The Dominican Republic has joined other Asian, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations in asking the European Union to maintain its tariff of EUR176 per ton of bananas from Central and South America. The DR maintained that this tariff has helped the region increase its imports to the European Union and prevented "social problems". According to Minister of Agriculture, Salvador Jimenez, he presented the nation's position at a recent meeting of banana producing nations from the ACP region in Paris. According to Jimenez, the current transition period of the tariffs has been adequate, and there are no longer any obstacles to third country exports, and at the same time there has been a slight increase in ACP production. Jimenez said that any change in the current tariffs would create a social problem in rural areas in banana producing nations. The minister argued for maintaining the current quota of 775,000 metric tons for the entire ACP region. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that by this year's end the Dominican Republic will have exported 11,000,000 boxes of bananas with a value of US$80 million.
The Dominican government has designated Monte Plata as "The Second Millennium Town" and expects to spend billions in order to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in the province. El Seibo was selected as the First Millennium Town. These projects are being coordinated by the Presidential Millennium Goals and Sustainable Development Commission. According to the National Planning Office (ONAPLAN), 73% of Monte Plata's population lives below the poverty line and 23% are below the extreme poverty line. According to the ONAPLAN figures, 85% of the rural population is poor or very poor, and 56% of the urban population is poor. The Millennium Goals aim to eradicate abject poverty and hunger, achieve complete primary education for all, promote equality among the sexes, as well as autonomy and better health care for women. The MDGs also aim at improving health care and fighting diseases such as malaria and AIDS. According to Diario Libre, an Evaluation and Costs Study conducted on the province of El Seybo resulted in a budget of RD$7.6 billion over the next ten years. It is expected that a similar study for Monte Plata will provide a very similar picture.
The recurring teachers strikes affecting the state-run Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) are propagated by a complex mix of struggles, both political and economic, that have nothing to do with the issue of health insurance. According to Diario Libre, its sources are saying that the strikes are motivated by a series of decisions by the current rector after he received the results of an audit by the General Accounting Office (Camara de Cuentas). The audit covered the accounts of the Purchasing and Supply departments of the University Dining Facility, the Buildings Department and the Student Bookstore. Due to the "irregularities" that were discovered, there were several firings, and these firings are the basic cause of the strikes.
According to the newspaper, adding more wood to the fire is the fact that Rector Roberto Reyna has ordered new audits for the university administration and has contracted a company, Sinergi to carry out a US$14 million project to completely computerize the university.
The most recent 72-hour labor strike has ended, but the institution is under the threat of an indefinite strike depending on the decisions taken at the union meetings due to be held this afternoon. The same sources identify Hector Sanchez, the head of the professors' union as being manipulated by the opposition, while others in the union are siding with the rector, especially in view of his program to modernize the campus, which has been achieved with the help of President Fernandez. According to El Caribe, the union leaders, Sanchez and Osiris Torres of the Employees' Union, admitted that they had received a new proposal from Reyna, but declined to give details. However, they did say that that it might lead to a conclusion of the current impasse.
The Central Bank reports that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October, which is based on prices from September, experienced a variation of 0.10% due to price increases in food, alcohol and tobacco. The CPI for September was -1.10%. The increases in these products were offset by decreases of 1.43% in premium gasoline and 2.73% of regular, reflecting a decrease of 0.42% in transport. The Central Bank says that these figures place the accumulated inflation rate for the first 10 months of the year at 3.57%, which in fact allows the country to end the year with its goal of a single-digit inflation rate. The Central Bank also reports that the October 2005-October 2006 inflation rate was 3.68%. The increased cost of alcohol, food and tobacco was attributed to the fact that chicken broth (5.95%), white sugar (8.05%) beans (7.69%), red beans (2.50%), eggs (3.46%) and green beans (4.49%) all went up in price.
The Dominican Republic has to pay US$2.248 billion over the next two years. The nation has to pay US$914 million or RD$30.644 billion at the current rate of exchange in 2007, according to figures from the Ministry of Finance's Public Credit Department. So far in 2006, the government has paid US$823 million and still has US$254 million outstanding. Not taking into consideration the numbers extracted from the Ministry of Finance database, the head of the National Planning Office recently stated that the Dominican Republic had to pay RD$65 billion in 2007. El Caribe says that only by taking into consideration the figures for the two years can one approximate the numbers cited by Juan Hernandez, the head of ONAPLAN. Perhaps coincidentally, today's editorial page article by economist Felix Calvo, a member of the Mejia administration's financial staff, focuses on the economic issues facing the government, especially in the context of the new tax proposals announced in Washington by President Fernandez. According to Calvo, the government must generate a 2.5% surplus in the GDP in 2007, and only by generating such a surplus can the government hope to pay the foreign debt charges. Calvo says that the IMF requirements were simply laid out, but no specific requirements were put forth. Like the Nike advertisement: "Just do it". Therefore, these discussions are quite relevant, especially in view of the fact that the government has already imposed two tax reforms that produced around RD$55 billion that were not, according to Calvo, used in an appropriate manner. According to the economist, the last tax reform went through a PRD-controlled Congress that allowed the government to receive RD$24.360 billion, more than the RD$24.276 billion they said that they would lose through the inception of the DR-CAFTA agreement, and the elimination of the exchange tax, tariffs and the consular invoice. However, DR-CAFTA has not yet entered into effect, and the exchange commission was in force until June 2006. This tax generated RD$10 billion for the government. The tariffs were not eliminated either and they produced RD$3.6 billion as of June. These two items, when added to the RD$24.360 billion approved by the Congress, add up to RD$37.960 billion, much more than the original RD$31.477 billion requested. The government has never mentioned this windfall. Calvo calls the affirmation that the government did not receive the expected results from the second tax reform a blatant manipulation of the facts. In fact, he says, they received more.
The Consumer Protection Law (Law 385-05) has been a dead letter since it went into effect in September of 2005, and little has been done to protect consumers when they purchase a product. According to Listin Diario, this law was approved to protect consumers from unscrupulous traders, but it only illustrates the impotence of consumers involved in any commercial transaction. For example, Article 47 prohibits any discrimination in price or method of payment, but anyone paying with a credit card is many times obliged to pay a surcharge of between 5% and 8%. Some "special" clients only pay 3% for using credit cards. According to the newspaper, these "abuses" are most common in pharmacies, furniture stores, appliance stores and clothing stores. Sales discounts are often denied to people who pay with a credit or debit card. Consumer rights group FUNDECOM has issued a bulletin informing consumers that they do not have to pay any surcharge for using a credit card since the credit is issued by a commercial bank and not by the trader. The bulletin also reminds consumers that all "sales" are valid for cash or credit.
The fifth anniversary of the Flight AA587 air disaster that took 185 Dominican lives as well as the crew and people on the ground, 265 altogether, was commemorated in New York City and Santo Domingo yesterday. The auxiliary bishop of Santo Domingo Amancio Escapa said Mass for hundreds of relatives of the victims at the nation's cathedral. In Belle Harbor, in Queens, Long Island, New York, prayers were said and a memorial was inaugurated by Mayor Bloomberg.
Doctors are worried about the increase in the number of surgical procedures they have to perform as a result of violent acts. In just one hospital in Santo Domingo, the Salvador B. Gautier, the medics have carried out 2,878 operations to repair damage to arms and shoulders inflicted during some act of violence. Dr. Severo Mercedes told El Caribe reporters that his surgery teams are worried that the holiday season will bring an even heavier patient load. He said that his staff have carried out 369 hand surgeries and done seven hand re-attachments so far this year. The cost of reattaching a hand is RD$250,000 in medical supplies and equipment.
Dominican Police Chief Bernardo Santana Paez has announced that any police officer in uniform must be in service, or could face arrest. Santana Paez told Listin Diario reporters that he has issued orders for all police patrols to arrest any officer in uniform who is not on duty. Santana called this "a new way of fighting crime". The order also calls for the arrest of anyone wearing a bulletproof vest or the insignia of any police or military institution. This decision comes as a result of a recent spate of robberies and attacks involving people wearing police or military clothes.
More than 5,500 families in the Punta Cana/Bavaro Macao and Miches areas of the eastern Dominican Republic receive power 24 hours a day at prices to the consumer similar to those of EdeEste, EdeSur and EdeNorte, which shows that a stable and efficient energy system is possible in the country. Diario Libre reports that the Punta Cana Macao (CEPM) and the Electrical Company of Bayahibe (CEB) energy consortium, which were originally only supplying large businesses with energy, have now extended their service to households and have been able to provide a quality service, with the household consumers paying their bills on time without any problems. As reported in Diario Libre, most of the families are middle to lower class and are only affected by blackouts two hours a year, compared to the average 2,000 hours of blackouts a year that most Dominicans have to endure. CEB has invested US$150 million in energy infrastructure since its inception in 1992, and plans to invest a further US$60 million in order to improve the service.
There are other success stories of reliable service, such as the towns of Pedernales, Las Terrenas (Samana), El Seibo (AES-Este).
According to Diario Libre, Spanish technicians will be arriving in Santiago this week to carry out feasibility studies for the possible construction of a passenger tramway system and cargo transport line. Initial reports say that the project could cost at least half a million US dollars. The route would begin at the Cibao International Airport, passing along the Duarte Highway, through the Monument area, eventually finishing at the Free Zone Industrial Park of Santiago.
"We are proud of the many Dominicans who were victorious on Election Day," said Cid Wilson, president of the Dominican American Round Table (DANR). "As our community continues to grow, so does our political representation at various levels of public office," he stressed. DANR numbers show that to date, 6 Dominicans have been elected to state legislatures (including one state senator), 18 Dominicans have been elected to county or municipal legislators, and 7 Dominicans have been elected as judges.
Dominicans who won elective office in the US mid-term were:
* William Lantigua, State Representative (Lawrence, MA) - incumbent
* Juan Pichardo, State Senator (Providence, RI) - incumbent
* Grace Diaz, State Representative (Providence, RI) - incumbent
* Miguel Luna, City Council (Providence, RI) - incumbent
* Luis Leon Tejada, City Council (Providence, RI) - newly elected
* Adriano Espaillat, State Assemblyman (New York, NY) - incumbent
* Jose Peralta, State Assemblyman (Queens, NY) - incumbent
* Rita Mella, Civil Court Judge (New York, NY) - newly elected
* Rey Martinez - Borough Council (Haledon, NJ) - newly elected
* Jessie Frias - Borough Council (Bogota, NJ) - newly elected
* Joseline Pena-Melnyk - Maryland House of Commons (College Park, MD) - newly elected.
Earlier this year, during the non-partisan elections held on 9 May, Dominicans who had obtained positions were:
* Manuel Segura, City Council (Trenton, NJ) - incumbent
* Tilo Rivas, City Commissioner (Union City, NJ) - incumbent
* Rigo Rodriguez, City Council (Paterson, NJ) - newly elected
Democratic National Convention Head Howard Dean will be the main speaker at the Regional Meeting of the Americas for "Democrats Living Abroad," which began yesterday. The three-day event brings together important Democratic leaders in the region who live outside of the United States. The event is being held in Bavaro. The organization, according to Hoy newspaper is an official branch of the Democratic Party and is present in 70 countries across 5 continents. It is the first time they meet in the DR. Representatives from Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Guatemala will take part in the event, which seeks to come up with strategies to mobilize US voters abroad for the 2008 elections.
After a wild weekend in baseball there is now a four-way tie for second place in the Dominican Winter League. On Sunday The Tigres beat the lowly Azucareros 6-4, Las Estrellas got their fifth win in a row over the Gigantes with a 7-3 victory, and the Leones shut out the Aguilas 3-0.
The Tigres del Licey still top the leader board with a record of 15-7, while four teams are tied with a record of 11-11. The Azucareros are in last place with a record 7-15. No amount of sugar can make this season sweet for the Azucareros.
In related baseball news, four American Major League Baseball umpires in the country who were working for the Winter League decided to stop umpiring and leave the country after one of them was threatened by a gun-wielding fan. The incident took place on Tiradentes Avenue, and umpires Andrew Vincent, Steve Fritzoni, David Rackley and Russell Barret decided to leave the country as a result, according to Listin Diario.
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