President Leonel Fernandez has declared the Consejo Estatal del Azucar (CEA) as being in a state of emergency, and ordered the payment of overdue salaries and the inclusion in next year’s budget of the necessary resources required for the sugar crop. The payment of the overdue salaries is going to be effected with a special subsidy from the government totalling RD$51 million that will be handed over this week. Other measures, including the exchange of the CEA’s lands close to urban centers, for debt settlement, were announced by CEA’s Executive Director, Antonio Isa Conde.