DR1 Daily News - Tuesday, 1 October 2019

D

Dolores

Guest
Work is now speeding up completion of Puerto Plata-Navarette road
Punta Catalina tests its second unit
Dengue cases stabilize
Dysfunctional families
Cargo ship runs aground
Marino Zapete taken off his TV show due to pressures from Attorney General
Autopsy reveals teenage tourist death was caused by electrocution
MLB claims US$5.8 million in unpaid fees from Telemicro
Haina garbage dump blaze in its sixth day
Eleven provinces under alert for rains
DR to play FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament



Work is now speeding up completion of Puerto Plata-Navarette road
After President Danilo Medina visited the construction site of the expansion of the Puerto Plata to Navarette road, the pace of work at the main road to the north coast has picked up. The way has been under construction for years, with advances happening at turtle speed. Medina said he hoped to be able to inaugurate this road and the Gregorio Luperón road to Puerto Plata before 15 December 2019.

More than 20 years ago, local businesses, community members and transport unions asked for an expansion of the leading road to the north coast.

It is 46.8 kilometers long. Construction is now 85% complete.

The Medina government had committed to finishing the road in time for the opening of the Amber Cove cruise ship terminal in 2015.

Puerto Plata had voted for an opposition party senator, José Ignacio Paliza, in the 2016 election. Paliza is the president of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM).

https://eldia.com.do/tras-visita-de...truccion-en-carretera-puerto-plata-navarrete/


Punta Catalina tests its second unit
The second unit of the Punta Catalina thermoelectrical plant is undergoing its first-generation trials and is readying to enter the electricity grid. It added 21 megawatts to the National Interconnected Electricity System (SENI) on Sunday, 29 September 2019.

Presidency spokesman Roberto Rodríguez Marchena explained that the unit was synchronized at Sunday, 29 September 2019, in the afternoon when it provided electricity to the system for the first time. It was then disconnected and prepared to be synchronized once again on Wednesday, 2 October.

The first unit, tested over the past three months, is out of service for technical reviews.

https://eldia.com.do/punta-catalina-ii-entra-al-sistema-por-primera-vez/


Dengue cases stabilize
According to Jose Manuel Puello, director, Prevention of Illnesses Transmitted by Mosquitos, Ministry of Public Health, over the last four weeks, the number of dengue cases has stabilized. So far, there have been 11,332 affected, with 27 deaths. From 11 August to 7 September, there was a slight decline of 20 fewer cases from one week to the next.

However, Clemente Terrero, the deputy director of the Robert Reid Cabral Hospital, maintains it is too early to say that the spreading of dengue is under control. He said recent rains could again give rise to more mosquitos and hence more cases of the disease.

https://eldia.com.do/dengue-registra-mejoria/


Dysfunctional families
A new study carried out by Aldeas Infantiles SOS, “Children at Risk of Losing Parental Care in the Dominican Republic,” more than half of children in the country do not live with their parents.
The organization carried out the study in commemoration of National Day of Children’s Rights on Sunday, 29 September 2019.

The study reveals that at least 2,000 children are homeless and 47.3% live with relatives other than their parents. The main reasons are poverty, intra-family violence, child labor and orphaned children. Many femicides leave children orphaned.

The study said that more than two-thirds of the child population is disciplined with physical punishment and there is a need for more education on this issue.

https://hoy.com.do/mas-de-la-mitad-...us-padres-segun-estudio-de-aldeas-infantiles/


Cargo ship runs aground
The Dominican (Navy helped a cargo ship that had run aground near Alto Velo island, to the southwest of La Beata. The grounding happened when the ship’s bow thruster broke down. The ship had been traveling from Florida to Haina Port in southern Santo Domingo.

Naval spokesman Captain José Geraldo Fajardo said that the ship, Habib Express, registered in Tanzania, had left Miami on 11 September 2019, loaded with a cargo for the Dominican Republic. A coastguard assisted the crew and worked to ensure that no oil seep into the ocean, causing an environmental hazard. A private company will tow the ship to the dock in Haina.

https://hoy.com.do/barco-que-venia-...-queda-varado-en-alta-mar-tras-sufrir-averia/


Marino Zapete taken off his TV show due to pressures from Attorney General
Journalist Marino Zapete revealed that his TV program, El Jarabe, was taken off the air due to pressure by Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez after the claims of irregularities in government contracting he presented on 25 September 2019.

When interviewed on the El Dia TV show by Huchi Lora and Javier Cabreja, Zapete said that Luis Garcia, the owner of Teleradio América, had written to him saying that the Attorney General of the Republic had called him and said that his sister, Maybeth, was going to sue Zapete. Garcia also told him that the Attorney General said that the TV station was included in the lawsuit, but because they were friends, he [Jean Alain Rodriguez] had told his sister to take the station out of the lawsuit.

Zapete's lawyer, Jorge Luis Polanco, said the only thing that Zapete did on his El Jarabe talk show was to share evidence of irregularities he had obtained using the Law for Access to Public Information. During the El Dia TV program, Polanco confirmed claims made by his client were all backed by certificates made by the government departments themselves.

Zapete revealed that Gonzalo Castillo, when he was at the Ministry of Public Works (MOPC), had given three contracts to one company, Asimra, SRL, owned by the sister of the Attorney General, Maybeth Virginia Rodríguez Sánchez, from June 2013 to November 2020. The contracts are worth around US$15 million.

Maybeth Rodríguez has not presented evidence that the claims made by Zapete on the irregularities in government contracting between former Public Works Minister Gonzalo Mejía and Asimra SRL are untruthful.

News commentator Marino Zapete said on El Dia: "The Public Prosecutor's Office is supposed to investigate if a complaint is made, but no, what they ask is that I retract myself, when what they should have done is to submit me to Justice... It is the prosecutors who should eventually investigate to see if there is merit in what is being presented. What they do is persecute the journalist who denounces it, and they get to the point of condemning the journalist,” he said.

He reached this conclusion after reading a tweet Rosalba Ramos, National District prosecutor, who stated: “Freedom of expression has a limit: the truth". “In other words, they already investigated and determined that what I said is a lie," he remarked.

Castillo is presently running for the presidential candidacy on the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) ticket.
Zapete is known as a muckraking journalist. When President Hipólito Mejía was in office, he ordered Zapete to be jailed for an investigative journalistic report he had carried out.

Marino Zapete’s daily “El Jarabe” show continues on his YouTube channel. This is not the first investigative reporter who has been suspended from a TV or radio show. In an earlier case, Edith Febles (now on YouTube as Edith Febles, La Cosa Como Es) was removed for denouncing irregularities in the procedures carried out by the Attorney General Office to overhaul all the prosecutors in the country. Another journalist removed from their TV or radio shows for denouncing administrative corruption in the Medina administration was Altagracia Salazar (now on YouTube as Altagracia Salazar Sin Maquillaje) who has also established her YouTube channel.

https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...rocurador-responde-a-marino-zapete-HD14423411
https://listindiario.com/la-republi...a-prefiero-morir-de-pie-que-vivir-de-rodillas
https://hoy.com.do/video-marino-zap...-del-aire-de-su-programa-de-tv-por-presiones/
https://eldia.com.do/zapete-denuncia-procurador-presiono-dueno-de-canal-para-que-sacara-programa/
https://n.com.do/2019/09/27/telerad...apete-por-presiones-de-hermana-de-jean-alain/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6EpDazhoQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ss5Bd0uOpc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR6wPCHjz9s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XgAXpo2ehA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHcpJW4DtN4&t=6s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD2kEzYa6Pw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbeq4QNzF0o


Autopsy reveals teenage tourist death was caused by electrocution
The results of the autopsy carried out on 17-year-old Argentinian María Melina Caputo Flores, who died in August 2019, show that she died due to electrocution, as her parents have claimed, and not due to natural causes. The director of the National Pathology Institute, Santo Jimenez Paez, confirmed this as the cause of her death to Diario Libre newspaper. The 17 August preliminary autopsy indicated the girl had been electrocuted.

Her parents said that she received an electric shock when climbing up the stairs from the sea to the wooden dock at the resort. The hotel has alleged there is no electrical installation at the point.

The child was staying with her parents at the Hotel Be Live Collection Canoa.

The mother and uncles of the deceased have complained that the provincial prosecutor for La Altagracia, Aneury Castillo de Jesús, is not doing anything at all, despite their official complaint.

https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...or-electrocucion-en-hotel-bayahibe-AF14445234
https://www.clarin.com/sociedad/mue...o-melina-caputo-electrocutada_0_SzpFuHGs.html
https://hoy.com.do/confirman-turista-murio-descarga-electrica-hotel-rd/


MLB claims US$5.8 million in unpaid fees from Telemicro
Major League Baseball Properties (MLB) is asking the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to confirm, recognize and enforce the International Centre for Dispute Resolution arbitrator’s ruling in its breach of contract claim against respondent Corporaciones de Televisión y Microonda Rafa S.A. (Telemicro). The petition states the case was required to go to arbitration, which eventually resulted in Telemicro being ordered in May 2019 to pay MLB the $5.8 million. The amount includes unpaid rights fees, pre-award interest, attorney and administrative fees and other sums.

The case stems from an agreement MLB and Telemicro entered into in 2016 allowing Telemicro exclusive rights to broadcast Spanish language MLB content in the Dominican Republic through 2018. Due to Telemicro's alleged failure to make payments for the broadcast rights per the agreement, MLB terminated the contract.

MLB seeks to have the court confirm the final award and grant monetary relief.

MLB is represented by Steven Kobre, Josef Klazen and Joshua Kushner of Kobre & Kim LLP in New York City and Miami.

https://legalnewsline.com/stories/5...ward-enforced-against-dominican-media-company


Haina garbage dump blaze in its sixth day
Firemen say that the fire at the Haina municipal dump in San Cristóbal has been extinguished in 65%, but the smoke continues to affect the community that is located west of the National District. The Haina firechief, Manuel María said they have been able to reduce smoke by around 80%. They continue to battle the fire at the rubbish dump but are calling for more collaboration from the National Institute of Potable Water and Sewage (Inapa) and the Santo Domingo Water Cooperation (CAASD) to put out the blaze.

https://www.diariolibre.com/actuali...dero-de-haina-llega-a-su-sexto-dia-DF14445644


Eleven provinces under alert for rains
The National Meteorological Office (Onamet) forecasts heavy rains will continue for a few more days. Eleven provinces are still under alert for floods. A weather front across Haiti is bringing the rainstorms. The rains are expected to affect the east, northeast, southeast, southwest, nor, central mountain area and the border. The rains are most likely in the afternoon and early evening.

The provinces under alert are Hermanas Mirabal, San Cristóbal, Santiago, Dajabón, Espaillat, La Vega, Valverde, Monseñor Nouel, Santiago Rodríguez, San Juan de la Maguana and the Greater Santo Domingo area.

https://listindiario.com/la-republi...imas-48-horas-11-provincias-estan-bajo-alerta


DR to play FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The Dominican Republic will play in Group A of the FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the Americas. Also in the group are Canada, Cuba and Puerto Rico. In Group B, Argentina, USA, Brazil and Colombia will play.

The DR won the right to play the tournament after defeating Argentina 67-65 and placing among the top eight of the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2019 Final. The tournament ended last week at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the Americas will take place from 14-17 November 2019 in Bahia Blanca, Argentina and in Edmonton, Canada.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2020 in February next year.

The rankings for the participating teams as of 18 October 2018 are Dominican Republic (#44), Canada (#5), Cuba (#14), Puerto Rico (#22), Argentina (#15), Brazil (#9), Colombia (#34) and USA (#1).

http://www.fiba.basketball/rankingwomen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQMy7GYP9xM
http://www.fiba.basketball/womensam...-fiba-women-s-americup-2019-title-in-san-juan
https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2019/09/30/584720/dominicana-vence-a-equipo-de-argentina