DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 19 February 2019

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More government cash incentives to keep students in school
Work on Nagua-Puerto Plata Highway #5 expansion begins
Orlando Espinosa: Help Haiti!
Private sector wants Mipymes to be classified
Plaza de la Salud president wants to raise the bar of medical students
Adosea wants reliable backup electricity in tourist areas
Delia Ferreira, chairman of Transparency International to visit
United States’ military in Bani
13 arrested for motor biking races
Inacif: Venezuelan woman committed suicide
Police now report the stolen Richard Mille watch was a copy
‘Air Cocaine’ trial begins
San Cristobal police commander and his deputy suspended
Buche moved for security reasons
Canadian tourist dies in Punta Cana
Luchy ******* dies
Naeem Khan to open RD Bridal Week 2019



More government cash incentives to keep students in school
Vice President Margarita Cedeño announced the government is doubling the number of families with children in public school that will benefit from the School Bonus Program. The Bono Escolar Estudiando Progreso (BEEP) assigns bonus cash payments by grade level up to RD$1,200 per family/month and at post-secondary vocational level to RD$1,400 per family/month. The bonds are paid to parents for keeping their children in school. Parents may collect the bonuses for to up to six The number of public school families to benefit from the payments provided on charged debit cards will now be 251,237 up from 121,742 in 2018.

Xiomara Guante, president of the public school teachers association, said the increase is all about politics. General elections are scheduled for 2020.

https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...ncia-aumenta-de-monto-bono-escolar-JD12118054


Work on Nagua-Puerto Plata Highway #5 expansion begins
The Ministry of Public Works announced the expansion of the highway linking the northern provinces of Puerto Plata and María Trinidad Sánchez to the east. Vice Minister Ramón Pepín made the announcement as he broke ground for the start of the construction, together with the provincial governor, the Bishop of Puerto Plata, Iván Rivera and Monsignor Julio César Cornielle, among others.

Pepin said that work would be done simultaneously in Sosua and at the eastern end of the highway in Nagua. The project covers 92 kilometers of roadway.

The Ministry of Public Works is also currently working to expand and improve the roads that connect Navarrete and Luperón with Puerto Plata city.

https://elnacional.com.do/mopc-inic...on-y-ampliacion-carretera-puerto-plata-nagua/


Orlando Espinosa: Help Haiti!
The president of the Permanent Interior and Police Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Orlando Espinosa (PLD-San Cristóbal) expressed his concern with the escalating violent protests in Haiti. He urged international community to once again come to the aid of Haiti that is facing a very serious political, economic and social crisis. As reported in El Nacional, he stressed that Haitians are also human beings that deserve and need the support solidarity of wealthier rich countries. He said that those that are very interested in supplying taking food and medicines to Venezuela, should consider doing do the same for Haiti. that is closer.
"What I warn of is the reality that if the shortages there is still a shortage of food, medicine and water in Haiti continues, there will be no way for the Dominican authorities to stop the mass exodus of Haitians, it's a matter of survival," Espinosa said.

Protestors are demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise who has headed the Government in that country for reached two years in the position as of on 7 February 2019.

https://elnacional.com.do/advierten-seria-dificil-parar-exodo-de-haitianos/


Private sector wants Mipymes to be classified
Every two years the Ministry of Labor, business and labor sector interests meet to discuss adjustments to the minimum wage. These discussions are due now. Business groups are again calling for a precise classification of the micro, small and medium enterprises that are grouped here as Mipymes. Those affected say that the categorizing of these businesses should be based on their economic realities, and should be defined before discussions resume on the minimum wages paid in these different classifications.

The National Association of Industries in Herrera (Anieh) and the Federation of Industrial Associations (FAI), together with other business groups, announced that they would file an appeal before the Constitutional Court to reject the calling of the start of discussions of the minimum wage committee issued by the National Salary Committee.

The chief of the Herrera business association, Leonel Castellanos, said that establishing minimum wages before classifying the Mipymes would endanger the sustainability of the companies and discourage informal businesses from going legit.

https://eldia.com.do/sector-privado-exige-clasificar-a-mipymes/


Plaza de la Salud president wants to raise the bar of medical students
Dr. Julio Amado Castaños Guzmán, rector of the Universidad Iberoamericana (Unibe) and president of the Patronato del Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud, says the time has come to be more selective in who gets to study medicine in the Dominican Republic. He suggests only individuals with extraordinary qualifications should be admitted to the medical schools. He criticized the open admission policy of most medical schools and says this policy is why the level of the qualified graduates is so low. He said this has serious consequences, and mentioned the high mortality in the country.

Most medical student applicants are admitted to the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. In most cases, students do not pay for their studies at the state university. Around 25,000 to 30,000 are enrolled in the medical school at the UASD. Private university enrolment is at around 5,000.

Castaños said the focus need to be on quality, not quantity. He said that to get into the Unibe medical school, students must pass a rigorous assessment beyond grades. He remarked the selection of future doctors needs to be based on varied competences including communication skills, knowledge of new technologies, empathy and the ability to see patients as people first..

He points out that these aspects are currently not being considered “Anyone who stands in the admission line and registers, usually without a single test, or assessment, gets in, and we are seeing the results of this”, he points out.

He said the time has come for training more family doctors than specialists.


Adosea wants reliable backup electricity in tourist areas
The Dominican Association of Independent Electricity Generators (ADOSEA) once again calls on authorities to allow companies to serve tourism communities that are connected to the national electricity distribution network. Marcos Ortega Fernandez, the president of Adosea, says that an example of this need are the recent blackouts in Las Terrenas and El Limón after a truck crashed into a powerline cutting off electricity to businesses in Hoyo Cacao. Ortega Fernández said it is important that there be a backup service to guarantee the continuity of supply in the tourist areas.

Las Terrenas did have such a system until the compulsory switch to the EdeNorte service operated by the government. Last year, Las Terrenas endured over 300 hours of electricity interruptions when in the past blackouts totaled 20 hours a year. Ortega Fernández says that Samana and surrounding areas needs to be able to count on a stable and reliable power system, in the same way that Punta Cana and La Romana that have this service do.

https://elnacional.com.do/adosea-sugiere-base-de-generacion-local-en-zonas-turisticas/


Delia Ferreira, chairman of Transparency International to visit
The civil society organization, Participación Ciudadana announced the chair of Transparency International, Delia Ferreira Rubio, will be visiting from 19 to 21 February 2019.

The Dominican people say corruption is high in the country, as captured in the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, a Transparency International survey. A former government officer, today senator Felix Bautista, was ranked as one of the top corrupt men in the world by the same civil global society organization.

Ferreira is a lawyer, author and professor of law at the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires.

During her visit, Ferreira will attend various exchange activities, dialogues, talks with civil society organizations, women's organizations, businessmen, academics, political parties, the media, government representatives, public prosecutors and international organizations.

On her schedule are also meetings with members of the National Council and work committees of Citizen Participation, to exchange views on future programs and processes in the Dominican Republic in the fight against corruption and impunity. She will give a presentation on 20 February 2019 about Citizen Action for Inclusive Public Administration that Guarantees Human Rights” hosted by Participación Ciudadana together with Oxfam RD, Ciudad Alternativa and Fundación Solidaridad. The event is sponsored by the European Union and will take place at the Hotel Catalonia starting at 5pm. On 21 February at 5pm she will also speak at the UASD Law School on "Corruption and Impunity in the Region: Role of Civil Society.”

https://acento.com.do/2019/actualid...ra-la-presidenta-transparencia-internacional/
https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018


United States’ military in Bani
A contingent of United States’ special forces with amphibian vehicles and anti-terrorist equipment is participating in training exercises alongside the Dominican military at the Las Calderas naval base in Bani.

The training exercises focus on the rescue of hostages in situations based on past real life events.

The troops from the United States’ Southern Command are carrying out anti-terrorism simulations at the La Isabela International Airport in Higuero, together with the Specialized Corps of Airport Security and Civil Aviation (Cesac).

The initiative is called “Detention of a terrorist cell in the public domain” and lasted 40 minutes, involving two Black Hawk helicopters and troops, practiced the identification of terrorist suspects and their neutralization, the rescue of hostages and making the areas secure.

Cesac director, Air Defense Brigadier General Aracenis Castillo de la Cruz, said that these cooperative exercises take place periodically, in order to improve the skills and abilities of the specialized personnel.

In Bani, the locals have seen the marines lunching in a hotel and in and around the town of Salinas.

A source has said that the exercise is nothing new, as these type of routine training exercises have been going on for more than 20 years at the Las Calderas base.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...tares-eeuu-entrenan-fuerzas-contra-terrorismo


13 arrested for motor biking races
The National Police announced on Monday, 18 February 2019 it has arrested 13 men for participating in illegal motorbike racing on the Hato Mayor-San Pedro de Macoris road in the east over the weekend. The Police seized 15 motorcycles, four cars, six boxes with spare parts for motorcycles and tools. The Police are increasing their efforts to clamp down on the races that often result in major injuries to the participants and to other road users.

http://www.policianacional.gob.do/n...rreras-de-motocicletas-de-manera-clandestina/


Inacif: Venezuelan woman committed suicide
The National Police reports that the National Institute of Forensic Sciences autopsy requested for the remains of Venezuelan Virginia Carolina Rojas reports the 27-year old died from “violent death by suicide. The report A-0109-2019 indicates the cut she received on the left side of her neck caused profuse bleeding and a quick death.

The autopsy revealed no presence of cocaine, marijuana, or amphetamines in the blood sample. Similarly, a serological study did not show a presence of semen. It is noted that the woman was found dead at her residence located in the San Gerónimo neighbourhood, on Av. José Núñez de Cáceres in the National District on 30 January 2019. She had not been seen several days. The door to her apartment was broken into after a neighbor reported a foul smell.

http://www.policianacional.gob.do/n...na-encontrada-muerta-dentro-de-su-residencia/


Police now report the stolen Richard Mille watch was a copy
The National Police is now reporting that the Richard Mille Rafael Nadal watch stolen from US citizen Maskim Vangeli in the La Dolcerie restaurant in Piantini was a reproduction. The media had reported the watch was valued at US$150,000. Venezuelan Lenin Amado Zambrano Lorenzo confessed to the robbery. He was arrested on Av. Mirador del Este in possession of the watch. He also had two pistols. He is accused of being part of a Venezuelan gang that have previously stolen expensive watches. The Police is searching for his associates. But for this case to progress, Vangeli would need to file a formal complaint.


‘Air Cocaine’ trial begins
Six years after they fled the Dominican Republic after being convicted for trafficking drugs on a private plane that was set to fly from Punta Cana to St. Tropez, in France. The trial for Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos began in France on 18 February 2019. The case has since been nicknamed by the media as the Air Cocaine case when linked to the attempted and past successful smuggling of 680 kilograms of cocaine drug to Europe. The pilots deny they knew the contents of the many suitcases that were loaded onto their aircraft. The men were arrested upon arriving in France.

International media report that the French court will hear scores of witnesses and experts over seven weeks and the defendants face up to 30 years in prison.

Only one suspect, Ali Bouchareb, is still in detention in the case while the other eight were granted bail pending the trial. The 47-year-old is the supposed organizer of the crime also known as ‘Daryan’or ‘Rayan’and has previous convictions for drug trafficking. He was arrested in Spain but states that he is innocent.

The prosecution alleges that prior to this particular flight there were an additional two flights from Punta Cana to France with the same pilots and the same passengers and suggest these flights were also used to transport drugs.

https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...fico-de-cocaina-desde-r-dominicana-JA12120696
https://www.france24.com/en/20190218-air-cocaine-smuggling-trial-starts-france
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/18/air-cocaine-drug-trafficking-trial-begins-in-france
http://en.rfi.fr/americas/20190218-air-cocaine-trial-begin-france


San Cristobal police commander and his deputy suspended
The commander and deputy commander of the San Cristóbal police have been suspended and are under investigation. A source confirmed to El Dia newspaper that the suspension of Colonel Oscar Tejada Báez and Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Odalis Soriano had taken place but did not give the reasons.

The police are investigating the disappearance of an unknown amount of cocaine which was part of a confiscation of drugs and high calibre weapons, which took place after a raid in December 2018 in San Cristobal. According to the police, the officers involved in the raid on an abandoned truck, discovered 50 sacks with more than 500 kilos of drugs but only 13 sacks 346 kilos of cocaine were turned in by the officers.

A few weeks ago, the Minister of Interior and Police said that six unnamed police officers were under investigation in connection with this case.

Colonel Frank Félix Durán Mejía, police spokesman, said that the officers under investigation had violated the rules for confiscating the drugs, and possibly had kept it. However, he did not confirm this current round of suspensions is directly linked to this case of the missing drugs.

https://eldia.com.do/la-policia-con...-relacion-a-tumbe-de-drogas-en-san-cristobal/
https://eldia.com.do/comandante-y-s...n-cristobal-suspendidos-y-bajo-investigacion/
http://hoy.com.do/suspenden-a-subcomandante-policial-de-san-cristobal-por-droga-desaparecida/


Buche moved for security reasons
Rafael Antonio Díaz (Buche), accused of managing a drug sales point in Bani and currently on remand in jail awaiting trial, has been transferred to a different jail for reasons of security.

Buche is accused of complicity in the death of Colonel Daniel Ramos Álvarez on 8 January 2019. He was sent to jail in Bani for one year preventive custody, but, for security reasons has now been transferred to the Anamuya Correction and Rehabilitation Center in Higuey. Also in jail on remand are Luis Milcíades Santana (El Chamo) and Milcíades Ruiz (Chiquito Mala Fe).

Last week, in Santo Domingo, Wellington Mejía Muñoz "Ikita", was arrested, he is supposedly one of the most powerful drug dealers in Bani. He is also on remand in jail.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...adado-a-carcel-higey-por-motivos-de-seguridad


Canadian tourist dies in Punta Cana
On Thursday, 14 February 2019 a mother and her daughter from Winnipeg Canada travelled to Punta Cana for a week-long holiday. As reported by CBC News, Holly Twoheart and her 26-year-old daughter Danielle Twoheart arrived at their resort, but while Holly went to bed around 2am, her daughter Danielle did not join her.

Hotel security woke the Mother an hour later and informed her that the daughter had fallen off a third-floor balcony on the resort. Danielle was taken to hospital where she was put on life support, but died of her inuries Friday afternoon, 15 February.

Hotel security said that they had seen Danielle dangling from the balcony before she fell and that she appeared to have been trying to climb down to the first floor balcony.

The media reported that Holly Twoheart returned to Winnipeg on Monday, 18 February and that Dominican police continue the investigation.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/danielle-twoheart-killed-vacation-1.5023337


Luchy ******* dies
The famous Dominican bolero singer, Lucía Fior Daliza ******* Alsina (Luchy *******), died yesterday, Monday 18 February 2019 one day before her 69th birthday.

In 2015 it was announced that she was undergoing treatment for colon cancer.

She was the daughter of Ernesto Federico ******* and Lucía Alsina. She began singing at the young age of 4. By age 10 she was working with maestro Rafael Solano and frequently starred on TV shows.

She had a son with TV producer Freddy Beras Goico, from whom she later divorced.

https://listindiario.com/entretenim...5/luchy-*******-adios-a-la-dama-de-la-cancion
https://www.diariolibre.com/revista/musica/cinco-canciones-para-recordar-a-luchy-*******-CA12121650


Naeem Khan to open RD Bridal Week 2019
In a first time runway fashion show outside of the United States, fashion designer Naeem Khan, 61, will be showing his bridal collection at the opening of the RD Bridal Week 2019. The event is scheduled for 15 March 2019 at the Garden Tent of the Hotel Embajador.

Socrates McKinney, president of RD Bridal Week, made the announcement. He announced that on the agenda of the Indian designer is a Trunk Show at the boutique Il Prato, where future brides can place orders for Khan’s pret-a-porter collection. The RD Bridal Week 2019 also features a “Bridal Boutique”, at the Salón Embassy Garden, a comprehensive array with goods and services requested by those in bridal mode.

Khan was born into an Indian family that designed intricate clothing worn by the royal families and influential people. When he was 20 years old, he traveled to the United States to apprentice with US designer Halston. His clothes have been worn by First Lady Michele Obama and Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton and by a long list of entertainment and business celebrities, including Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, among others.

https://www.diariolibre.com/estilos/moda/naeem-khan-abrira-rd-bridal-week-2019-ND12115091
https://naeemkhan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DominicanaBridalWeek/