President Leonel Fernandez was in Samana yesterday, and as he kicked off the construction of the new aqueduct that will supply the city and surrounding areas with potable water, he announced that the government had received several offers to construct oil depots to avoid a recurrence of the recent fuel shortage. According to Fernandez, the idea would be to put the depots on the north coast, probably in Puerto Plata province and on the south coast, probably in the Haina area. According to the chief executive, "if these private sector initiatives are carried out, the possibility of another fuel shortage will be ended once and for all". Fernandez said that an oil depot in Puerto Plata would supply the 14 provinces of the northern half of the country. Speaking after a luncheon at the Cayocoa Hotel in Samana, the President said that the country could not be at the mercy of the arrival, or non-arrival, of fuels and these depots will help to eliminate the possibility of shortages. He said that the latest fuel crisis showed the nation that it was not possible to trust the routine and traditional way of doing things, and that the crisis just reaffirmed the government's idea of creating the depots. The need for an urgent solution is illustrated by the news that the oil carrying tanker that is scheduled to arrive in the country either today or tomorrow, carrying 85,000 barrels of diesel fuel (3.6 million gallons) will only be enough to fulfill needs for four days because of the increase in fuel consumption reported over recent weeks. A total of 885,239 gallons of fuel have been sold each day. These figures come from the Ministry of Finance Department of Hydro-carbides. According to their figures, consumption increased in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period last year, from 208.3 million gallons to 212.4 million gallons. This is equal to an absolute increase of 4.1 million gallons, or 1.9%.
With Monday night's announcement by President Fernandez that the reform of the Constitution would be carried out through a system of "popular consultations", different groups have expressed their support or rejection for the idea. According to El Caribe, the opposition PRD party showed its displeasure with the President's idea by not showing up for the speech. PRD Secretary General Orlando Jorge Mera commented yesterday that it is not a political priority to start reforming the constitution at this moment because the public wants answers to bigger problems like the energy crisis, the fuel crisis, health and education. Accordingly the PRD has announced that they will not take part in the reform process because they are not in agreement with the method being used. The PRSC is also criticizing President Leonel Fernandez's decision to hold a popular consultation instead of a constituent assembly, but unlike the PRD, the Reformist party has not gone as far as to boycott the process. Members of some civil society organizations are still trying to get a constituent assembly created to deal with the modification of the document. Javier Cabreja told reporters that Participacion Ciudadana feels that an assembly is the "most democratic" way of doing things. The spokesperson for the Institutionalism and Justice Foundation said that the members would study the Presidential address before taking a stand. The Human Rights Commission said that they were at odds with the President's position on a few items, such as migration issues.
On the other hand, Adriano Miguel Tejada, editor-in-chief of Diario Libre, says that the President's speech was "an example of the democratic mood that is needed for societies like ours to progress." Tejada, a political scientist as well as a lawyer, points out that whether or not one agrees with the President's ideas, it is the method that matters. He says that the President has put his bets on the dialogue, on rational arguments that seek out a solution and answers to problems. Tejada says, "Our society... rejects this way of acting because it has spent too long being governed by authoritative formulas that have become part of the culture, and that condemn us to live from complaint to complaint and in total disbelief of any other way of finding a solution." While there is no doubt that the President gave a political speech, it is undeniable that it was also courteous, respectful, firm on some points, but always open to outside ideas and to listen to reasons from other parties. Tejada goes on to say that perhaps the point that some have not understood is that the call to discuss the project of a new Constitution, especially the way that the President outlined it, is not trying to divide the Dominican society, but rather to begin the search for those common points that will allow the removal of the obstacles from the past. The Diario Libre editor says that the country should support the consultations as an exercise in civics
Tomorrow is the first day in what is to be a long process towards constitutional reform. The public consultations will begin simultaneously in Santiago, San Pedro de Macoris and Barahona where facilitators will fill out a questionnaire containing 77 questions about the proposed reform. Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, Coordinator of the National Dialogue and Marcos Villaman, executive director of the National Commission for State Reform (CONARE) headed a meeting yesterday at the UASD University library where they briefed the facilitators on the details of the questionnaire and provided guidance about the process. One facilitator for each province has been chosen to head the process.
The Bishop for the Mao-Montecristi diocese has come out against the continued trafficking of illegal Haitians, drugs and guns across the border, and blames those who are responsible for protecting the border for making it so vulnerable. In his comments published in Hoy newspaper, Monsignor Espinal says that this is a problem that those same people who are responsible for making the rules and working in the area. He cited last week's arrest of 300 hundred Haitians who are brought the country by human traffickers and made to beg on the streets. Meanwhile, the Immigration Department reports that they have stopped 150 undocumented Haitians, mostly women and children, who are forced to go out on the streets as beggars by a group of human traffickers, according to El Caribe newspaper. The raids which led to the capture of the undocumented Haitians was led by the Office for Haitian Affairs. The undocumented Haitians will be repatriated to Haiti.
If you go by today's front-page coverage, the upcoming meeting between the Independent Power Providers (IPPs) and the Commission to Renegotiate the Contracts of the Electric Sector (CRCES) headed by commission coordinator, Radhames Segura could pass unnoticed. There are, however, full-page announcements of the meeting in every newspaper. Segura is inviting the IPPs as well as the Edes (the electricity distributors) and the CDEEE (the government-owned portion of the sector) to next Wednesday's meeting. Each entity is being asked to present its position on the renegotiation of all the contracts that were signed in Madrid. Segura also appeals to the different parties to be "comprehensive" in the face of the "urgent need to renegotiate these contracts." For years, the industrial and commercial sectors have complained that the price structure of the Madrid contracts is creating an untenable competitive situation for Dominican interests.
The Sub Director of the Office for the Reorganization of Transit (OPRET) Leonel Carrasco has replied to a report in yesterday's edition of Hoy newspaper which highlighted the Puerto Rican metro's US$95 million annual losses. Carrasco assured that the Santo Domingo Metro will not produce losses. He contrasted how only 32,000 Puerto Ricans ride the metro, even though 80,000 were originally estimated to ride the metro by pointing out how in San Juan, Puerto Rico 8 of 10 people own cars, while in Santo Domingo, the opposite is the case.
In a decision that is sure to create a stir, interim judge Rosanna Vasquez, the head of Santo Domingo's First Penal Court, has dismissed the charges against 37 high-ranking police officials, both active and retired, who had over 100 recovered vehicles in their possession. These vehicles had been reported stolen by their owners, recovered by police officers and then assigned to different officers in the upper echelon of the department. The Attorney General's office reserved the right to appeal against the verdict. Judge Vasquez said that the prosecutor did not present sufficient proof to support the accusations. Apparently, the main piece of evidence presented was a school notebook with nearly illegible details of the vehicles assigned to the officers. The former Chief of Police, Jaime Marte Martinez, who was among those accused, was referred to in the complaint as a "police colonel" rather than his current status as a private citizen.
Secretary of the Interior Franklyn Almeyda Rancier has acknowledged to Hoy newspaper that his office is under tremendous pressure from the private sector, which ironically enough is the sector that according to him is responsible for the highest concentration of corruption towards the public sector. Almeyda made his comments at the presentation of 36 Harley Davidson motorcycles that cost between US$10,000 and US$17,000. Almeyda said that if there had been a better offer for the motorbikes, the government would have bought them, but that this was the best offer. Two American officials are in the country to train riders on how to use the bikes.
Vehicle-owners who waited until the last minute to get their marbete stickers yesterday were not surprised to be greeted with long lines, but by the end of the day 140,000 citizens still hadn't obtained their sticker. According to Alfredo Mirabal, the director of the Internal Revenue Office's Motor Vehicle Department, this represents 25% of the national fleet of motor vehicles. Drivers will now have to pay an additional RD$400 to get the sticker. Those who are brave enough to drive in the streets without the documentation should be prepared, as the Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMET) will start impounding vehicles without the marbete sticker. The additional RD$400 that drivers will have to pay to get their marbetes means that the General Direction for Internal Taxes (DGII) will collect an extra RD$56 million. The IRO will keep open the express windows that are scattered around the country, and according to Mirabal, the savings and loan associations have also expressed an interest in helping the public to renew their stickers. No decision has been taken regarding the use of the S&L organizations, but Mirabal did say that the express windows would only be open until 31 October.
The Banco de Reservas reports that it has ended the third quarter of this year with a 6% increase in total assets, for a total of RD$108,500 billion, and a 9.6% increase in their dollar assets. The information was disclosed by the bank's administrator, Daniel Toribio. BanReservas accumulated RD$1,930.2 billion in assets before taxes. With respect to the assets, 51.2% correspond to various lines of credit to both the public and private sector. The private sector has a credit of RD$38,133.4 billion, which is the equivalent of a 9.2% increase.
The recent violent removal of 12 families from their homes is being described as illegal and inhumane, and a defense for the rights of those removed is being mounted. Last week police began evicting families who lived in Santo Domingo's San Rafael neighborhood, and this week went on to burn down the houses in question, causing some women and infant children to be hospitalized with respiratory problems, and others to be sent to jail. Police armed with guns and tear gas entered the neighborhood and continued the evictions. The case provoked reactions from Dr. Antonio Cruz Jiminian and lawyer Domingo Porfirio Rojas Nina, who is high commissioner for Human Rights (CNDH). Both called on President Leonel Fernandez to halt the removals. They also called for an investigation of Police Chief Bernardo Santana Paez for ordering the removals without the proper legal order, and said that Santana has not returned phone calls to comment on the matter. As if to add insult to all the injury, an unidentified man, believed to be the property owner, hovered over the scene in a helicopter waiting for the removals to finish.
People have been stealing electric wires for decades, and the recent boom in scrap steel and other metals is creating an even larger market for the stolen items. According to El Caribe, the nation does not have the legislation to put a stop to this type of crime. The paper says that low tension and medium tension power lines are most vulnerable. Since 1972 the newspapers have carried stories of stolen power lines. The first one was 900 feet of cable that belonged to the old CDE. In 1980 the robberies were extended to include telephone cables, sewer covers, fences in public parks and zoos and even the swords of the most distinguished national heroes. Both the metal working industry and the electricity distributors call these crimes "very serious" and complain about the fact that there are no legal mechanisms to put a halt to the stealing and put the criminals in jail. Data from the Dominican Export Center (CEI-RD) shows that over the first eight months of 2006 the country exported nearly 108 million kilograms of scrap metals and produced US$22 million, an increase of US$16.6 million over 2005. The electricity companies are losing RD$31 million in replacement cables.
A case in point is the story in today's Hoy newspaper, which reports that the thieves who stole power cables from the Americas causeway recently were actually apprehended by police officers and were immediately released without further action. Simon Diaz, spokesperson for the National Police, said that if they can establish that this is true there would be a full investigation into the events. According to Hoy, there was an attempt to steal the cables last Sunday, but the would-be thieves were caught in the act, and released.
The Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (CODOPYME) has launched the XI Expo Pymes 2006 at the Dominican Fiesta Hotel. There will be 66 PYMES (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) exhibiting at the Fair, and they offer a wide range of goods and services. Metalwork, graphic arts, textiles, shoes and baking goods all feature in the show. Business magnate Jose Luis "Pepin" Corripio is the guest of honor at the fair, and Taiwan is the invited nation. Several banks that assist the smaller business venture, such as Banco Ademi, the National Housing Bank (BNV) and the Nacional Savings and Loan Association will also be on hand. The fair will also offer short courses for small businesses. Sources have told El Caribe that the government has spent over two billion pesos in the small business sector, assisting 26,000 enterprises with loans with less than 10% interest. Once the western Santo Domingo Industrial District is finished, 212 small and medium businesses will be moving in. They have already been paying for their spots for some time and are just waiting for the Industrial Promotion Corporation (CFI) to put the finishing touches on the large project. Unfortunately, CFI says that they need RD$1.8 billion to do this. Meanwhile, 115,000 jobs are on hold. The good news is that according to Rubrn Bichara the basic infrastructure will be finished in December, and this includes electricity, paved streets and offices. The new industries include metalworking, textiles, bakeries and artisan workshops.
Junior welterweight champion Joan Guzman met with President Leonel Fernandez where he was congratulated for winning the world champion title. Fernandez announced that he has instructed Sports Minister Jay Payano to begin preparations for Guzman's title defense, which will be held in the DR in December. Fernandez told Guzman that he would be there on the day of the fight, in the front row, to support the boxer.
Today's political cartoon in Diario Libre is a short dialogue between its main character Diogenes and US President George W. Bush.
Bush is standing in the United States and Diogenes in the Dominican Republic. Bush says in very stilted Tex-Mex Spanish: "You be on list 20 drug trafficking countries!" Diogenes responds in also stilted Spanish: "An' you be on list of 20 biggest drug consumer country!"
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