New mental health center opened in northern Santo Domingo
Dominican expats can apply for scholarships through 15 April
Ministry of Agriculture opens office for registration of new plant varieties
DR is not in arrears with Venezuela
PLD spokesman defends politicians’ right to limit freedom of speech
Hotel room growth continues
Altice could be penalized for not revealing on time reason for service failure
Dengue and malaria on the rise, cholera and leptospirosis decline
Air Cocaine case nears the sentencing phase
Dominican former army colonel sentenced for drug trafficking in Puerto Rico
MasterChef resumes on Sunday, 7 April
New mental health center opened in northern Santo Domingo
President Danilo Medina announced the new Center for Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Human Development (Reside), as a dependency of the National Health Service (SNS). The center will work to rehabilitate citizens with mental disabilities and promote their harmonious reintegration into society as productive human beings.
Reside is located in La Nueva Barquita in Sabana Perdida, in northern Santo Domingo, and will operate under the policies and guidelines of the Department of Mental Health of the Ministry of Public Health. The center was created by presidential decree issued on Tuesday, 2 April, on occasion of World Autism Awareness Day.
First Lady Cándida Montilla de Medina, who has taken a proactive role in working with people with special needs, will chair the center’s board. The Ministry of Public Health will be represented on the board by the National Director of Mental Health.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...nas-con-discapacidad-mental-dependera-del-sns
Dominican expats can apply for scholarships through 15 April
The Ministry of Higher Education (MESCyT) announced that children of Dominican expats that were born in the United States will be able to apply for MESCyT scholarships. Dominican consul in New York, Carlos Castillo made the announcement that scholarships for masters, specialties and doctoral studies are now available for the children of Dominican residents abroad.
The consul said a form is available at the consulate for applications through 15 April 2019. He encouraged Dominicans living in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, that are under the jurisdiction of the consulate, to take advantage of the scholarships for study in the United States and Europe.
The applications need to be accompanied with a birth certificate, a sworn declaration of who their parents are and that they reside abroad. The students commit to carry out volunteer work in favor of the Dominican community abroad.
Castillo said that the State University of New York (SUNY) is one of the universities participating in the initiative and where scholarships will be available for Dominicans.
https://listindiario.com/las-mundia...-en-eeuu-podran-solicitar-becas-para-posgrado
Ministry of Agriculture opens office for registration of new plant varieties
The Ministry of Agriculture has opened the Oficina para el Registro de Variedades y Obtenciones Vegetales (Orevado). The office is located at Km. Duarte Km 6-1/2, Los Jardines del Norte at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters in Santo Domingo. The office offers support to people working to develop new plant crops, that are innovating in the transfer of technology, or breeders investing to produce plant species.
Agriculture Minister Osmar Benitez announced the Dominican Republic is now one of 75 countries that are part of the agreement of the International Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV) based in the Netherlands, which certifies the use of quality seeds, the right of industrial property, trade, and technological advances in the production of new plant varieties.
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...readores-nuevos-cultivos-vegetales-GC12455311
DR is not in arrears with Venezuela
Hacienda Minister Donald Guerrero denied the Dominican Republic is in arrears on long-term debt with Venezuela. Talking to Listin Diario, Guerrero said that last year the country paid US$30 million off the US$160 million Petrocaribe debt at the request of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and it was agreed by Maduro that the debt would be paid over 20 years. Guerrero denied a statement by Maduro’s communication minister Jorge Rodríguez that the country owed US$240 million.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...pago-con-medicinas-us-30-millones-a-venezuela
PLD spokesman defends politicians’ right to limit freedom of speech
Spokesman for the ruling PLD party Gustavo Sanchez rejected the charge made by Miguel Franjul, executive editor of Listin Diario newspaper, at the semi-annual Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) press meeting held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from 29 to 31 March 2019. Franjul denounced the recently passed Political Parties Law and Electoral Regime Law as threats to freedom of speech in the Dominican Republic during political campaign times. Sanchez says any complaints should be taken to the Constitutional Court. The Dominican Republic semi-annual press report to the IAPA said that the limitations to free speech in the new laws “have awakened fears of a resurgence of censorship mechanisms in the country.” Franjul also denounced that the ruling PLD party legislators, with the backing of several PRM opposition party legislators, are drafting other bills that would also curtail freedom of speech.
Franjul highlighted that the Electoral Regime Law contemplates penalties of up to 10 years in prison for crimes of defamation and insult committed against candidates, groups and political parties, and from 3 to 10 years to those who violate ethical, legal and constitutional rules on the use of printed media and digital communications. He said both this law and the Political Parties Law criminalize with up to 10 years in jail “negative comments” made against candidates. Franjul explained that “negative comments” in the law is anything that the candidate understands could harm political aspirations, even when the statement is true.
Likewise, Franjul said an electoral observatory has been proposed to determine what is false and what is true. Franjul says the observatory could be another attempt against freedom of speech.
https://www.sipiapa.org/notas/1213051-republica-dominicana
Hotel room growth continues
According to new data from hotel analytics firm STR, the Dominican Republic is continuing a full-fledged hotel development boom. The Caribbean’s most popular tourist destination has a total of 6,200 rooms in construction right now, or 8.7 percent of its existing hotel supply, reports Caribbean Journal.
That is the largest number of rooms under construction of any Caribbean destination, followed by Cuba, which has 600 rooms in construction, or 0.9 percent of its supply. That comes after the Dominican Republic saw a 6 percent growth in its hotel stock in 2018, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism.
Last year’s additions increased the Dominican Republic’s hotel supply by 4,365 rooms, meaning that there are now 80,257 hotel rooms, as reported in Caribbean Journal.
https://www.caribjournal.com/2019/04/01/dominican-republic-hotel-boom-continues/
Altice could be penalized for not revealing on time reason for service failure
The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) has stated that it has notified Altice Dominicana and issued an Initial Infraction Certificate as part of the penalization process in place against the telecommunications company. Indotel is asking for reasonable information as to why the mobile telecom system of the company failed, leaving Altice users with no voice or data access for around 36 hours on 27 March 2019.
Indotel states that Altice did not comply with their obligation to ensure their service and for not reporting to Indotel the reasons for the problem in less than 24 hours after the breakdown. The company thereby failed to comply with the Quality Norm for Telephone and Internet Access Service (Norma de Calidad del Servicio de Telefonía y Acceso a Internet).
Indotel confirmed that the users of Altice will be compensated according to their plans, as the company has already announced.
Altice, however, issued a note rejecting it failed to adequately report on its breakdown. Desiree Logroño, vice president for institutional relations for Altice, said after the breakdown occurred, the company was constantly in communication with Indotel officers and on Friday, 29 March, delivered a preliminary report.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...tice-por-no-entregar-informacion-sobre-averia
http://hoy.com.do/inicia-proceso-sancionador-de-indotel-contra-altice/
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...-falta-de-entrega-de-informaciones-requeridas
Dengue and malaria on the rise, cholera and leptospirosis decline
Health authorities have reported 106 new cases of dengue in a week, which means there have been 866 cases so far this year. These figures show an increase of 294% over the same period last year. Of the total dengue cases this year, 389 have been during the last four weeks.
The Ministry of Public Health bulletin reported last week there were 13 cases of malaria confirmed in seven men and six women between the ages of 14 and 49, as compared to eight cases in the same period last year.
However, cholera has decreased, with nine cases at this point last year but only two cases reported so far this year, and leptospirosis is down by half, with 62 cases this year compared to 156 last year.
https://almomento.net/r-dominicana-registra-mas-de-cien-nuevos-casos-de-dengue-en-una-semana/
Air Cocaine case nears the sentencing phase
On Monday, 1 April 2019, the prosecution in the ‘Air Cocaine’ case asked for sentences between four and 25 years against nine of the accused. For the French pilots Bruno Odos and Pascal Fauret, seven years was requested.
Marc Gouton, the prosecutor, also asked for the prohibition of all activities related to the aviation industry for the pilots, who were arrested in 2013 in the Dominican Republic for piloting a plane laden with 700 kilos of cocaine. The Dominican anti-drug agency confiscated the drugs at Punta Cana airport. They were inside the plane in 26 suitcases ready to take off for La Môle, near Saint-Tropez, on the southern coast of France.
Two weeks later, the two pilots and two passengers, Nicolas Pisapia and Alain Castany. were told to serve a year preventive custody and were then condemned to 20 years in jail in the Dominican Republic for drug trafficking.
However, in October 2015, the pilots, under house arrest awaiting their appeal, escaped and returned to France.
The highest penalty, that of 25 years, is requested for Ali Bouchareb, who is a known to be reoffending drug dealer, 12 years for the organizer of the flight, Frank Colin, and seven years for a colleague and head of the pilots, Fabrice Alcaud and Pierre-Marc Dreyfus.
The prosecution also asked for four years in jail for the custom’s accomplice, François-Xavier Manchet, who assisted at the airport in France where there were very lax security measures.
Fauret and Odos have always maintained they knew nothing about the drugs, but the prosecution in France state that they must have known what they were carrying.
https://listindiario.com/las-mundia...e-carcel-para-acusados-en-caso-de-air-cocaine
Dominican former army colonel sentenced for drug trafficking in Puerto Rico
Former colonel of the Dominican Army Rafael Bienvenido Collado Ureña has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking at a Federal Court in Puerto Rico, having reached a deal with the Prosecution. Collado Ureña was facing three charges for conspiracy, importing and distribution of controlled substances from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.
The parties agreed to recommend the minimum statutory sentence, and his co-accused, Maria Carmelina Polanco Tavarez, also reached a deal with the prosecution.
Collado Ureña was arrested in Puerto Rico on 12 June 2017 while he was carrying out one of his drug distribution journeys.
According to a statement at the court from an agent from the US Drug Control Administration (DEA), Collado Ureña and Polanco Taveras had been trying to import 20 kilograms of cocaine from the Dominican Republic. The event was captured on audiotape.
The DEA agent said that Collado Ureña, offered a DEA informant US$60,000 to buy eight kilos of cocaine to later send it to Puerto Rico. The recorded telephone conversation stated that if the eight-kilo import was successful, they would then send 100 kilos to the island.
https://almomento.net/puerto-rico-e...-culpable-narcotrafico-encara-10-anos-carcel/
MasterChef resumes on Sunday, 7 April
The popular TV reality show, Master Chef, in its Dominican version, will be back on Dominican TV as of Sunday, 7 April 2019. The show will be on from 7 to 9pm on Telesistema, Channel 11. The jurors will be the same as last year, chefs Leandro Díaz, Inés Páez (Chef Tita) and Saverio Stassi. Mildred Quiroz returns as the host for the show that won the Soberano Award for Best Seasonal Program of the Year. She said the promoters of the show are working on two separate versions: Masterchef Celebrity and Masterchef Junior with their dates to be announced.
Nikole Morilla was the winner of the first season of Masterchef RD.
https://masterchefrd.com/
https://elnacional.com.do/estamos-agradecidos-con-los-dominicanos/
Dominican expats can apply for scholarships through 15 April
Ministry of Agriculture opens office for registration of new plant varieties
DR is not in arrears with Venezuela
PLD spokesman defends politicians’ right to limit freedom of speech
Hotel room growth continues
Altice could be penalized for not revealing on time reason for service failure
Dengue and malaria on the rise, cholera and leptospirosis decline
Air Cocaine case nears the sentencing phase
Dominican former army colonel sentenced for drug trafficking in Puerto Rico
MasterChef resumes on Sunday, 7 April
New mental health center opened in northern Santo Domingo
President Danilo Medina announced the new Center for Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Human Development (Reside), as a dependency of the National Health Service (SNS). The center will work to rehabilitate citizens with mental disabilities and promote their harmonious reintegration into society as productive human beings.
Reside is located in La Nueva Barquita in Sabana Perdida, in northern Santo Domingo, and will operate under the policies and guidelines of the Department of Mental Health of the Ministry of Public Health. The center was created by presidential decree issued on Tuesday, 2 April, on occasion of World Autism Awareness Day.
First Lady Cándida Montilla de Medina, who has taken a proactive role in working with people with special needs, will chair the center’s board. The Ministry of Public Health will be represented on the board by the National Director of Mental Health.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...nas-con-discapacidad-mental-dependera-del-sns
Dominican expats can apply for scholarships through 15 April
The Ministry of Higher Education (MESCyT) announced that children of Dominican expats that were born in the United States will be able to apply for MESCyT scholarships. Dominican consul in New York, Carlos Castillo made the announcement that scholarships for masters, specialties and doctoral studies are now available for the children of Dominican residents abroad.
The consul said a form is available at the consulate for applications through 15 April 2019. He encouraged Dominicans living in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, that are under the jurisdiction of the consulate, to take advantage of the scholarships for study in the United States and Europe.
The applications need to be accompanied with a birth certificate, a sworn declaration of who their parents are and that they reside abroad. The students commit to carry out volunteer work in favor of the Dominican community abroad.
Castillo said that the State University of New York (SUNY) is one of the universities participating in the initiative and where scholarships will be available for Dominicans.
https://listindiario.com/las-mundia...-en-eeuu-podran-solicitar-becas-para-posgrado
Ministry of Agriculture opens office for registration of new plant varieties
The Ministry of Agriculture has opened the Oficina para el Registro de Variedades y Obtenciones Vegetales (Orevado). The office is located at Km. Duarte Km 6-1/2, Los Jardines del Norte at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters in Santo Domingo. The office offers support to people working to develop new plant crops, that are innovating in the transfer of technology, or breeders investing to produce plant species.
Agriculture Minister Osmar Benitez announced the Dominican Republic is now one of 75 countries that are part of the agreement of the International Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (UPOV) based in the Netherlands, which certifies the use of quality seeds, the right of industrial property, trade, and technological advances in the production of new plant varieties.
https://www.diariolibre.com/economi...readores-nuevos-cultivos-vegetales-GC12455311
DR is not in arrears with Venezuela
Hacienda Minister Donald Guerrero denied the Dominican Republic is in arrears on long-term debt with Venezuela. Talking to Listin Diario, Guerrero said that last year the country paid US$30 million off the US$160 million Petrocaribe debt at the request of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and it was agreed by Maduro that the debt would be paid over 20 years. Guerrero denied a statement by Maduro’s communication minister Jorge Rodríguez that the country owed US$240 million.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...pago-con-medicinas-us-30-millones-a-venezuela
PLD spokesman defends politicians’ right to limit freedom of speech
Spokesman for the ruling PLD party Gustavo Sanchez rejected the charge made by Miguel Franjul, executive editor of Listin Diario newspaper, at the semi-annual Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) press meeting held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from 29 to 31 March 2019. Franjul denounced the recently passed Political Parties Law and Electoral Regime Law as threats to freedom of speech in the Dominican Republic during political campaign times. Sanchez says any complaints should be taken to the Constitutional Court. The Dominican Republic semi-annual press report to the IAPA said that the limitations to free speech in the new laws “have awakened fears of a resurgence of censorship mechanisms in the country.” Franjul also denounced that the ruling PLD party legislators, with the backing of several PRM opposition party legislators, are drafting other bills that would also curtail freedom of speech.
Franjul highlighted that the Electoral Regime Law contemplates penalties of up to 10 years in prison for crimes of defamation and insult committed against candidates, groups and political parties, and from 3 to 10 years to those who violate ethical, legal and constitutional rules on the use of printed media and digital communications. He said both this law and the Political Parties Law criminalize with up to 10 years in jail “negative comments” made against candidates. Franjul explained that “negative comments” in the law is anything that the candidate understands could harm political aspirations, even when the statement is true.
Likewise, Franjul said an electoral observatory has been proposed to determine what is false and what is true. Franjul says the observatory could be another attempt against freedom of speech.
https://www.sipiapa.org/notas/1213051-republica-dominicana
Hotel room growth continues
According to new data from hotel analytics firm STR, the Dominican Republic is continuing a full-fledged hotel development boom. The Caribbean’s most popular tourist destination has a total of 6,200 rooms in construction right now, or 8.7 percent of its existing hotel supply, reports Caribbean Journal.
That is the largest number of rooms under construction of any Caribbean destination, followed by Cuba, which has 600 rooms in construction, or 0.9 percent of its supply. That comes after the Dominican Republic saw a 6 percent growth in its hotel stock in 2018, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism.
Last year’s additions increased the Dominican Republic’s hotel supply by 4,365 rooms, meaning that there are now 80,257 hotel rooms, as reported in Caribbean Journal.
https://www.caribjournal.com/2019/04/01/dominican-republic-hotel-boom-continues/
Altice could be penalized for not revealing on time reason for service failure
The Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) has stated that it has notified Altice Dominicana and issued an Initial Infraction Certificate as part of the penalization process in place against the telecommunications company. Indotel is asking for reasonable information as to why the mobile telecom system of the company failed, leaving Altice users with no voice or data access for around 36 hours on 27 March 2019.
Indotel states that Altice did not comply with their obligation to ensure their service and for not reporting to Indotel the reasons for the problem in less than 24 hours after the breakdown. The company thereby failed to comply with the Quality Norm for Telephone and Internet Access Service (Norma de Calidad del Servicio de Telefonía y Acceso a Internet).
Indotel confirmed that the users of Altice will be compensated according to their plans, as the company has already announced.
Altice, however, issued a note rejecting it failed to adequately report on its breakdown. Desiree Logroño, vice president for institutional relations for Altice, said after the breakdown occurred, the company was constantly in communication with Indotel officers and on Friday, 29 March, delivered a preliminary report.
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...tice-por-no-entregar-informacion-sobre-averia
http://hoy.com.do/inicia-proceso-sancionador-de-indotel-contra-altice/
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...-falta-de-entrega-de-informaciones-requeridas
Dengue and malaria on the rise, cholera and leptospirosis decline
Health authorities have reported 106 new cases of dengue in a week, which means there have been 866 cases so far this year. These figures show an increase of 294% over the same period last year. Of the total dengue cases this year, 389 have been during the last four weeks.
The Ministry of Public Health bulletin reported last week there were 13 cases of malaria confirmed in seven men and six women between the ages of 14 and 49, as compared to eight cases in the same period last year.
However, cholera has decreased, with nine cases at this point last year but only two cases reported so far this year, and leptospirosis is down by half, with 62 cases this year compared to 156 last year.
https://almomento.net/r-dominicana-registra-mas-de-cien-nuevos-casos-de-dengue-en-una-semana/
Air Cocaine case nears the sentencing phase
On Monday, 1 April 2019, the prosecution in the ‘Air Cocaine’ case asked for sentences between four and 25 years against nine of the accused. For the French pilots Bruno Odos and Pascal Fauret, seven years was requested.
Marc Gouton, the prosecutor, also asked for the prohibition of all activities related to the aviation industry for the pilots, who were arrested in 2013 in the Dominican Republic for piloting a plane laden with 700 kilos of cocaine. The Dominican anti-drug agency confiscated the drugs at Punta Cana airport. They were inside the plane in 26 suitcases ready to take off for La Môle, near Saint-Tropez, on the southern coast of France.
Two weeks later, the two pilots and two passengers, Nicolas Pisapia and Alain Castany. were told to serve a year preventive custody and were then condemned to 20 years in jail in the Dominican Republic for drug trafficking.
However, in October 2015, the pilots, under house arrest awaiting their appeal, escaped and returned to France.
The highest penalty, that of 25 years, is requested for Ali Bouchareb, who is a known to be reoffending drug dealer, 12 years for the organizer of the flight, Frank Colin, and seven years for a colleague and head of the pilots, Fabrice Alcaud and Pierre-Marc Dreyfus.
The prosecution also asked for four years in jail for the custom’s accomplice, François-Xavier Manchet, who assisted at the airport in France where there were very lax security measures.
Fauret and Odos have always maintained they knew nothing about the drugs, but the prosecution in France state that they must have known what they were carrying.
https://listindiario.com/las-mundia...e-carcel-para-acusados-en-caso-de-air-cocaine
Dominican former army colonel sentenced for drug trafficking in Puerto Rico
Former colonel of the Dominican Army Rafael Bienvenido Collado Ureña has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking at a Federal Court in Puerto Rico, having reached a deal with the Prosecution. Collado Ureña was facing three charges for conspiracy, importing and distribution of controlled substances from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.
The parties agreed to recommend the minimum statutory sentence, and his co-accused, Maria Carmelina Polanco Tavarez, also reached a deal with the prosecution.
Collado Ureña was arrested in Puerto Rico on 12 June 2017 while he was carrying out one of his drug distribution journeys.
According to a statement at the court from an agent from the US Drug Control Administration (DEA), Collado Ureña and Polanco Taveras had been trying to import 20 kilograms of cocaine from the Dominican Republic. The event was captured on audiotape.
The DEA agent said that Collado Ureña, offered a DEA informant US$60,000 to buy eight kilos of cocaine to later send it to Puerto Rico. The recorded telephone conversation stated that if the eight-kilo import was successful, they would then send 100 kilos to the island.
https://almomento.net/puerto-rico-e...-culpable-narcotrafico-encara-10-anos-carcel/
MasterChef resumes on Sunday, 7 April
The popular TV reality show, Master Chef, in its Dominican version, will be back on Dominican TV as of Sunday, 7 April 2019. The show will be on from 7 to 9pm on Telesistema, Channel 11. The jurors will be the same as last year, chefs Leandro Díaz, Inés Páez (Chef Tita) and Saverio Stassi. Mildred Quiroz returns as the host for the show that won the Soberano Award for Best Seasonal Program of the Year. She said the promoters of the show are working on two separate versions: Masterchef Celebrity and Masterchef Junior with their dates to be announced.
Nikole Morilla was the winner of the first season of Masterchef RD.
https://masterchefrd.com/
https://elnacional.com.do/estamos-agradecidos-con-los-dominicanos/