DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 17 July 2018

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May 3, 2000
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More electricity for the countryside
Public school teachers need to improve
Seedbank at the National Botanical Garden
Dominicans abroad have to pay much more for their documents
Bid for approving small business financing bill
Medical guild and private clinics battle health providers
Juan Pablo Duarte morphed into President Medina?
Trade with Haiti on the decline
It will be easier for tourists to report crimes in the east
Dollars smuggled into Las Americas International Airport
Three brothers drown in San Pedro
Dominican Film Festival opens in NYC


More electricity for the countryside
The Dominican Republic is to develop a governmental framework to bring clean power to rural communities through micro hydropower plants (HPPs). Under an agreement signed on Friday, 13 July 2018, by Economy Minister Isidoro Santana and the director of the Rural and Sub-urban Electrification Unit, Thelma Eusebio, the former will develop planning and technical advice schemes so that no community in the country is left without electricity. This initiative is in line with the National Development Strategy 2030 and the Objectives of Sustainable Development (ODS).

In addition to the construction of micro HPPs, the agreement also includes activating the Bulb Substitution Program (PSB) in rural and urban areas by changing incandescent light bulbs for LED ones.
https://renewablesnow.com/news/domi...lean-hydro-power-to-rural-communities-620076/


Public school teachers need to improve
According to the director of the Dominican Institute for Assessment and Research of Educational Quality (Ideice), Julio Valeirón, only 2.9% of the 60,100 teachers examined in the classroom as part of the 2017 Teaching Performance Assessment qualified as excellent and outstanding, having achieved over 90 points.

Valeiron said the country needs to be served by better qualified teachers. He aimed most of his criticism at the 25 universities that offer degrees in education, pointing out that the curriculum and quality of instruction at these institutions needs to be reviewed and upgraded.

The first phase of the evaluation included more than 40,000 teachers and the results were available in January 2018. This phase completes the process. Valeiron said the full report would be available this week and will provide information to take into account to achieve an improved education system in the country.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...maestros-del-minerd-son-excelentes-IH10355926
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2018/07/16/solo-2-9-de-maestros-son-excelentes/


Seedbank at the National Botanical Garden
The National Botanical Garden’s (JBN) seedbank aims to protect the more than 6,000 plant species native to the country. The goal of the seedbank, which was created in 2007, is to preserve the region’s germplasm for research purposes, as well as to promote reproduction, restoration of native species, habitat recovery in general and education using widely accepted protocols established by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

JBN director Ricardo Garcia said that, while other similar projects are focused on cultivation, this seedbank fundamentally aims to protect the flora native to Hispaniola, shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, placing special attention on plants facing extinction.

The JBN has partnered with technicians with the UK Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, who have helped in the construction and management of the seedbank.

The bank “guarantees the conservation” of the island’s flora to counteract the effects of climate change, Garcia said, adding that the institution is an important resource to help Haiti, a country that has lost more than 70% of its forests.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2461072&CategoryId=14092


Dominicans abroad have to pay much more for their documents
The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has announced that Dominicans residing abroad will have to pay more for documents issued by the JCE -- Act No. 10/2018 dated 16 July 2018. Identity cards will now cost between US$50 and US$80 and a duplicate identity card, that in the past was free, is now US$15.

Certificates that were US$10 and will now be US$20, and before postage was free and it will now be US$15. Registration of births, previously free, is now US$25 as will be the registration of deaths.

Certain processes remain free such as registering to vote overseas, looking for certificates in the archives and corrections with resolutions.

Local Dominican community activists including Emmanuel Flores, Julio César Tiburcio, Claudio Liberato, Iván Rosario Peña and Juana Melania Rodríguez, urged Dominicans living abroad to call the JCE in the Dominican Republic to voice their opposition to these increases.

The number to call is 809539-5419.

http://hoy.com.do/jce-eleva-precios-documentos-expide-a-dominicanos-del-exterior/


Bid for approving small business financing bill
Backers of small business in the Dominican Republic have been lobbying for the National Congress to approve the “Ley de Garantías Mobiliarias”, a bill that would expand the variety of guarantees small business can use for applying for loans. At present, banks practically only accept personal assets, primarily real estate, obliging small businesses to use their homes as guarantees for any loan. In the case the business owner does not have property, commercial bank loans become even more difficult.

An editorial in Diario Libre on 17 July 2018 again brings forth the sad reality that it is easy to get a loan for buying a vehicle, but not one for increasing production in a small business. “Taking on debt for consumption is very easy, but for producing… a problem,” writes Ines Aizpun, managing editor of Diario Libre.

The bill is sitting in the Chamber of Deputies waiting for approval in this legislature that ends in August.

The editorial makes the point a law of this kind has been very supportive of small business in Central American countries and Mexico. “If unemployment and informality are the big problems of the Dominican economy, then approving a bill that strengthens these companies that concentrate 72% of workers not only is common sense, it is urgent,” writes Aizpun.

https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion/am/mas-dinero-para-los-que-crean-mas-empleo-EE10361849


Medical guild and private clinics battle health providers
The Dominican Medical Guild (Colegio Médico Dominicano) is accusing the health risk administrators (ARS) of monopolizing private health services in the country, and of lack of compliance of an agreement to assign a single code to physicians. The ARS are mainly owned by big banks.

Now the medics are giving the ARS 30 days to comply or they will go on strike. This time around, the CMD is siding with the National Association of Private Clinics (Andeclip) and the National Council of Specialized Medical Societies that are battling the health providers on grounds of these exercising what they consider are unfair and greedy business practices.

The medics call for the amendment of Dominican Social Security System Law 87-01 so that the veto passes to the state, that the ARS apply and update the Basic Health Plan (PBS), update the fees medics receive. They criticized the ARS for impeding the takeoff of primary care in the country, because these want to direct it.

The medics claim that the ARS has blocked the modification of the expansion of the basic plan, to continue to monopolize services to the population and deny coverage and free choice to patients for medications, procedures and diagnostic tests.

Doctors and owners of private clinics also criticized the Superintendence of Health and Occupational Risks (Sisalril) and the National Social Security Council (CNSS), for failing to comply with their responsibility as the regulators of the health system.

https://www.diariolibre.com/noticia...-asegurador-en-la-seguridad-social-EE10365809


Juan Pablo Duarte morphed into President Medina?
The recently unveiled bust of Juan Pablo Duarte, located in the Plaza de la Bandera, has generated a wave of criticism and indignation across social media as it appears to look more like President Danilo Medina, than nation founder Duarte.

Politician Vinicio Castillo asked in his Twitter account, why was there a need to make a bust of Duarte with a different face than that known by the Dominican people. His brother, Juarez Castillo, said that the bust looked nothing like Duarte.

Graphic artist, Rafael de los Santos, better known as Poteleche, tweeted that the bust looked more like Colonel Sanders, the face of the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, rather than Juan Pablo Duarte or Danilo Medina.

Former Deputy for the Modern Revolutionary Party, Jorge Frías, said that the bust should be removed.

The bust was unveiled on 15 July 2018, to commemorate the 142nd anniversary of the death of Juan Pablo Duarte

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...e-medina-genera-indignacion-en-redes-sociales


Trade with Haiti on the decline
According to figures from the Center for Export and Import (CEI-RD) and the Customs Agency (DGA) exports from the Dominican Republic to Haiti have dropped US$216 million. These have declined from US$1.07 billion in 2013 to US$854 million in 2017. Imports have also reduced by almost half, and are down from US$69 million to US$36 million.

For this year it appears that the pattern will continue the same as in the first five months of 2018, exports from the Dominican Republic to Haiti have declined by US$17 million compared to the same time period last year going from US$366 million in the first five months of 2017 down to US$349 million this year.

Commercial relationships between the two countries have been stressed in recent years. Haiti, on several occasions, has banned the import of a number of Dominican products while increasing taxes on others.

https://www.listindiario.com/econom...acia-haiti-caen-us-216-millones-en-cinco-anos


It will be easier for tourists to report crimes in the east
The Attorney General’s Office has approved an increase in the number of prosecutors in Punta Cana, ordering the new officials to be more accessible to tourists at the hotels in the area so that complaints and calls for assistance by tourists can be quickly addressed and acted upon.

This means that tourists will no longer have to go to the Prosecutors Offices should they be a victim of any sort of crime, as the prosecutors have been authorized to visit them in the hotel where they are staying.

The new measure was announced by the president of the Hotels and Tourist Projects Association in the Eastern Area (Asoleste), Ernesto Veloz, who said that the new service is a very important and positive development. He said that although the Punta Cana area has a low incidence of crime against tourists, the interview at the hotel will make life easier for the victim. He said the measure was suggested by Spanish honorary consul in Punta Cana, Javier Moreno.

http://elnacional.com.do/pgr-respaldara-el-turismo-en-la-region-este/


Dollars smuggled into Las Americas International Airport
Authorities have confiscated US$662,445, cash that was being smugled into the country by a passenger coming from the United States. Three people are under investigation, including an airline employee.

The money, which is equivalent to more than 32 million pesos, was being carried by an as yet unnamed gentleman who arrived on a JetBlue flight 1203 from Newark, New Jersey. The cash was in two suitcases.

The money was detected by x-ray machines located in the baggage hall. The money was in notes of US$100, US$50 and US$20 and was counted by airport authorities including officers from the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD), the National Investigations’ Department (DNI) and the Specialized Corps of Airport Security and Civil Aviation (CESAC) accompanied by a judicial representative.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...que-llego-de-ee-uu-investigan-a-tres-personas


Three brothers drown in San Pedro
Brigades from Civil Defense recovered the corpses of three brothers, 12-year old Jose Enrique, 8-year old Ricardito and 6-year old Richard Mota de León who were last seen when they playfully jumped into a lagoon for cooling off in summer in the community of Cayacoita in Cayacoa de San José de los Llanos, in San Pedro de Macoris province. The alert was given by a fourth brother, 5-year old Pedrito, who did not follow his brothers into the lagoon and instead returned home to tell his parents his brothers did not return to land.

The brothers were the sons of Maura de León and Antolín Mota Nieves.

The tragedy occurred on Sunday, 15 July 2018, and the search began the same day and then resumed at 6 am on the next day, Monday, 16 July. A backhoe was used to try to reduce the water level of lake. The bodies were found on Monday.

The Guayacanes Fire Brigade, National Police and volunteers joined the Civil Defense in the search.

https://www.listindiario.com/la-rep...recidos-en-una-laguna-en-san-pedro-de-macoris


Dominican Film Festival opens in NYC
The 7th Dominican Film Festival in New York City (DFFNYC) has announced its official program with a roster of 70 films in a celebration of Dominican filmmaking outside of the Dominican Republic. The festival runs 24-29 July 2018 under the slogan "Cinema Unites Us!" boasting a wide range of genres, and paying homage to the classics.

It starts on Tuesday, 24 July, 7:30pm, with a red-carpet event and opening ceremony featuring the U.S. premiere of the romantic comedy El fantasma de mi novia (My Girlfriend's Ghost) by Francis 'El Indio' Disla followed by a Q&A with the film's stars, Carmen Villalobos and Susana Dosamantes.

DFFNYC will screen in six venues across Manhattan with the AMC Empire 25 as its main venue, and will host more than 60 actors and filmmakers to participate in Q&As and panel discussions. The festival offers a platform for both new and established members of the Dominican film industry to promote their works to the public.

"The festival seeks to give film lovers the most emblematic showcase of the stories that are made in the Dominican Republic today," said Armando Guareño, DFFNYC's founder and executive director. "We've gathered the most representative film experts and personalities from our island and its diaspora under a single roof."

The festival line-up includes a tribute to much-admired actors Hector Anibal (Cómplices, Reinbou, El Hombre que Cuida), Kiki Melendez (Cattle Call, Hot Tamales Live, Journey of a Female Comic) and Celines Toribio (Colao, Maria Montez, Las 7 Muertes). Organizers will also pay homage to late director Fernando Baez (Flor de Azucar) and include a presentation of the Dominican classic Pasaje de Ida. DFFNYS will host more than 40 World, U.S., and N.Y. premieres, as well as award-winning features, documentaries, animations and shorts from festivals around the world.

More information at www.dominicanfilmfestival.com

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-line-up-of-more-than-70-films-300681158.html