DR1 Daily News - Monday, 16 July 2018

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Metro line across Ozama River to open in August
Dominican Republic launched US$1.3 billion 10-year bond at yield of 6%
Net reserves at a low in early July 2018
Plastics swamp Santo Domingo coastal waters
Supreme Court of Justice confirmed Judge Ortega will hear Odebrecht case
PRM deputies want details on payments made by the government to Joao Santana
Small businesses evicted, beach open to public
Court sentences drivers for murder of five competitors
Police nab three suspects of Casa de Campo robbery
DR plays the finals of the Pan Am Cup and loses to USA
Grand Prix Yokohama speed racing on 22 July
Popular Spanish comedy opens at Bellas Artes



Metro line across Ozama River to open in August
The Opret office that manages the Santo Domingo Metro announced that the six cars for the 2B Line of the Santo Domingo Metro have shipped from Spain where they were built in Barcelona. The French Alstom cars are expected to arrive 24-25 July 2018 and will be promptly assembled and installed for operation in early August.

The extension of Line 2A is of 3.3 kilometers and has four stations from Av. San Vicente de Paul to Carretera Mella. It will connect the National District with Santo Domingo East, in Greater Santo Domingo.

The second phase of L2, like the first one, is completely underground, with the exception of the section of the train tracks that go over the cable-stayed bridge that connects the Eduardo Brito E-20 station with the first station in Santo Domingo Este, (E -21) next to Av. Venezuela. The bridge has an approximate length of 850 linear meters, supported by two huge columns of approximately 90 meters in height. This second phase has a length of 3.25 km and 4 stations, with its last station located on Carretera Mella, opposite the MegaCentro shopping center (E-24).


Dominican Republic launched US$1.3 billion 10-year bond at yield of 6%
On Thursday, 12 July 2018, the Medina administration placed US$1,300 million in sovereign bonds in the international market for a 10-year term and at a 6% rate.

Ministry of Hacienda reported that the total demand for the Dominican sovereign bonds was much higher than the amount offered by the country last week. "For this transaction we received orders from around 200 accounts of international and local investors, for a demand of around US$3,500 million; that is, 2.7 times more than the amount awarded,” Hacienda Minister Donald Guerrero is quoted in an official press release.

In the press release, the Ministry of Hacienda reported that this issue demonstrates "the confidence the international investment community has in the macroeconomic fundamentals of the country, as well as in the recent performance and future prospects of the Dominican economy and public finances," the note said.

Previous debt placements this year occurred in February 2018, with a placement for US$1 billion and another in Dominican pesos, equivalent to US$822 million.

A report in El Caribe explains that the Medina administration has resorted to bond financing after the Venezuelan PetroCaribe funds pipeline has shut down in 2015.

Economist Guillermo Caram said that with the placement of US$1.3 billion, the Medina administration has doubled in just seven years the non-financial public debt of the Dominican Republic that at the end of 2011 was US$16.59 billion and now is US$31.7 billion. The total public debt is at US$43.4 billion, including the Central Bank debt of US$10.7 billion (calculated from RD$531.8 billion at RD$49.43 per US$1), as reported in Hoy. Caram said the new placement pushes the Dominican debt to be 52% of the GDP that is US$81,056 million and warned that the servicing of the debt (capital and interest payments) reduces the possibility of the government offering needed services to Dominicans.

An editorial in Hoy complains that the continuous taking on of debt translates to the Medina administration partying, leaving the Dominican people to have to pick up the costs for the party.

http://hacienda.gob.do/index.php/no...ana-coloca-bonos-soberanos-de-us1300-millones
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/07/13/petrocaribe-ceso-de-fiar-petroleo-rd-desde-el-2015/
http://hoy.com.do/con-emision-bonos-deuda-pasa-a-constituir-52-del-pbi/
http://hoy.com.do/otro-vacio-de-consecuencias/


Net reserves at a low in early July 2018
Net international reserves are at their lowest level since November 2017, according to data published by the Central Bank, reports Diario Libre. Net international reserves stood at US$6,491.5 million as of 6 July 2018. This is a decline of 4.4% in the last month, or US$379 million less in a month.

Economists highlight that the progressive decline in hard currency reserves is due to monetary authority efforts to clip the depreciation of the Dominican peso. Analytica, the economy research firm, estimates that the Dominican peso has lost 2.42% of its value against the US dollar so far this year. The international reserves are also affected by the rise in oil prices.

The government estimated a 5.8% devaluation in the 2018 National Budget. By the end of the year, the authorities expect the exchange rate to be at RD$51.05 to the US$1.

As of Thursday, 12 July 2018, the US currency was quoted by the Central Bank at RD$49.56 for sale.

The injection of hard currency after a recent US$1.3 billion international bond placement by the Dominican government is expected to boost the international reserves, stabilizing the Dominican exchange market.

https://www.diariolibre.com/economia/reservas-internacionales-siguen-su-tendencia-bajista-DG10340571
https://www.analytica.com.do/


Plastics swamp Santo Domingo coastal waters
Ozama River waters have brought plastics, not only seaweed after the torrential rains result of the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl on Tuesday, 10 July 2018.

Tons of garbage has drifted to the Santo Domingo Malecon for all to see. It is the result of the uncontrolled practice of throwing garbage into the Ozama River gullies and streams and the river itself. The garbage has accumulated on the barge bridge that links Santo Domingo’s east and west side. The barge bridge is also flooded by seaweed.

The garbage has flooded from the barge bridge all the way down to Guibia Park off the Malecon and other beachfronts along the southern Caribbean Sea coastline of the capital city of Santo Domingo.

Listin Diario and El Caribe shared videos and reports showing the garbage that accumulated since Tuesday to Friday, 13 July.

Brigades from the Ministry of Public Works, the National District government with the support of the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) that lent heavy equipment (backhoe loaders) and volunteers began to clear the tons of plastics that flooded to the Malecon. Around 1,200 men were stationed in the clean up operation on Friday, 13 July. The actions took place at the points of Plaza de Montesinos, Guibia Beach and the Obelisco Hembra, where the garbage accumulated on the beachfronts.

National District Mayor David Collado complained that the garbage originated primarily in other municipalities of Santo Domingo, but of the three municipalities only his was having to carry the cost for the correct disposal. He said the operation will cost the capital city government RD$10 million. He estimated at around 1,600 tons the garbage that needs to be removed, mostly plastics. He called for coordination between the operators of the floating bridge over the Ozama River and the city government. He said the bridge is best used to capture the floating garbage and collecting at that site and not letting the garbage flow down to the Malecón.

Recyling leader, Virginia Heinsen said that the garbage that flowed down to the Malecon is just the tip of the iceberg. She said the problem originates north of the coastline and affects the river beds. Heinsen who directs the Sostenibilidad 3Rs and the recycling programs at the Centro para el Desarrollo Agropecuario y Forestal (Cedaf) said: “80% of all the garbage we are seeing on the beach comes from inland, the gullies, the streams, the rivers. We accomplish nothing cleaning the beaches if we do not attack the problem affecting the rivers. She called for more citizen education and consequences.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...s-de-basura-copan-el-malecon-de-santo-domingo
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/07/13/toneladas-de-desechos-inundan-malecon-de-sd/
https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...neladas-de-basura-en-malecon-de-santo-domingo
https://www.listindiario.com/la-vid...lega-al-malecon-es-solo-la-punta-del-problema
https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...-la-basura-del-malecon-costara-rd-10-millones
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...beryl-une-voluntades-en-la-capital-CH10357036


Supreme Court of Justice confirmed Judge Ortega will hear Odebrecht case
The Supreme Court of Justice for a second time confirmed that Judge Francisco Ortega Polanco should continue to hear the Odebrecht corruption case in the Dominican Republic. The Attorney General has formally presented accusations against seven individuals for accepting bribes from Odebrecht: Andres Bautista Garcia, Angel Rondon Rijo, Tommy Galan Grullon, Victor Diaz Rua, Conrado Pittaluga Arzeno, Juan Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez and Jesus Vasquez. Odebrecht company leaders told a New York City court they had paid the bribes to Dominican officials to expedite and facilitate the awarding contracts for public works in the country. Judge Ortega now needs to set a date for the case to begin, as reported in Diario Libre.


PRM deputies want details on payments made by the government to Joao Santana
The deputies for the National District for the PRM, Faride Raful, Francisco Javier Paulino, Agustin Burgos and Robinson Diaz requested on Thursday, 12 July 2018, that the Congress investigate the legality of the contracts totaling RD$1.4 billion signed by the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency with companies tied to President Danilo Medina’s campaign advisor, Joao Santana and his wife Monica Moura. The PRM deputies are requesting the appointment of a special commission to review evidence that the payments to the Brazilians, who are in jail in Brazil for their ties to Odebrecht corruption, were made from that ministry.

Faride Raful offered the explanation for the appeal during the Thursday session of the Chamber of Deputies. She says the evidence has been ignored by the Attorney General Office. She said the details of the transactions were not included in the annual accounts rendering made by the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency.

"What concerns us the most is knowing at what point we can separate the figure of the President from that of the candidate,” she said. She wants a congressional commission to study the evidence and the legality of the contracts with Joao Santana and his wife.

She asks for a commission to investigate payments made by the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency and the Presidency Communications Agency (Dicom) from 2012-2016 to companies affiliated to Santana and his wife. Raful says that despite Santana, who served as leading electoral campaign strategist for President Medina, having left the country in February 2016, to answer to charges for corruption by the Brazilian judiciary, the Santana affiliated companies continued to receive payments from the Dominican government. Santana would be sentenced to jail in Brazil.

Raful said companies related to Santana and his wife (PolisCaribe and Cine&Art 2013) were contracted from the first day of the Medina administration on 16 August 2012 through January 2017, 11 months after the promoters were arrested in Brazil after traveling there to answer to charges of corruption and asset laundering.

The PRM legislators say that based on government documentation, several articles of the Constitution of the Republic may have been violated in the contracts, article 14 of the Public Procurement Law 340-06 and the Article 114 of the Criminal Code. Also articles 47,55 and 174 of the Electoral Law, articles 3, 7, 18 and 24 of the Law on Money Laundering, article 54 of the Organic Budget Law and article 3 of Law 448-06 covering bribes.

http://eldia.com.do/diputados-del-p...gue-contratos-de-joao-santana-y-monica-moura/
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...culados-a-joao-santana-y-su-esposa-GG10340431
https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...e-a-joao-santana-cuando-este-estaba-en-brasil
http://hoy.com.do/video-vea-el-lio-...iguen-pagos-de-la-presidencia-a-joao-santana/
http://hoy.com.do/gobierno-de-danilo-contrato-mas-de-1300-millones-con-joao-y-monica/


Small businesses evicted, beach open to public
Backed by a Supreme Court of Justice ruling, government authorities closed small business stands from Encuentro Beach, to the west of Cabarete Beach in Puerto Plata. The court order was in response to a petition filed by two companies: Inversiones Calpes SRL and Mesa Investment Limited.

In a paid advertisement in Diario Libre, Inversiones Cape manager Lance Lundberg states that Julio Cesar Monegro (Arismendy) for over more than a decade illegally occupied portions of their property and the public space (60 meters of the sanded beach line) and rented this space to small businesses.

The company says that the recovery of the property by its rightful owners “at no time will affect the free access and enjoyment of Encuentro Beach by the general public.” The company says that the same people that now allege the beach is being privatized were those who illegally rented the spaces, with the passive support of government authorities who turned a blind eye to the practice.

https://www.instagram.com/playaencuentrolibre/?hl=es
https://www.facebook.com/PlayaEncuentroLibre/videos/150313712446012/
http://diariopuertoplata.com.do/desalojo-en-playa-encuentro-cabarete/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlayaEncuentro/about/


Court sentences drivers for murder of five competitors
Judges of the Collegiate Court of San Pedro de Macoris sentenced to 20 and 30 years and indemnity of RD$200 million those accused of kidnapping, murdering and hiding the bodies of public minibus transport drivers in the East. The vehicles of the victims were later negotiated for sale in Haiti and the corpses were dumped in a hidden common grave in a Juan Dolio area cave. The accused were known throughout the hearings as the “Verdugos de la Fosa.”

Judges Kenia del Pilar Tavárez Henríquez, Haydeliza Ramírez Henríquez and Juan Güílamo issued their verdict on 12 July 2018, after 10 hours of deliberations.

Those sentenced are Hugo Antonio Zorrilla Alfonseca and Radhamés Ramírez, to 30 years each at the CCR-San Pedro de Macorís jail; and police sergeant Luz Divina Martínez Pimentel, Jaime Valentín Encarnación Figuereo (accused of negotiating the vehicles of the deceased in Haiti) and Samuel Fortuna, to 20 years at the Najayo and La Victoria jails.

The defendants were accused of the murder of five drivers of competitor transport group -- Vidal Dionisio Berroa Manzueta, Jary Wilson Rodríguez, Germán Arredondo Quezada and David Polanco. Their corpses were found on 23 May 2016. The assassins admitted the victims were tied and thrown into the Juan Dolio cave where they were left to die.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2018/07/13/524002/tribunal-condena-a-verdugos-de-la-fosa
https://enmitrincheradelucha.wordpress.com/2016/05/26/cuanto-sadismo-tenian-los-verdugos-de-la-fosa/


Police nab three suspects of Casa de Campo robbery
The National Police reported the arrest of three of five men suspect of the armed robbery of a villa in Casa de Campo, La Romana. The arrested are 26-year old Orlando Soriano; 38-year old Oscar de Jesus Gil Rodríguez (El Cuñao) and Silbio Javier Cesar (aka Tomas o Tomasito). Two others known as Juan Francisco (Checo) and Johan (Bojote) are sought.

The robbery occurred on Saturday, 7 July 2018, in a home located in an isolated area in the outskirts of Casa de Campo. The Police say the men admitted to having committed the robbery. As a result of the crime, security at Casa de Campo has been enhanced. People living in Casa de Campo routinely leave their doors open and consider the luxury village a safe place to live.

http://hoy.com.do/policia-captura-tres-hombres-vinculados-a-asalto-villa-turistica-de-la-romana/


DR plays the finals of the Pan Am Cup but loses to USA
The defending champions, team USA had to work very hard to defeat the host country senior women’s team in the finals of the Women’s Volleyball Pan American Cup. The Saturday, 14 July 2018 game ended 2-1 (24-26, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-8). After two close set losses, the US women’s volleyball team mounted what was described by the Norceca website as “a monumental comeback” in the third set to claim the gold.
On the previous Friday, 13 July 2018, the Dominican Republic women’s volleyball team had bested Brazil 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-23) to win the right to play the finals against the USA.
http://www.norceca.net/Dominicans overpower Brazil to reach the gold medal match.htm
https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/J...epublic-For-Womens-Volleyball-Pan-Am-Cup-Gold


Grand Prix Yokohama speed racing on 22 July
Car speed racing fans can head to the Sunix Autodrome on Las Americas Expressway this coming Sunday, 22 July 2018 to watch the best racers in the Dominican Republic and regional competitors. George Herrera, president of Caremax Group that imports Yokohama tires and is sponsoring the tournament, says the event is one of the main and most prestigious motorsport races in the Americas. The Gran Premio Yokohama is the third competition in the annual National Car Racing Championship.

Competitors are expected from Haiti, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic with competitions in five categories: Dominican Touring Series (DTS), Racing Sedan (RS), Street Touring (ST), National Tourism and Autohaus Kia Cup.

Admission tickets are RD$300 and paddocks RD$1,000, VIP RD$1,500.

https://www.listindiario.com/el-dep...5/gran-premio-yokohama-se-correra-22-de-julio
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkywmrDnUob/?hl=es-la&taken-by=autodromosunix
https://www.facebook.com/autodromosunix/posts/851262615072041


Popular Spanish comedy opens at Bellas Artes
El Test by Spanish playwright Jordi Vallejo opens at the Palacio de Bellas Artes on 19 July 2018. The Dominican version of the 2015 successful dramatic comedy stars Nashla Bogaert, Jose Guillermo Cortines, Pepe Sierra and Karina Larrauri. It presents the dilemma of choosing from taking prize win of US$100,000 now or a million dollars in 10 years.

Tickets for the 19-22 July performances at 8:30pm and at 6:30pm on Sunday are for sale online at Uepa Tickets and at Supermercados Nacional, CCN Servicios or Jumbo stores.