Night garbage collections for Santo Domingo
Dominquez Brito announces fight against charcoal
DGII closes businesses for tax code violations
Silicon Cabarete is on the go
Alliance for small business in Miches
Hundreds of thousands in Haiti without relief
“Haitians want to divide us”: De la Rosa y Carpio
Public hospital medics accepts 30% salary increase
Santiago mayor: “bottles” and city clean up
JCE’s Eddy Olivares blames PLD for delay of Party Law
Hard Rock Hotel hearing postponed until November
Serious issues from latest rains
Crossfit games in Santo Domingo
Comedy at Escenario 360 in November
Night garbage collections for Santo Domingo
Mayor David Collado has announced that garbage in the National District will be collected at night as of 1 November 2016. The schedule is being changed to ensure that citizens wake up to a clean city and garbage trucks do not add to traffic jams during the daytime.
Collado was speaking at the recently renovated Reparto La Arboleda park in Naco. Twenty-five neighborhood residents have been appointed to monitor the time the trucks visit and complete the garbage collection in each area. The nighttime schedule will initially be implemented in the Colonial City prior to moving to other areas in the city. Collado called on the public to cooperate by putting out their garbage at night.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2016/10/20/439866/recogeran-la-basura-en-horas-de-la-noche
Dominquez Brito announces fight against charcoal
The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Francisco Dominguez Brito has ordered the confiscation of all types of charcoal anywhere, unless it comes from the specialized production farms authorized by the Ministry.
In a memorandum sent to the provincial directors and the members of the National Service of Environmental Protection (SENPA), the Minister of the Environment said that they should detain anyone involved in illegal charcoal processing or sale and bring them to the Justice Department for indictment.
The note reads: “Illegal charcoal should be pursued as if it were cocaine, because just as drug trafficking damages our society and our way of life, the predators of our forests are also threatening our very existence.”
The communiqu? added that only companies authorized to produce and sell charcoal and which have complied with national regulations are allowed to sell this product.
Dominquez Brito stated that the charcoal should be transported in packaging bearing the company name, location, and Ministry of Environment permit number. Every shipment should have a transportation permit issued by the Provincial Office of the Ministry.
The circular adds that forest products should be transported during the workweek, i.e. Monday through Friday, between 8am and 6pm and on Saturdays from between 8am and 12 noon.
The minister requested the support of the National Police and the Ministry of Defense in enforcing the ministry order.
The Santo Domingo premiere of Death by a Thousand Cuts, a documentary by Juan Mejia Botero and Jake Kheel on the human and environmental costs of illegal charcoal production and mass deforestation and how it affects Haiti and the Dominican Republic was screened on Tuesday, 18 October 2016.
http://www.ambiente.gob.do/ambiente...n-ilegal-debe-ser-perseguido-como-la-cocaina/
http://deathbyathousandcutsfilm.com
DGII closes businesses for tax code violations
The Tax Agency (DGII) has closed all of the restaurants of the El Agave chain as well as the Hola Supermarket on Av. N??ez de C?ceres in Santo Domingo because of their failure to comply with tax obligations, in accordance with Law 11-92 and Law 23-96.
DGII director Magin D?az told Diario Libre reporters that when an establishment receives a notification of tax violation the correct measure is to proceed to correct the problems within the timeframe granted for this purpose.
Silicon Cabarete is on the go
Cabarete has put itself on the world map for its water sports. Already famous for being a leading destination for windsurfing, kitesurfing and surfing, it is now preparing to stake a claim as a major entrepreneurial center with Silicon Cabarete. Frenchman Fabrice Grinda is the mind behind the project. As founder of Aucland, Zingy and OLX, one of the largest free classifieds websites in the world, he is a frequent conference speaker on trends in technology, emerging markets and investing.
The center he has opened in Cabarete offers packages to talented programmers to work in a prime location. The project also focuses on attracting brilliant minds to create startups offering technological innovations, which will be nurtured at the center located at La Boca location by the Y?sica River in the north coast province of Puerto Plata. Five residences facing the Atlantic Ocean are also part of the venture.
In the official statement for the project, Grinda states:
“I aim to transform the Dominican Republic for the better by creating an environment that will attract other Internet entrepreneurs, business developers and engineers to the area. We will be attracting a new kind of person to the DR, people who would never have had any reason to visit the island in the past. Inevitably some of these people will fall in love with Cabarete or other parts of the country as I have and decide to invest here as well”.
Project spokesman Jose Luis Mendoza said that Silicon Cabarete would focus on backing companies and entrepreneurs to develop innovative digital ideas in order to become high-impact companies.
http://www.listindiario.com/economia/2016/10/20/439804/emprendimiento-en-cabarete
http://www.labocacabarete.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Grinda
http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/silicon-cabarete-mvp/
http://www.fabricegrinda.com/portfolio/
Alliance for small business in Miches
The Tropicalia Foundation has announced the signing of an agreement with Adopem Bank for providing credit to small businesses in the municipalities of Miches and El Seibo. The agreement was signed by Tropicalia Foundation president William Phelan, and Adopem Bank president Mercedes Canalda and vice president Eva Carvajal.
The funding marks the launch of “Miches Emprende,” a project supporting micro and small-scale businesses in Miches and El Seibo.
The funding is part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at ensuring that the community is included in tourism development in Miches. The low-interest loans will back tourism-related businesses and innovations in farming.
Tropicalia is the corporate social responsibility arm of the Cisneros Group’s investment in the area. The group began the construction of the first Four Seasons luxury hotel and residence project in the Dominican Republic in February 2016, a US$300 million investment in its first phase.
http://hoy.com.do/la-fundacion-tropicalia-y-el-banco-adopem-firman-proyecto-apoya-el-emprendimiento/
http://www.tropicalia.com
Hundreds of thousands in Haiti without relief
The World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman in Haiti, Jean Luc Poncelet has told Diario Libre reporters that hundreds of thousands of people have still not been reached with emergency aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, which hit the southwest of Haiti earlier this month. The United Nations estimated on Wednesday, 19 October 2016, that 200,000 people in the mountainous regions of Haiti’s southern provinces as well as the southwestern region are still seriously affected by the recent hurricane. The UN says humanitarian assistance has not been able to reach them because of the difficulties of access.
The two provinces, Grande-Anse and Sud, were devastated by the powerful category-four hurricane that affected some two million people in Haiti of whom 1.4 million need vital assistance immediately. So far official sources estimate the death toll at around 500.
The mountain areas in both departments are very difficult to access while the communities along the coastline are being supplied by sea. Reports say that even helicopter access to some areas is extremely difficult and dangerous.
According to Poncelet, 36 of the 102 hospitals and health facilities in the two departments, Grande-Anse and Sud are out of service and in several cases the condition of the establishment is unknown because they have not been able to reach the area for assessment.
On Wednesday, 19 October 2016, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) representative in the Dominican Republic, Lorenzo Jimenez de Luis described the humanitarian aid provided by the Dominican Republic to Haiti as “colossal.” Eight days after the hurricane, President Medina authorized a 500-truck aid convoy to enter Haiti.
The Ministry of Public Works says it has reduced its staff in Haiti to 150, divided among brigades that are clearing debris and fumigating. As reported in Diario Libre, the main work being carried out by the Ministry of Public Works is focused on Les Cayes, one of the areas worst affected by Hurricane Matthew, Meanwhile, the director of Comedores Economicos, Nicolas Calderon said that food provision would end when the brigades finish their work. He said the number of food portions provided by the Dominican humanitarian aid program is higher than that offered in Haiti. He said the government has spent RD$60 million on serving cooked food and the packages of components for cooking a meal.
The comments were made after members of the Supreme Tribunal in Haiti called for acting President Jocelerme Privert’s resignation over the Dominican “invasion” of Haiti. The DR sent a contingent of soldiers to accompany the convoy of 500 trucks with food, medicines and construction materials.
http://www.listindiario.com/las-mun...-siguen-sin-ayuda-humanitaria-tras-el-huracan
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/10/20/onu-califica-colosal-ayuda-del-pais-haiti
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...reduce-personal-de-socorro-en-haiti-NX5231843
“Haitians want to divide us”: De la Rosa y Carpio
The former Archbishop of Santiago, Ramon Benito de la Rosa y Carpio, said on Wednesday, 19 October 2016 that powerful sectors in Haiti were trying to divide the two countries that share the island of Hispaniola. He said it is “absurd” that anyone should seek to damage the relationship between the two countries. He praised the humanitarian aid sent by Dominican President Medina to Haiti. Eight days after Hurricane Matthew, the DR sent a convoy of 500 trucks with food, medicine and building materials.
He said that the Dominican Republic should continue to offer humanitarian assistance to the neighboring country because of the calamitous situation that is not being experienced by the Haitian elite, but by the people who are suffering from hunger and poor health.
He said that some groups, a minority, should help the Dominican Republic to define and differentiate the fact that there are sectors, often very powerful, which are trying to defend their own interests and damage relations between the two countries. Last week Haitian legislators rejected what they described as an invasion of products and ordered the immediate removal of the military units that were escorting the aid shipments to guarantee that the convoy reached its destination in Haiti.
Public hospital medics accepts 30% salary increase
The Dominican Medical Association (CMD) that represents public hospital medics nationwide has accepted a 30%s alary offer from the government on Wednesday, 19 October 2016, opening the way for the parties to resolve the current impasse. No date has been set for the signing of an agreement, according to El Nacional newspaper. The pact between the Dominican Medical Association and the government will be signed at the Catholic University of Santo Domingo. Rector Father Jesus Castro Marte acted as mediator in the talks.
A source linked to the negotiations, but who requested anonymity, told the newspaper that the CMD accepted the 30% offer after rejecting an earlier offer for a 25% wage increase. The government in turn had rejected the counteroffer of the 40% wage increase that the doctors and medical staff were seeking. The CMD initially sought a 60% increase for the entire medical sector, including nurses and paramedical staff.
Santiago mayor: “bottles” and city clean up
The Dominican term for a no-show job as a reward for political favors is “botella” or a bottle. The new Mayor of Santiago, Abel Martinez, has told reporters from El Nacional that he found 2,500 people who were collecting salaries without working, although some stated that they were not aware of checks being issued in their name.
The mayor justified the mass dismissals. “I’m standing firm in this situation and the firings will continue,” he said.
He added that evictions by the Department for the Defense of Public Spaces would continue in order to clean up the city’s parks and sidewalks.
The Santiago Mayor reprimanded local residents and raised public awareness of the need to clean up the city, which now looks a lot better than it did back in August. Now the Mayor is calling on the people to join forces to combat crime, which has become rampant in the country’s second-largest city.
Mart?nez called for people of goodwill and positive intentions to join him in creating a better city. He praised the recent construction of the brand-new police headquarters on the grounds of the old airport, saying that the new headquarters should provide better security for everyone.
Ever the politician, Martinez stressed the great support he said he had received from President Danilo Medina in the city clean-up operation and the construction of the new police headquarters.
He added that the new police HQ in the neighborhood of Cienfuegos would serve to encourage and challenge National Police chief Major General Nelson Peguero Paredes as well as the general who commands the Cibao Central division, Victor Hernandez Vasquez. He said that “this is not just the responsibility of the government or of the police, we need all of the institutions to join forces and together we can win the battle against crime.”
JCE’s Eddy Olivares blames PLD for delay of Party Law
Central Electoral Board (JCE) judge Eddy Olivares says that former President Leonel Fernandez, current President Danilo Medina and Senate President Reinaldo Pared P?rez are the main obstacles to the passage of a new Political Parties Bill and Electoral Reform Bill for the Dominican Republic. Olivares said that the situation they have created is unacceptable, whereby laws are passed for the political expediency, convenience and interests of the ruling PLD party, which currently controls the executive and legislative branches of government.
During the Hilando Fino television talk show on Teleradio Am?rica Channel 45, on Wednesday, 19 October 2016, Olivares said that PLD general secretary Pared P?rez has an obligation to the nation because he is heading the Senate the fifth time. Judge Olivares told interviewer Salvador Holguin that he was sure that the bill would pass this time, not because it favors the opposition but because it suits the PLD.
http://elnacional.com.do/eddy-olivares-culpa-al-pld-de-que-no-se-apruebe-ley-de-partidos/
*
Hard Rock Hotel hearing postponed until November
Neighborhood associations in Piantini are asking the Mayor of the National District David Collado to order a halt to construction works at the intersection of Av. Abraham Lincoln and Calle Jose Andres Aybar in the upscale Santo Domingo neighborhood until an opinion is issued by the Administrative Superior Tribunal on the related permits granted by the municipality under former Mayor Roberto Salcedo.
The case at the TSA was postponed until 2 November 2016 to give the neighborhood board lawyer, Miriam Paulino time to study the documents submitted at the city hall Urban Planning Department.
A 38-floor Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is proposed for the busy city intersection. It is being contested by the neighborhood on the grounds that it violates zoning regulations for the area.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/justicia/piden-al-alcalde-adn-parar-el-hard-rock-EX5231464
Serious issues from latest rains
The Emergency Operations Center (COE) reported on Wednesday, 19 October 2016 that it has been raining nationwide. According to reports, 117 houses were flooded, mostly in the provinces of Puerto Plata and Santiago and 85 people were evacuated.
The COE says that it is maintaining the alert for flood risks in 22 provinces, three under yellow alert and the rest under a green alert, in response to the National Meteorological Office (Onamet) forecast for continuing rains for Thursday 20 October 2016 too, and as a result of ground saturation in the provinces under alert.
The rain is the result of a low-pressure trough that is now located to the northwest of the country and is showing up on the weather radar as far away as Miami.
Onamet also reported that there is a low-pressure system located to the northeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands that will also bring rains and possible electrical storms and has a 60% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone.
In Puerto Plata, 50 houses were reported to be flooded in the Los Callejones neighborhood, but the COE said that no evacuations were necessary. In the town of Tamboril, in Santiago province, the floods affected about 50 houses because of drainage problems in the streets that caused urban flooding, but again, no evacuations were necessary.
In Palmar de Ocoa in the southwestern province of Azua, 17 houses in the Enriquillo neighborhood were flooded, again due to poor drainage of the area. Their residents were taken to the homes of family and friends.
The 22 provinces under alert include the entire eastern region, Greater Santo Domingo, provinces in the southwest as far as Barahona, and the provinces in the central part of the Cibao Valley.
Read more on weather during the 2016 Hurricane Season at:
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/157613-2016-Hurricane-Season?p=1701877#post1701877
Crossfit games in Santo Domingo
Wod con el Corazon is a crossfit event starring crossfit athletes Guido Trinidad and Noah Ohlsen. From 12-13 November 2016 at the Palacio de los Deportes and Olympic Swimming Pool in the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, leading Dominican athletes will participate in the event. Wod stands for the “workout of the day” cross fit athletes undergo to achieve their incredible levels of fitness. The event is sponsored by Reebok.
The event is a benefit for the Fundaci?n de Coraz?n a Coraz?n.
http://wodconcorazon.com/proximos.php
Comedy at Escenario 360 in November
Comedians from Venezuela (Cesar Mu?oz), Cuba’s Emiliano Sardinas and Zulema Cruz and the Dominican Republic’s Jochy Santos and magician Reynold Alexander from Puerto Rico are participating in the Second International Humor Festival 4-5 November 2016 at the Escenario 360 shopping mall event’s hall.
Tickets are: RD$1,000 general admission, and RD$2,500 and RD$3,000 VIP admissions. Tickets are for sale online at Ticket Express and at the Escenario 360 box office.
For information on upcoming events:
http://www.dr1.com/calendar
Archived News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/91-Daily-Headline-News
Archived Travel News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/92-Travel-amp-Tourism-News
Dominquez Brito announces fight against charcoal
DGII closes businesses for tax code violations
Silicon Cabarete is on the go
Alliance for small business in Miches
Hundreds of thousands in Haiti without relief
“Haitians want to divide us”: De la Rosa y Carpio
Public hospital medics accepts 30% salary increase
Santiago mayor: “bottles” and city clean up
JCE’s Eddy Olivares blames PLD for delay of Party Law
Hard Rock Hotel hearing postponed until November
Serious issues from latest rains
Crossfit games in Santo Domingo
Comedy at Escenario 360 in November
Night garbage collections for Santo Domingo
Mayor David Collado has announced that garbage in the National District will be collected at night as of 1 November 2016. The schedule is being changed to ensure that citizens wake up to a clean city and garbage trucks do not add to traffic jams during the daytime.
Collado was speaking at the recently renovated Reparto La Arboleda park in Naco. Twenty-five neighborhood residents have been appointed to monitor the time the trucks visit and complete the garbage collection in each area. The nighttime schedule will initially be implemented in the Colonial City prior to moving to other areas in the city. Collado called on the public to cooperate by putting out their garbage at night.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2016/10/20/439866/recogeran-la-basura-en-horas-de-la-noche
Dominquez Brito announces fight against charcoal
The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Francisco Dominguez Brito has ordered the confiscation of all types of charcoal anywhere, unless it comes from the specialized production farms authorized by the Ministry.
In a memorandum sent to the provincial directors and the members of the National Service of Environmental Protection (SENPA), the Minister of the Environment said that they should detain anyone involved in illegal charcoal processing or sale and bring them to the Justice Department for indictment.
The note reads: “Illegal charcoal should be pursued as if it were cocaine, because just as drug trafficking damages our society and our way of life, the predators of our forests are also threatening our very existence.”
The communiqu? added that only companies authorized to produce and sell charcoal and which have complied with national regulations are allowed to sell this product.
Dominquez Brito stated that the charcoal should be transported in packaging bearing the company name, location, and Ministry of Environment permit number. Every shipment should have a transportation permit issued by the Provincial Office of the Ministry.
The circular adds that forest products should be transported during the workweek, i.e. Monday through Friday, between 8am and 6pm and on Saturdays from between 8am and 12 noon.
The minister requested the support of the National Police and the Ministry of Defense in enforcing the ministry order.
The Santo Domingo premiere of Death by a Thousand Cuts, a documentary by Juan Mejia Botero and Jake Kheel on the human and environmental costs of illegal charcoal production and mass deforestation and how it affects Haiti and the Dominican Republic was screened on Tuesday, 18 October 2016.
http://www.ambiente.gob.do/ambiente...n-ilegal-debe-ser-perseguido-como-la-cocaina/
http://deathbyathousandcutsfilm.com
DGII closes businesses for tax code violations
The Tax Agency (DGII) has closed all of the restaurants of the El Agave chain as well as the Hola Supermarket on Av. N??ez de C?ceres in Santo Domingo because of their failure to comply with tax obligations, in accordance with Law 11-92 and Law 23-96.
DGII director Magin D?az told Diario Libre reporters that when an establishment receives a notification of tax violation the correct measure is to proceed to correct the problems within the timeframe granted for this purpose.
Silicon Cabarete is on the go
Cabarete has put itself on the world map for its water sports. Already famous for being a leading destination for windsurfing, kitesurfing and surfing, it is now preparing to stake a claim as a major entrepreneurial center with Silicon Cabarete. Frenchman Fabrice Grinda is the mind behind the project. As founder of Aucland, Zingy and OLX, one of the largest free classifieds websites in the world, he is a frequent conference speaker on trends in technology, emerging markets and investing.
The center he has opened in Cabarete offers packages to talented programmers to work in a prime location. The project also focuses on attracting brilliant minds to create startups offering technological innovations, which will be nurtured at the center located at La Boca location by the Y?sica River in the north coast province of Puerto Plata. Five residences facing the Atlantic Ocean are also part of the venture.
In the official statement for the project, Grinda states:
“I aim to transform the Dominican Republic for the better by creating an environment that will attract other Internet entrepreneurs, business developers and engineers to the area. We will be attracting a new kind of person to the DR, people who would never have had any reason to visit the island in the past. Inevitably some of these people will fall in love with Cabarete or other parts of the country as I have and decide to invest here as well”.
Project spokesman Jose Luis Mendoza said that Silicon Cabarete would focus on backing companies and entrepreneurs to develop innovative digital ideas in order to become high-impact companies.
http://www.listindiario.com/economia/2016/10/20/439804/emprendimiento-en-cabarete
http://www.labocacabarete.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Grinda
http://www.fabricegrinda.com/entrepreneurship/silicon-cabarete-mvp/
http://www.fabricegrinda.com/portfolio/
Alliance for small business in Miches
The Tropicalia Foundation has announced the signing of an agreement with Adopem Bank for providing credit to small businesses in the municipalities of Miches and El Seibo. The agreement was signed by Tropicalia Foundation president William Phelan, and Adopem Bank president Mercedes Canalda and vice president Eva Carvajal.
The funding marks the launch of “Miches Emprende,” a project supporting micro and small-scale businesses in Miches and El Seibo.
The funding is part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at ensuring that the community is included in tourism development in Miches. The low-interest loans will back tourism-related businesses and innovations in farming.
Tropicalia is the corporate social responsibility arm of the Cisneros Group’s investment in the area. The group began the construction of the first Four Seasons luxury hotel and residence project in the Dominican Republic in February 2016, a US$300 million investment in its first phase.
http://hoy.com.do/la-fundacion-tropicalia-y-el-banco-adopem-firman-proyecto-apoya-el-emprendimiento/
http://www.tropicalia.com
Hundreds of thousands in Haiti without relief
The World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman in Haiti, Jean Luc Poncelet has told Diario Libre reporters that hundreds of thousands of people have still not been reached with emergency aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, which hit the southwest of Haiti earlier this month. The United Nations estimated on Wednesday, 19 October 2016, that 200,000 people in the mountainous regions of Haiti’s southern provinces as well as the southwestern region are still seriously affected by the recent hurricane. The UN says humanitarian assistance has not been able to reach them because of the difficulties of access.
The two provinces, Grande-Anse and Sud, were devastated by the powerful category-four hurricane that affected some two million people in Haiti of whom 1.4 million need vital assistance immediately. So far official sources estimate the death toll at around 500.
The mountain areas in both departments are very difficult to access while the communities along the coastline are being supplied by sea. Reports say that even helicopter access to some areas is extremely difficult and dangerous.
According to Poncelet, 36 of the 102 hospitals and health facilities in the two departments, Grande-Anse and Sud are out of service and in several cases the condition of the establishment is unknown because they have not been able to reach the area for assessment.
On Wednesday, 19 October 2016, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) representative in the Dominican Republic, Lorenzo Jimenez de Luis described the humanitarian aid provided by the Dominican Republic to Haiti as “colossal.” Eight days after the hurricane, President Medina authorized a 500-truck aid convoy to enter Haiti.
The Ministry of Public Works says it has reduced its staff in Haiti to 150, divided among brigades that are clearing debris and fumigating. As reported in Diario Libre, the main work being carried out by the Ministry of Public Works is focused on Les Cayes, one of the areas worst affected by Hurricane Matthew, Meanwhile, the director of Comedores Economicos, Nicolas Calderon said that food provision would end when the brigades finish their work. He said the number of food portions provided by the Dominican humanitarian aid program is higher than that offered in Haiti. He said the government has spent RD$60 million on serving cooked food and the packages of components for cooking a meal.
The comments were made after members of the Supreme Tribunal in Haiti called for acting President Jocelerme Privert’s resignation over the Dominican “invasion” of Haiti. The DR sent a contingent of soldiers to accompany the convoy of 500 trucks with food, medicines and construction materials.
http://www.listindiario.com/las-mun...-siguen-sin-ayuda-humanitaria-tras-el-huracan
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2016/10/20/onu-califica-colosal-ayuda-del-pais-haiti
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...reduce-personal-de-socorro-en-haiti-NX5231843
“Haitians want to divide us”: De la Rosa y Carpio
The former Archbishop of Santiago, Ramon Benito de la Rosa y Carpio, said on Wednesday, 19 October 2016 that powerful sectors in Haiti were trying to divide the two countries that share the island of Hispaniola. He said it is “absurd” that anyone should seek to damage the relationship between the two countries. He praised the humanitarian aid sent by Dominican President Medina to Haiti. Eight days after Hurricane Matthew, the DR sent a convoy of 500 trucks with food, medicine and building materials.
He said that the Dominican Republic should continue to offer humanitarian assistance to the neighboring country because of the calamitous situation that is not being experienced by the Haitian elite, but by the people who are suffering from hunger and poor health.
He said that some groups, a minority, should help the Dominican Republic to define and differentiate the fact that there are sectors, often very powerful, which are trying to defend their own interests and damage relations between the two countries. Last week Haitian legislators rejected what they described as an invasion of products and ordered the immediate removal of the military units that were escorting the aid shipments to guarantee that the convoy reached its destination in Haiti.
Public hospital medics accepts 30% salary increase
The Dominican Medical Association (CMD) that represents public hospital medics nationwide has accepted a 30%s alary offer from the government on Wednesday, 19 October 2016, opening the way for the parties to resolve the current impasse. No date has been set for the signing of an agreement, according to El Nacional newspaper. The pact between the Dominican Medical Association and the government will be signed at the Catholic University of Santo Domingo. Rector Father Jesus Castro Marte acted as mediator in the talks.
A source linked to the negotiations, but who requested anonymity, told the newspaper that the CMD accepted the 30% offer after rejecting an earlier offer for a 25% wage increase. The government in turn had rejected the counteroffer of the 40% wage increase that the doctors and medical staff were seeking. The CMD initially sought a 60% increase for the entire medical sector, including nurses and paramedical staff.
Santiago mayor: “bottles” and city clean up
The Dominican term for a no-show job as a reward for political favors is “botella” or a bottle. The new Mayor of Santiago, Abel Martinez, has told reporters from El Nacional that he found 2,500 people who were collecting salaries without working, although some stated that they were not aware of checks being issued in their name.
The mayor justified the mass dismissals. “I’m standing firm in this situation and the firings will continue,” he said.
He added that evictions by the Department for the Defense of Public Spaces would continue in order to clean up the city’s parks and sidewalks.
The Santiago Mayor reprimanded local residents and raised public awareness of the need to clean up the city, which now looks a lot better than it did back in August. Now the Mayor is calling on the people to join forces to combat crime, which has become rampant in the country’s second-largest city.
Mart?nez called for people of goodwill and positive intentions to join him in creating a better city. He praised the recent construction of the brand-new police headquarters on the grounds of the old airport, saying that the new headquarters should provide better security for everyone.
Ever the politician, Martinez stressed the great support he said he had received from President Danilo Medina in the city clean-up operation and the construction of the new police headquarters.
He added that the new police HQ in the neighborhood of Cienfuegos would serve to encourage and challenge National Police chief Major General Nelson Peguero Paredes as well as the general who commands the Cibao Central division, Victor Hernandez Vasquez. He said that “this is not just the responsibility of the government or of the police, we need all of the institutions to join forces and together we can win the battle against crime.”
JCE’s Eddy Olivares blames PLD for delay of Party Law
Central Electoral Board (JCE) judge Eddy Olivares says that former President Leonel Fernandez, current President Danilo Medina and Senate President Reinaldo Pared P?rez are the main obstacles to the passage of a new Political Parties Bill and Electoral Reform Bill for the Dominican Republic. Olivares said that the situation they have created is unacceptable, whereby laws are passed for the political expediency, convenience and interests of the ruling PLD party, which currently controls the executive and legislative branches of government.
During the Hilando Fino television talk show on Teleradio Am?rica Channel 45, on Wednesday, 19 October 2016, Olivares said that PLD general secretary Pared P?rez has an obligation to the nation because he is heading the Senate the fifth time. Judge Olivares told interviewer Salvador Holguin that he was sure that the bill would pass this time, not because it favors the opposition but because it suits the PLD.
http://elnacional.com.do/eddy-olivares-culpa-al-pld-de-que-no-se-apruebe-ley-de-partidos/
*
Hard Rock Hotel hearing postponed until November
Neighborhood associations in Piantini are asking the Mayor of the National District David Collado to order a halt to construction works at the intersection of Av. Abraham Lincoln and Calle Jose Andres Aybar in the upscale Santo Domingo neighborhood until an opinion is issued by the Administrative Superior Tribunal on the related permits granted by the municipality under former Mayor Roberto Salcedo.
The case at the TSA was postponed until 2 November 2016 to give the neighborhood board lawyer, Miriam Paulino time to study the documents submitted at the city hall Urban Planning Department.
A 38-floor Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is proposed for the busy city intersection. It is being contested by the neighborhood on the grounds that it violates zoning regulations for the area.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/justicia/piden-al-alcalde-adn-parar-el-hard-rock-EX5231464
Serious issues from latest rains
The Emergency Operations Center (COE) reported on Wednesday, 19 October 2016 that it has been raining nationwide. According to reports, 117 houses were flooded, mostly in the provinces of Puerto Plata and Santiago and 85 people were evacuated.
The COE says that it is maintaining the alert for flood risks in 22 provinces, three under yellow alert and the rest under a green alert, in response to the National Meteorological Office (Onamet) forecast for continuing rains for Thursday 20 October 2016 too, and as a result of ground saturation in the provinces under alert.
The rain is the result of a low-pressure trough that is now located to the northwest of the country and is showing up on the weather radar as far away as Miami.
Onamet also reported that there is a low-pressure system located to the northeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands that will also bring rains and possible electrical storms and has a 60% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone.
In Puerto Plata, 50 houses were reported to be flooded in the Los Callejones neighborhood, but the COE said that no evacuations were necessary. In the town of Tamboril, in Santiago province, the floods affected about 50 houses because of drainage problems in the streets that caused urban flooding, but again, no evacuations were necessary.
In Palmar de Ocoa in the southwestern province of Azua, 17 houses in the Enriquillo neighborhood were flooded, again due to poor drainage of the area. Their residents were taken to the homes of family and friends.
The 22 provinces under alert include the entire eastern region, Greater Santo Domingo, provinces in the southwest as far as Barahona, and the provinces in the central part of the Cibao Valley.
Read more on weather during the 2016 Hurricane Season at:
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php/157613-2016-Hurricane-Season?p=1701877#post1701877
Crossfit games in Santo Domingo
Wod con el Corazon is a crossfit event starring crossfit athletes Guido Trinidad and Noah Ohlsen. From 12-13 November 2016 at the Palacio de los Deportes and Olympic Swimming Pool in the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, leading Dominican athletes will participate in the event. Wod stands for the “workout of the day” cross fit athletes undergo to achieve their incredible levels of fitness. The event is sponsored by Reebok.
The event is a benefit for the Fundaci?n de Coraz?n a Coraz?n.
http://wodconcorazon.com/proximos.php
Comedy at Escenario 360 in November
Comedians from Venezuela (Cesar Mu?oz), Cuba’s Emiliano Sardinas and Zulema Cruz and the Dominican Republic’s Jochy Santos and magician Reynold Alexander from Puerto Rico are participating in the Second International Humor Festival 4-5 November 2016 at the Escenario 360 shopping mall event’s hall.
Tickets are: RD$1,000 general admission, and RD$2,500 and RD$3,000 VIP admissions. Tickets are for sale online at Ticket Express and at the Escenario 360 box office.
For information on upcoming events:
http://www.dr1.com/calendar
Archived News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/91-Daily-Headline-News
Archived Travel News stories:
http://dr1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/92-Travel-amp-Tourism-News
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