DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 12 March 2019

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May 3, 2000
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Water rationing for Santo Domingo, drought to continue through May
Monte Plata and Santiago get new industrial parks
Credit card usage increases
Construction work causes collapse of Santiago city street
National Council of the Magistracy meets today
Phone tapping is widespread
Guillermo Moreno: Medina wants “his judiciary”
PRSC’s Victor (Ito) Bisonó favors eliminating Attorney General from CNM
Air Europa adds Punta Cana stopover to its Madrid-Caracas flight after attempted robbery in Caracas
Drug gang members arrested
Illegal boat voyages frustrated
Alex Rodríguez to marry JLo
Marielle Hazlo at Chao Café Teatro
Bob Marley tribute at Hard Rock Live
Drama at Casa de Teatro
Tribute to Marc Anthony


Water rationing for Santo Domingo, drought to continue through May
The drought affecting the country has now begun to be felt in the National District. The Corporation for Aqueducts and Sewers of Santo Domingo (CAASD) announced it has begun to implement a water-rationing action plan.

The lack of rain has caused a significant decline in the water the main storage systems are receiving. The water level in the dams and aqueducts that service the capital city is now below normal.

The main systems affected in the CAASD area are the Haina, Isa, Mana, Duey and Isabela rivers. Alejandro Montás, director general of the CAASD, said that water supply to the Greater Santo Domingo from these sources has declined from 420 million gallons a day to 369 million gallons.

The CAASD released a list of neighborhoods that will be affected by the water rationing. These include:
Invi Sur, Miramar, Solimar, Dominicanos Ausentes, Urbanización Tropical, El Cacique, Ciudad Nueva and Costa Brava.

Invi Norte, Buenos Aires del Mirador, Alfimar, Atala Portal, Honduras, Mata Hambre, La Julia, Roca Mar, San Miguel, Los Kilómetros, Jardines del Sur, Ensanche La Paz, Los Cacicazgos, Mirador Sur y Norte, Bella Vista, El Millón, Los Millones, Los Prados, Piantini, Serrallés, Quisqueya, Naco, Paraíso, Villa Francisca, San Carlos, Don Bosco, El Timbeque, San Carlos, Borojol, San Miguel, Gazcue and San Lázaro.

The CAASD says areas that piped water supply service will be cut to four days a week for areas that had received the service seven days a week. Those that previously had five days service will receive three days. Service to areas receiving four days will be cut to two.

Montás says that 125 water tanker trucks will be available. He urged the population to ration their use of water.

Meanwhile, the National Meteorological Service (Onamet) says there will be scant rain through May of this year. The forecast is that the drought situation will continue in the northwest, south and southwest through the next 60 days. The drought has severely affected farming activities and water supply in those regions.

The director of the National Hydraulic Resources Institute, Olgo Fernandez says the nation did not prepare for the extreme dry spell. He said it is the worst drought in 50 years. Only two of 34 dams have adequate water levels.

The Caribbean Drought & Precipitation Monitoring Network reports: “A weak El Niño currently exists, contributing to the continued drier than normal conditions in January 2019, particularly in the east and south of the region. Short term drought that impacts soil moisture and surface water resources is already being felt in some countries, and there is the likelihood for long term drought, that can impact groundwater, large rivers and reservoirs, to evolve by May 2019.”

https://eldia.com.do/la-sequia-se-agravara-mas-y-extendera-por-todo-el-pais/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...mplias-zonas-del-distrito-nacional-LJ12286872
http://hoy.com.do/verifica-en-esta-...-que-ha-empezado-a-sentirse-en-santo-domingo/
https://eldia.com.do/la-sequia-se-agravara-mas-y-extendera-por-todo-el-pais/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...suficiente-afirman-las-autoridades-NI12292609
https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2019/03...-pero-no-lo-suficiente-para-paliar-la-sequia/
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...sequia-depende-de-fenomeno-el-nino-AI12292233
http://rcc.cimh.edu.bb/files/2019/03/Caribbean-Drought-Bulletin-March-2019.pdf


Monte Plata and Santiago get new industrial parks
The National Council of Free Zones for Export (CNZFE) has approved the installation of two new industrial parks and 12 more companies that promise to create an additional 1,808 jobs. Industry, Commerce and SMEs Minister Nelson Toca Simó announced that the new companies will invest more than RD$1.67 billion and will generate around US$47 million in exports.

The director of the National Council of Free Zones for Export (CNZFE), Luisa Fernandez explained that the Las Carolinas and the la Habanera industrial parks will be located in Monte Plata and Santiago respectively, and will generate 2,876 jobs among the two.

The 12 new free zone companies will make and distribute boxes for cigars and related articles, extract and distribute avocado oil, manufacture and assemble medical equipment, manufacture candles, process fruits, sterilize medical devices and operate as a call center. They will have a direct impact on the communities of Santiago, San Cristóbal, Bonao, Boca Chica and Santo Domingo.

https://almomento.net/aprueban-permiso-de-instalacion-de-2-parques-y-12-empresas-de-zonas-francas/


Credit card usage increases
More than 8.6 million debit or credit cards have been issued in the Dominican Republic. According to the Sistema de Pagos de la República Dominicana (Sipard), this is exactly double the 4.3 million credit cards that had been issued in 2008.

This represents more than one card for each adult. There are 7.7 million people aged over 15, according to the 2010 Census.

Of the 8.6 million cards in use, 4.8 million are debit cards, 2.5 million credit cards, 241,000 pre-paid and 1.06 million are government-issued welfare cards.

Bankcards have surpassed other methods of payment such as checks. In 2018, 22.3 million checks were issued compared to 167.7 million in credit and debit card transactions.

The increase in credit cards alone has led to an increase in credit. This has increased from RD$15.69 billion in 2008 to RD$53.45 billion in 2018, according to Sipard.

The increase in use is due to convenience and security reasons, access to credit, reward plans, and others.

https://eldia.com.do/en-el-pais-hay-mas-de-una-tarjeta-bancaria-por-adulto/


Construction work causes collapse of Santiago city street
Traffic onto Calle Arturo Bisonó Toribio was interrupted on Friday, 8 March 2019, when the street collapsed due to nearby construction work excavations. Brigades are working to restore the important city street. The street is a connector for traffic headed to the leading Santiago thoroughfare, the Avenida Juan Pablo Duarte. Several hospitals, schools and shopping centers are in the area.

https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2019/03...orte/calle-colapsada-lleva-tres-dias-cerrada/


National Council of the Magistracy meets today
The National Council of the Magistracy, the government body in charge of choosing the Supreme Court of Justice judges, will be meeting on Tuesday, 12 March 2019 at 4pm. On the agenda is the recusal of Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez in the assessment of judge Miriam Germán Brito. Rodríguez is accused of blatant violation of the assessment rules in the case of Germán Brito. Rodríguez presented anonymous letters as evidence of corruption. The “evidence” became fake news, nevertheless, when journalists investigated. The meeting will be behind closed doors.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...-vuelve-a-reunirse-hoy-tras-conflicto-interno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjVyrR9L-d4&t=413s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhszGNTN7hU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THH2SSmHwsg


Phone tapping is widespread
Following the revelation by the Inspector of the Public Prosecution Service, Bolivar Sanchez that he had asked that the telephone of Supreme Court judge, Miriam German Brito be tapped, further data on phone tapping has come to light. As reported in Listin Diario, the judicial authorities authorized that 17,637 phones be tapped as part of the investigations into different cases during 2017 and 2018. In the National District and Santo Domingo East and West last year, judges heard requests for 12,889 phone taps of which they approved 12,754 and rejected 135.

In 2017 there were requests for 5,178 of which 4,883 were approved and 295 were rejected.

So far this year, 2019, there have been 1,360 phone taps in the same area.

The tapping of the phone of Judge Miriam German Brito was authorized on 24 November 2018.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...casi-18-mil-telefonos-pinchados-en-la-capital
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...ntidad-intervencion-de-telefonos-causa-alarma


Guillermo Moreno: Medina wants “his judiciary”
Former National District attorney Guillermo Moreno writes in an op-ed contribution to Diario Libre that the frontal attack by Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez to Supreme Court of Justice judge Miriam Germán during her performance assessment occurred because the government does not want her to continue in the Supreme Court of Justice.

In the opinion piece, Moreno, who is the president of the AlPais political party, says that the attorney general should have previously investigated the allegations and prosecuted these if there was sufficient evidence to do so. Moreno said he had to do so in the right scenarios, respecting the due process.

“What the Attorney General cannot do is use covert investigations, carried out without any judicial guidelines, and present these with a surprise element and treachery during the National Council of Magistracy hearing,” said Moreno.

He stressed that the actions violated the CNM regulations that ban the use of anonymous communications that had not been decided upon previously by the National Council of the Magistracy. The notes had to have been notified with at least 24 hours before they were presented during the televised public assessment hearing.

Moreno said the actions seek to have a chilling effect on judges in general. “You have to think what judge, from now on, will speak freely on the phone, will dare to socialize with friends outside their family circle. What judge will risk deciding against or producing a dissident vote in cases that affect the interests of the ruling party?” Moreno points out.

He recalls that the inclusion of the attorney general in the composition of the National Council of the Magistracy was objected to. “Now it is clear that the participation of the attorney general gives the later intimidating powers over the judges,” he stated.

Moreno concludes the questioning of Miriam Germán by the Attorney General seeks to remove her as a Supreme Court of Justice judge. He writes that the plot was carried out with the knowledge and approval of the President of the Republic with the complicity of Supreme Court of Justice president Mariano Germán, the president of the Senate Reinaldo Pared and the president of the Chamber Camacho, who to date have remained mute on the matter, he writes.

He concludes that the assault on judge Miriam Germán is not a simple retaliation by the Attorney General of the Republic motivated by his resentment because she unmasked the Odebrecht case filed by the Attorney General. “That is the superficial part. The matter goes deeper: Danilo Medina and his faction seek to have, in addition to "their" Congress, "their" justice,” he writes.

Moreno said the Monday, 4 March 2019 hearing makes evident that Dominican justice is every day less independent, that the Judicial Branch has been taken over from within by the PLD leaders.

Moreno calls to mobilize wills and act with determination to put a stop to the decline in the judiciary. He called for the two members of the CNM that represent opposition parties to remove themselves from the assessments of the judges until there is not a rectification and express public retraction regarding the violations of the ruling during the questioning of Miriam Germán by the Attorney General.

https://www.diariolibre.com/opinion...a-independencia-del-poder-judicial-EJ12286929


PRSC’s Victor (Ito) Bisonó favors eliminating Attorney General from CNM
PRSC legislator Victor (Ito) Bisonó joined those who favor that the position of Attorney General be removed from the National Council of Magistracy. Interviewed on Consensuando, hosted by Gustavo Sánchez, Víctor D’ Aza and Digna Reynoso on Channel 19, Cinevisión, he remarked that present incumbent Jean Alain Rodríguez has injected politics into the national body responsible for choosing national judges.

Bisonó, who is a presidential pre-candidate for his party, says that the attorney general breaks the balance in the National Council of Magistracy. He said that the attorney general is named by the President and is the only one who is a subordinate to the President.

Bisonó said that the attorney general was originally not part of the National Council of the Magistracy. He said the position was added when the Blue Ties Agreement was signed between former President Leonel Fernández and the president of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, Miguel Vargas Maldonado, in 2010. The intention then was to give an extra vote to the President, he explains.

"That is a Council where everyone is equal except the attorney general because Reinaldo is not the boss of Paliza, Reinaldo has the administration of the Senate. Camacho is not Josefa's boss; he is the administration of the Chamber of Deputies. The President is the President and the others are the president of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Supreme Court secretary, who are included by delegation, but the attorney general is appointed by the President, and this gives the President a majority that has allowed to bring politics to justice," said the PRSC politician.

When asked about the Jean Alain Rodríguez questioning of Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez to judge Miriam Germán Brito, Bisonó said: "I lament that a young man like Jean Alain, who has been given the opportunity to be the attorney general, violated the regulations,” said Bisonó. He also criticized that the President of the Republic, who presided the Council hearing, who also was aware of the regulation, did not stop the questioning.

https://www.elcaribe.com.do/2019/03...opone-sacar-la-figura-del-procurador-del-cnm/


Air Europa adds Punta Cana stopover to its Madrid-Caracas flight after attempted robbery in Caracas
Air Europa announced a Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) layover to its Madrid-Caracas service to ensure the safety of their crew. Last week, according to sources quoted by several Spanish news sites, Air Europa crew that had arrived in Caracas over the weekend were attacked by armed robbers while travelling in a minibus from the airport to their downtown hotel. Three motorcycles surrounded the crew bus but the driver never stopped and was able to arrive at the hotel where private security guards engaged the robbers resulting in a shootout.

As reported, none of the 16 crew members were injured. Yet these refused to stay at the hotel and a police convoy took them back to the airport from where they flew back to Madrid.

Air Europa is one of only a handful of airlines that are flying to Caracas. The airline had been the only one to still allow its crew to stay in Venezuela in between flights.

https://listindiario.com/las-mundia...d-tras-sufrir-un-intento-de-atraco-en-caracas


Drug gang members arrested
On Sunday, 10 March 2019, the National Drug Control Agency (DNCD) in a joint operation with US Marshal agents arrested a Puerto Rican man and woman said to be members of the Revolutionary Armed Force from Cantera (FARC), a dangerous Puerto Rican drug dealers gang. Janelys Delgado Rey and Fernando Hilario Figueroa were arrested over the weekend in Santo Domingo. Janelys Delgado Rey is said to be the partner of Vladimir Natera, who is thought to be the head of the drug network.

Since 2006 FARC gang members have been selling crack, marijuana, heroin, cocaine and Percocet, along with other drugs, in the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan as well as the United States.

On 28 February 2019, the Federal Prosecutor of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez, had informed that members of the gang were hiding in the Dominican Republic. The operation was disbanded in Puerto Rico on 27 February 2019 as part of “Operation Crocodile.” Rodríguez said the gang had a reputation for throwing their victims to crocodiles that they kept as pets.

On 2 March 2019 the security forces arrested two other FARC members, Waldemar Febres Sánchez and Edison Merced Olivera, and deported these immediately to Puerto Rico to respond to judicial charges there.

The authorities say that together with US Marshal agents they are on the trail of FARC fugitives Vladimir Natera Abreu and Josel Rivera Verdejo.

http://dncd.gob.do/index.php/notici...-criminal-vinculada-asesinatos-en-puerto-rico
https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias...bMnDqzoeZEzEyEhP95xNhfx8LuDy78QMx7SCt0DGrRmfM
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...os-boricuas-que-tiraban-victimas-a-cocodrilos
https://elnacional.com.do/apresan-en-rd-otros-dos-de-banda-boricua/
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...ncd-habria-sido-puesto-en-libertad-en-febrero
https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...ros-de-peligrosa-banda-de-boricuas-MI12293492


Illegal boat voyages frustrated
The Dominican Armada has announced that they have stopped three illegal sea voyages to Puerto Rico in the last 24 hours and arrested nine people including two from Honduras. The arrests were made in operations carried out in Baoba del Piñal, María Trinidad Sánchez province; Playa Bonita and Playa Rincón in Samaná province. Those arrested were taken to the Naval Intelligence headquarters for investigation. In addition to the arrests, three boats, outboard engines and gasoline were confiscated.

Vice Admiral Recio Segura warned that operations would continue across the country to avoid loss of life at sea.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...as-y-apresa-9-personas-incluidos-2-hondurenas


Alex Rodríguez to marry JLo
Former Major League professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, 43-year old Alex Rodriguez has become engaged to Puerto Rican singer and actress, 49-year old Jennifer Lopez. Rodriguez made the announcement on his Instagram social media page showing Lopez wearing a million-dollar diamond engagement ring. He said he proposed to her during a trip to the Bahamas.

The couple has been together for two years. This is López’s fourth marriage. She was previously married to the actor Ojani Noa, dancer Cris Judd and singer Marc Anthony who is also the father of her twins Emme and Max, aged 11. It will be Rodríguez’s second marriage. He was previously married to Cynthia Scurtis from 2002-2008 and has daughters Ella, 10 and Natasha, 14, from that earlier marriage.

Rodriguez is currently working as a baseball commentator having retired from the Major League Baseball after a 22-year long career that ended in 2016 after 12 years playing for the New York Yankees.

Alex Rodríguez’s parents are Dominicans. He has played represented both the United States and the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.

https://people.com/music/jennifer-lopez-ecstatic-alex-rodriguez-surprise-marriage-proposal/
https://listindiario.com/entretenim...-alex-rodriguez-anillo-de-1-millon-de-dolares


Marielle Hazlo at Chao Café Teatro
Pop singer-songwriter Marielle Hazlo stars at Chao Cafe Teatro at Agora Mall, third level on Wednesday, 13 March 2019. She has written more than 20 songs, plays guitar and piano, and has opened concerts for Juanes and Enrique Iglesias in the Dominican Republic.
Admission to the concert is RD$800. Tickets for sale online at Uepa Tickets, Chao box office, Supermercados Nacional, Jumbo and CCN store box offices.


Bob Marley tribute at Hard Rock Live
Hector Aníbal and Transfusion present Bob Marley Night on Friday, 15 March 2019 at the Hard Rock Live in Blue Mall. 10pm. Enjoy the best hits of the legendary Jamaican singer, musician and songwriter, best known as a world ambassador for reggae music.

Online prices range from RD$870 to RD$1,840. Tickets for sale online at Uepa Tickets and at the Hard Rock Live box office at Blue Mall.


Drama at Casa de Teatro
Vicente Santos and Richardson Diaz star in Sin Zapatos No Hay Paraiso directed by Pepe Sierra. The moving drama is a Dominican version of the original story "Dos perdidos en una noche” (Dois Perdidos Numa Noite Suja) by Brazilian Plinio Marcos. "Sin Zapatos No Hay Paraíso" tells daily life episodes of two characters who, despite intertwined lives, have different perspectives on life and goals.

15, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24 March 2019 at Casa de Teatro in the Colonial City. Tickets for sale online at Uepa Tickets.


Tribute to Marc Anthony
Tribute to Marc Anthony with Anthony Alvarez at Chao Café Teatro, en Agora Mall. The concert, “A Mi Manera” is scheduled for Wednesday, 27 March 2019 at 9pm. Tickets: RD$700. Pre-sale ticket sales for RD$500.