace. These developments are a concern for the National Drug Control Department, the Armed Forces, and government intelligence agencies. According to an unnamed official quoted in Diario Libre, the flights come from either Colombia or Venezuela, fly over the island, and drop their drug cargo over the old roads or sugar cane fields in the eastern region.
The United States authorities returned 84 undocumented illegal Dominican migrants to the DR yesterday, after they tried to reach Puerto Rico on two homebuilt boats. The US Coast Guard informed that one of the boats was carrying 36 people and was caught 30 miles from Cabo Engano when they were en route to La Romana with 48 other Dominicans who had been previously intercepted.
Businessmen in Santiago have reported that in the last few days they have been given counterfeit money by a band of con artists working in the Cibao region. The scam appears to be concentrated in Santiago and Puerto Plata. This comes one week after the National Police apprehended Felix Ogando and Perez Concepcion, who were carrying US$380 and RD$2,500 in phony money. Fabio Diaz, speaking on behalf of businessmen in Santiago, said that the counterfeiters use genuine RD$50 and RD$100 bills and change them to RD$500 and RD$2,000 bills.
The victims of a vicious arson last week in Villa Nazaret, Bayona received some compensation for their rebuilding efforts. Manuel Gonzalez Perez is charged with intentionally starting a fire that engulfed 27 homes, leaving 30 families homeless, and killing two young children, age 7 and 9. Gonzalez was seized by a mob in Gaultier, a batey near Boca Chica, as he fled. Police officials intercepted a mob of nearly 20 people as it was beating Gonzalez Perez, and he was taken to the local police station where he admitted starting the fire in revenge at the landlord who had removed the door of his rented room for non-payment of the rent. Provincial governor Hilario Rodriguez oversaw the donation of RD$57 million to the affected families. The family of the children who died will receive RD$5,000 a month for the period of one year. The National Lottery also contributed, supplying the victims with mattresses, sheets, blankets and pillows.
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