Hector Valdez confirmed at Central Bank
Agreement signed with the Netherlands
Foreign Relations Minister Vargas to Haiti
Billions spent on reform committees
Health sector to receive pensions
HIV cases decrease
Inaugurated Higuey hospital still not in operation
Public debt increases US$1.5 billion in first half of the year
100 call centers in the DR
Santiago under water
Sloppy prosecution kills a case before it starts
Properties confiscated from drug dealers
Alerts for rains, sunny skies to return
Sergio Vargas at Lucia 203
Hector Valdez confirmed at Central Bank
President Danilo Medina has confirmed H?ctor Valdez Albizu as Central Bank governor and Clarissa de la Rocha as deputy governor. In the same Decree 213-16 he appointed former Vice President and Minister of Sports Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal as a member of the Monetary Board, replacing Emilio Luna Peguero.
President Medina also appointed Gede?n Santos as Dominican ambassador to the Organization of American States and confirmed Luis Amado Asunci?n as Superintendent of Banks and Jose Lozano was appointed General Banking Superintendent.
Agreement signed with Netherlands
The Dominican government has signed a cooperation, trade and investment agreement with The Kingdom of the Netherlands represented by the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten William Marlin, Netherlands ambassador Marijke A. van Drunen Littel and the Minister of Economic Development of Curacao Eugene Rhuggenaath. The cooperation agreement is to develop and increase cooperation between both countries, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect of sovereignty and mutual benefit.
Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado signed the agreement for the Dominican government.
Vargas said that the agreement represented a milestone in relations between the Caribbean islands and the Dominican Republic and highlighted that the relationship between the country and The Netherlands stretches back more than 500 years.
The Netherlands Antilles is made up of four island territories: Aruba, Bonaire, Cura?ao (ABC), and the island territories of Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius (SSS).
The cooperation agreement covers trade and development, investment, agriculture, water management, ports, maritime works, public health, education and culture. It also encompasses environmental conservation, tourism, medical tourism, sports, migration, maritime and air transport, IT, disaster mitigation, intraregional security, social responsibility, renewable energy, transfer of criminal proceedings and enforcement of judgments, and other bilateral issues.
http://www.listindiario.com/economi...ajos-firman-acuerdo-de-comercio-y-cooperacion
Foreign Relations Minister Vargas to Haiti
Foreign Relations Minister Miguel Vargas is traveling to Haiti on Tuesday, 30 August 2016 for a meeting with acting President Jocelerme Privert. They will discuss the ban on Dominican products along with other matters.
The Haitian Foreign Relations Minister Pierrot Delienne will also be attending the meeting, where the issues for discussion include trade.
The meeting takes place at a time when the Haitian government has imposed irregular trade restrictions, including a ban on the ground transport of 23 leading Dominican imports.
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/08/29/haiti-discutiran-manana-prohibicion-producto-criollo
http://sentinel.ht/2016/08/29/new-haiti-dr-trade-deal-called-obmec-forum/
Billions spent on reform committees
According to Hoy newspaper, the government has spent RD$2.2 billion during the last year on 13 out of 19 presidential, national, permanent, development and reform committees created for a range of reasons.
None of the committees has an expiration date and 14 were created by decree, the other five by law. Six of the 19 committees do not appear in the 2015 Annual Evaluation and Financial Report and three of them do not appear as they are under the control of the Ministry of the Presidency.
There are no budgetary details on the websites of some of the committees, including a presidential commission for Provincial Development Support that has the biggest budget at nearly RD$1.3 billion. Another committee without any financial information is the Ports Modernization and Safety Committee with a budget of RD$49 million.
http://hoy.com.do/gobierno-gasto-2-mil-millones-en-19-comisiones-durante-ano-2015/
Health sector to receive pensions
Representatives of the country?s 21 health unions met at the Ministry of Public Health Office of Pensions at the Treasury Ministry on Monday, 29 August 2016 to receive information about more than 6,500 people who are being retired with pensions.
During the meeting, the representatives of the unions that have reached an agreement with the government were also given explanations about the inclusion of the pensioners in the monthly payroll.
Pensions? director Marius De Leon said that new pensioners should come to the Pensions? Department between 8 am and 4 pm to present their new ID (c?dula), and hand over a copy of it plus a photograph. If they live far from the capital or have health problems, the government has alternative facilities. Residents of the north of the country can go to the Regional Treasury Pension Office in Santiago.
De Leon said he hoped the process would not take longer than three weeks as the payroll closed on the tenth of the month.
http://almomento.net/gobierno-llama...lud-pensionados-a-depositar-documentos/238928
HIV cases decrease
The national branch of the Family Health Society (SFH) says that since the condom distribution program carried out by Population Services International (PSI) was launched, the prevalence of HIV in the Dominican population stands at 0.8%, and the rate of new cases has dropped by 35% since 2003.
A press release stated that the program has prevented 807 deaths, 66,063 pregnancies and helped protect nearly 1.5 million couples a year.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...nicana-es-de-0-8-segun-organizacion-IJ4803794
Inaugurated Higuey hospital still not in operation
Although President Danilo Medina cut the inaugural ribbon on 10 April 2016, a month before the general election, the new Higuey general hospital is still not in operation.
Diario Libre reports that four months after a ?pompous? inaugural at the peak of the electoral campaign, there is still no opening date for the hospital, according to provincial public health director Maria Paula.
Construction began in 2010. At the time of the inauguration, the reported cost of building and equipping the hospital was given as RD$1.3 billion.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...rado-por-danilo-medina-esta-cerrado-FK4804645
Public debt increases US$1.5 billion in first half of the year
The Nonfinancial Public Sector Debt reached US$25,716.2 million in June 2016, as reported in Diario Libre. This is US$1,561.7 million more than in December 2015.
Local government borrowing was up 10.1% and is now at US$8,946.6 million. The foreign debt increased 4.6% for an absolute increase of US$741.1 million. Foreign debt is now US$16,769.6 million.
The foreign debt accounts for 65.2% of the total public debt.
The government took out US$9,568.5 million in bonds, or 10.8% more than in December 2016. During the first six months of the year, the government borrowed US$935.9 million in bonds.
http://www.diariolibre.com/economia...rece-us-1-561-7-millones-en-6-meses-MY4771349
100 call centers in the DR
Around 100 call centers and business process outsourcing companies are in operation in the Dominican Republic, 62 of which are based in duty free tax zones. These companies employ around 25,000 people, according to a report in El Caribe.
The call centers located in duty free tax zones recently signed an agreement with the Technical and Professional Training Institute (Infotep) for training in English language skills. In its first phase, the program will benefit 600 employees in call centers and business process outsourcing centers.
The agreement was signed between Rafael Ovalles of Infotep, Jose Tomas Contreras of the Dominican Free Zones Association (Adozona) and Luisa Fernandez of the National Export Free Zones Council (CNZFE).
Luis Henry Molina, the new director of the Center for Exports and Investment (CEI-RD) and the coordinator for the call centers, Thomas Oronti of Advensus also attended the signing.
Adozona president Jose Tomas Contreras said that this initiative by Infotep was a significant step forward for job creation. The companies have committed to hiring at least 60% of the English training course graduates.
Santiago under water
The rains on Monday, 29 August 2016 flooded the main streets of Santiago, including 27 de Febrero and Salvador Estrella Sadhala avenues and the southern ring road. Dozens of vehicles were stranded, leading to traffic chaos. The Gregorio Luperon highway and the areas of Los Rieles, Don Pedro and Padre Las Casas were also affected.
Several houses were also flooded in the areas of Hoyo del Caimito, Pueblo Nuevo, Ensanche Bermudez and Baracoa.
Local Civil Defense director Francisco Arias called on people who live near rivers and streams to be alert to the risk of flooding.
Nevertheless, the weather forecast for the rest of the country is for less rainfall and more sunshine.
http://almomento.net/santiago-lluvi...les-calles-y-avenidas-del-casco-urbano/238890
Sloppy prosecution kills a case before it starts
The Dominican Alliance Against Corruption (Adocco) has described last week?s raids and the simultaneous shutdown of three clinics as a serious error, saying that the action was riddled with procedural irregularities that end up forcing the authorities to reverse the order.
As reported in Acento, Adocco says that the clinics could not be shut down without being given a timeframe. They were also shut down after 6pm without a warrant from a judge, as is established by law.
Adocco points out that the prosecution authorities have repeatedly made procedural errors that end up causing these cases to collapse, and the judges carry the responsibility.
Adocco also criticized the practice of releasing information on the cases to the media during the investigative stage. He said that it is common practice to leak information about corruption cases involving former government officials to be judged by the media and the court of public opinion, as has been the Tucanogate (involving a former Minister of the Armed Forces) and senator Felix Bautista cases.
Commenting on the case of the disappearance of 10-year old Carla Massiel Cabrera, Adocco stated that the culprits must be found and whoever is responsible should be brought to justice. ?But instead, they close down establishments with great fanfare, affecting the reputations of doctors whose only relationship with the centers is to have rented an office, not to mention the employees and shareholders who have nothing to do with the case, when the role of the Public Ministry is to represent society and these are citizens whose rights are being violated?, states Adocco.
Adocco says that the Attorney General definitely needs to be able to put together a team with managerial qualities, instead of taking the populist route by exposing the cases in social networks and traditional media.
http://hoy.com.do/adocco-ve-ministerio-publico-cometio-error-con-caso-clinicas/
Properties confiscated from drug dealers
The specialist Money Laundering Prosecution Service has confiscated five properties owned by Julio de los Santos Bautista (Julito Kilo), who is accused of heading a drug dealing gang and was arrested with four others in connection with a recent haul of 919 kilos of drugs in Juan Dolio.
The properties confiscated were a house in the Vitania residential area in San Pedro de Macoris, and a building with three apartments, the Super Bodega business and a car wash on the Malecon in San Pedro.
Meanwhile, De los Santo Bautista was sent to one year?s pre-trial custody in jail in San Pedro along with Cristian Marte Rosado and Robert V?ctor Alfonso Reyes Munoz and Colombians Erley Sierra Bonilla and Omar Atencio Vargas.
http://eldia.com.do/a-julito-kilo-le-incautan-bienes/
Cocaine haul
The anti drug authorities and the Public Prosecution Service have confiscated 20 kilos of cocaine along with pills during operations carried out at the Las Americas International Airport and the dock in Haina Port.
The National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) announced that one man was arrested and was being questioned to try and discover the identities of others who may be involved.
http://www.dncd.gob.do/dncd-decomis...cantidad-indeterminada-de-pastillas-extranas/
Alerts for rains, sunny skies to return
The Emergency Operations Center (COE) is maintaining a yellow alert for the provinces of Azua, Santiago and San Cristobal, with another 10 provinces and the National District on green alert as a weather front moves through bringing heavy rain and electrical storms over a large part of the country.
The provinces on green alert are Sanchez Ram?rez (Cotui), Monte Plata, Maria Trinidad Sanchez (Nagua), Dajabon, Espaillat (Moca), Peravia (Bani), Santo Domingo, Duarte (San Francisco de Macor?s), La Altagracia (Higuey) and San Pedro de Macor?s.
According to the COE, the rains have affected 105 homes, with one destroyed, five families evacuated and re-housed, three communities cut off and one bridge damaged.
The weather service (Onamet) nevertheless, is forecasting reduced rainfall and more sunny skies starting Tuesday, 30 August 2016.
http://www.diariolibre.com/medioamb...-nacional-en-alerta-por-una-vaguada-XK4804110
Sergio Vargas at Lucia 203
Enjoy romantic ballads and boleros by Sergio Vargas at Lucia 203, in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo on Friday, 2 September 2016. His show, ?Romantic Night,? promises to be memorable as he will share the stage with special guests starting at 9pm.
Lucia is located at Calle Hostos 203.
Tickets are available online at Ticketexpress for pre-sale prices of RD$1,000-RD$1,400 (VIP).
For more on ongoing and upcoming events:
http://www.dr1.com/calendar
Archived News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...-Headline-News
Archived Travel News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...p-Tourism-News
Agreement signed with the Netherlands
Foreign Relations Minister Vargas to Haiti
Billions spent on reform committees
Health sector to receive pensions
HIV cases decrease
Inaugurated Higuey hospital still not in operation
Public debt increases US$1.5 billion in first half of the year
100 call centers in the DR
Santiago under water
Sloppy prosecution kills a case before it starts
Properties confiscated from drug dealers
Alerts for rains, sunny skies to return
Sergio Vargas at Lucia 203
Hector Valdez confirmed at Central Bank
President Danilo Medina has confirmed H?ctor Valdez Albizu as Central Bank governor and Clarissa de la Rocha as deputy governor. In the same Decree 213-16 he appointed former Vice President and Minister of Sports Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal as a member of the Monetary Board, replacing Emilio Luna Peguero.
President Medina also appointed Gede?n Santos as Dominican ambassador to the Organization of American States and confirmed Luis Amado Asunci?n as Superintendent of Banks and Jose Lozano was appointed General Banking Superintendent.
Agreement signed with Netherlands
The Dominican government has signed a cooperation, trade and investment agreement with The Kingdom of the Netherlands represented by the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten William Marlin, Netherlands ambassador Marijke A. van Drunen Littel and the Minister of Economic Development of Curacao Eugene Rhuggenaath. The cooperation agreement is to develop and increase cooperation between both countries, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect of sovereignty and mutual benefit.
Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado signed the agreement for the Dominican government.
Vargas said that the agreement represented a milestone in relations between the Caribbean islands and the Dominican Republic and highlighted that the relationship between the country and The Netherlands stretches back more than 500 years.
The Netherlands Antilles is made up of four island territories: Aruba, Bonaire, Cura?ao (ABC), and the island territories of Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius (SSS).
The cooperation agreement covers trade and development, investment, agriculture, water management, ports, maritime works, public health, education and culture. It also encompasses environmental conservation, tourism, medical tourism, sports, migration, maritime and air transport, IT, disaster mitigation, intraregional security, social responsibility, renewable energy, transfer of criminal proceedings and enforcement of judgments, and other bilateral issues.
http://www.listindiario.com/economi...ajos-firman-acuerdo-de-comercio-y-cooperacion
Foreign Relations Minister Vargas to Haiti
Foreign Relations Minister Miguel Vargas is traveling to Haiti on Tuesday, 30 August 2016 for a meeting with acting President Jocelerme Privert. They will discuss the ban on Dominican products along with other matters.
The Haitian Foreign Relations Minister Pierrot Delienne will also be attending the meeting, where the issues for discussion include trade.
The meeting takes place at a time when the Haitian government has imposed irregular trade restrictions, including a ban on the ground transport of 23 leading Dominican imports.
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/08/29/haiti-discutiran-manana-prohibicion-producto-criollo
http://sentinel.ht/2016/08/29/new-haiti-dr-trade-deal-called-obmec-forum/
Billions spent on reform committees
According to Hoy newspaper, the government has spent RD$2.2 billion during the last year on 13 out of 19 presidential, national, permanent, development and reform committees created for a range of reasons.
None of the committees has an expiration date and 14 were created by decree, the other five by law. Six of the 19 committees do not appear in the 2015 Annual Evaluation and Financial Report and three of them do not appear as they are under the control of the Ministry of the Presidency.
There are no budgetary details on the websites of some of the committees, including a presidential commission for Provincial Development Support that has the biggest budget at nearly RD$1.3 billion. Another committee without any financial information is the Ports Modernization and Safety Committee with a budget of RD$49 million.
http://hoy.com.do/gobierno-gasto-2-mil-millones-en-19-comisiones-durante-ano-2015/
Health sector to receive pensions
Representatives of the country?s 21 health unions met at the Ministry of Public Health Office of Pensions at the Treasury Ministry on Monday, 29 August 2016 to receive information about more than 6,500 people who are being retired with pensions.
During the meeting, the representatives of the unions that have reached an agreement with the government were also given explanations about the inclusion of the pensioners in the monthly payroll.
Pensions? director Marius De Leon said that new pensioners should come to the Pensions? Department between 8 am and 4 pm to present their new ID (c?dula), and hand over a copy of it plus a photograph. If they live far from the capital or have health problems, the government has alternative facilities. Residents of the north of the country can go to the Regional Treasury Pension Office in Santiago.
De Leon said he hoped the process would not take longer than three weeks as the payroll closed on the tenth of the month.
http://almomento.net/gobierno-llama...lud-pensionados-a-depositar-documentos/238928
HIV cases decrease
The national branch of the Family Health Society (SFH) says that since the condom distribution program carried out by Population Services International (PSI) was launched, the prevalence of HIV in the Dominican population stands at 0.8%, and the rate of new cases has dropped by 35% since 2003.
A press release stated that the program has prevented 807 deaths, 66,063 pregnancies and helped protect nearly 1.5 million couples a year.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...nicana-es-de-0-8-segun-organizacion-IJ4803794
Inaugurated Higuey hospital still not in operation
Although President Danilo Medina cut the inaugural ribbon on 10 April 2016, a month before the general election, the new Higuey general hospital is still not in operation.
Diario Libre reports that four months after a ?pompous? inaugural at the peak of the electoral campaign, there is still no opening date for the hospital, according to provincial public health director Maria Paula.
Construction began in 2010. At the time of the inauguration, the reported cost of building and equipping the hospital was given as RD$1.3 billion.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...rado-por-danilo-medina-esta-cerrado-FK4804645
Public debt increases US$1.5 billion in first half of the year
The Nonfinancial Public Sector Debt reached US$25,716.2 million in June 2016, as reported in Diario Libre. This is US$1,561.7 million more than in December 2015.
Local government borrowing was up 10.1% and is now at US$8,946.6 million. The foreign debt increased 4.6% for an absolute increase of US$741.1 million. Foreign debt is now US$16,769.6 million.
The foreign debt accounts for 65.2% of the total public debt.
The government took out US$9,568.5 million in bonds, or 10.8% more than in December 2016. During the first six months of the year, the government borrowed US$935.9 million in bonds.
http://www.diariolibre.com/economia...rece-us-1-561-7-millones-en-6-meses-MY4771349
100 call centers in the DR
Around 100 call centers and business process outsourcing companies are in operation in the Dominican Republic, 62 of which are based in duty free tax zones. These companies employ around 25,000 people, according to a report in El Caribe.
The call centers located in duty free tax zones recently signed an agreement with the Technical and Professional Training Institute (Infotep) for training in English language skills. In its first phase, the program will benefit 600 employees in call centers and business process outsourcing centers.
The agreement was signed between Rafael Ovalles of Infotep, Jose Tomas Contreras of the Dominican Free Zones Association (Adozona) and Luisa Fernandez of the National Export Free Zones Council (CNZFE).
Luis Henry Molina, the new director of the Center for Exports and Investment (CEI-RD) and the coordinator for the call centers, Thomas Oronti of Advensus also attended the signing.
Adozona president Jose Tomas Contreras said that this initiative by Infotep was a significant step forward for job creation. The companies have committed to hiring at least 60% of the English training course graduates.
Santiago under water
The rains on Monday, 29 August 2016 flooded the main streets of Santiago, including 27 de Febrero and Salvador Estrella Sadhala avenues and the southern ring road. Dozens of vehicles were stranded, leading to traffic chaos. The Gregorio Luperon highway and the areas of Los Rieles, Don Pedro and Padre Las Casas were also affected.
Several houses were also flooded in the areas of Hoyo del Caimito, Pueblo Nuevo, Ensanche Bermudez and Baracoa.
Local Civil Defense director Francisco Arias called on people who live near rivers and streams to be alert to the risk of flooding.
Nevertheless, the weather forecast for the rest of the country is for less rainfall and more sunshine.
http://almomento.net/santiago-lluvi...les-calles-y-avenidas-del-casco-urbano/238890
Sloppy prosecution kills a case before it starts
The Dominican Alliance Against Corruption (Adocco) has described last week?s raids and the simultaneous shutdown of three clinics as a serious error, saying that the action was riddled with procedural irregularities that end up forcing the authorities to reverse the order.
As reported in Acento, Adocco says that the clinics could not be shut down without being given a timeframe. They were also shut down after 6pm without a warrant from a judge, as is established by law.
Adocco points out that the prosecution authorities have repeatedly made procedural errors that end up causing these cases to collapse, and the judges carry the responsibility.
Adocco also criticized the practice of releasing information on the cases to the media during the investigative stage. He said that it is common practice to leak information about corruption cases involving former government officials to be judged by the media and the court of public opinion, as has been the Tucanogate (involving a former Minister of the Armed Forces) and senator Felix Bautista cases.
Commenting on the case of the disappearance of 10-year old Carla Massiel Cabrera, Adocco stated that the culprits must be found and whoever is responsible should be brought to justice. ?But instead, they close down establishments with great fanfare, affecting the reputations of doctors whose only relationship with the centers is to have rented an office, not to mention the employees and shareholders who have nothing to do with the case, when the role of the Public Ministry is to represent society and these are citizens whose rights are being violated?, states Adocco.
Adocco says that the Attorney General definitely needs to be able to put together a team with managerial qualities, instead of taking the populist route by exposing the cases in social networks and traditional media.
http://hoy.com.do/adocco-ve-ministerio-publico-cometio-error-con-caso-clinicas/
Properties confiscated from drug dealers
The specialist Money Laundering Prosecution Service has confiscated five properties owned by Julio de los Santos Bautista (Julito Kilo), who is accused of heading a drug dealing gang and was arrested with four others in connection with a recent haul of 919 kilos of drugs in Juan Dolio.
The properties confiscated were a house in the Vitania residential area in San Pedro de Macoris, and a building with three apartments, the Super Bodega business and a car wash on the Malecon in San Pedro.
Meanwhile, De los Santo Bautista was sent to one year?s pre-trial custody in jail in San Pedro along with Cristian Marte Rosado and Robert V?ctor Alfonso Reyes Munoz and Colombians Erley Sierra Bonilla and Omar Atencio Vargas.
http://eldia.com.do/a-julito-kilo-le-incautan-bienes/
Cocaine haul
The anti drug authorities and the Public Prosecution Service have confiscated 20 kilos of cocaine along with pills during operations carried out at the Las Americas International Airport and the dock in Haina Port.
The National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) announced that one man was arrested and was being questioned to try and discover the identities of others who may be involved.
http://www.dncd.gob.do/dncd-decomis...cantidad-indeterminada-de-pastillas-extranas/
Alerts for rains, sunny skies to return
The Emergency Operations Center (COE) is maintaining a yellow alert for the provinces of Azua, Santiago and San Cristobal, with another 10 provinces and the National District on green alert as a weather front moves through bringing heavy rain and electrical storms over a large part of the country.
The provinces on green alert are Sanchez Ram?rez (Cotui), Monte Plata, Maria Trinidad Sanchez (Nagua), Dajabon, Espaillat (Moca), Peravia (Bani), Santo Domingo, Duarte (San Francisco de Macor?s), La Altagracia (Higuey) and San Pedro de Macor?s.
According to the COE, the rains have affected 105 homes, with one destroyed, five families evacuated and re-housed, three communities cut off and one bridge damaged.
The weather service (Onamet) nevertheless, is forecasting reduced rainfall and more sunny skies starting Tuesday, 30 August 2016.
http://www.diariolibre.com/medioamb...-nacional-en-alerta-por-una-vaguada-XK4804110
Sergio Vargas at Lucia 203
Enjoy romantic ballads and boleros by Sergio Vargas at Lucia 203, in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo on Friday, 2 September 2016. His show, ?Romantic Night,? promises to be memorable as he will share the stage with special guests starting at 9pm.
Lucia is located at Calle Hostos 203.
Tickets are available online at Ticketexpress for pre-sale prices of RD$1,000-RD$1,400 (VIP).
For more on ongoing and upcoming events:
http://www.dr1.com/calendar
Archived News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...-Headline-News
Archived Travel News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...p-Tourism-News