2003 – Page 79

While the common citizens of the Dominican Republic have to tighten their belts more and more each day, the government continues to increase its spending. Diario Libre reports that the public sector’s payroll increased by 10-11% in August alone. A governmental budget report published yesterday shows that, in real terms, the government is collecting less …

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El Caribe reports that the 6.5 magnitude earthquake damaged 73 schools in 15 cities from one side of the country to the other. The provinces of Puerto Plata and Santiago were the most severely affected, but schools in San Cristobal, Santo Domingo and Monte Plata in the southcentral part of the country were also damaged. …

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Hoy newspaper says that Union Fenosa (UF) and the Dominican government will sign today for the return the management of the Edesur and Edenorte power distributors to the Dominican government. According to the newspaper’s sources, the company will keep its mid-level management during the two-month transition period. El Caribe reports in its “En la cosa” …

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The Superintendence of Power announced that the cost of electricity would see a 3% increase as of October. Those consuming less than 300 kWh, however, would be spared. Hoy newspaper reports that so far this year, power rates for those consuming more than 300 kWh per month have risen more than 80%. Power rates are …

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The government authorized a RD$50-million initial disbursement primarily to be used to accelerate work at the state university (UASD) facilities in Puerto Plata. The plan is to use the classrooms for the students that were displaced when their schools suffered major structural damage during the 22 September 6.5 magnitude earthquake. The funds disbursement was authorized …

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Alicia Ortega of the Cadena de Noticias news station (CDN Channel 37) will appear live with a special report from Puerto Plata on the 22 September earthquake and the multiple aftershocks in that northern province. The show will be broadcast from 8 to 10pm. The Seismology Institute of the UASD encourages the authorities to study …

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The foreign relations ministers of Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, Roy Chaderton and Francisco Guerrero Prats, respectively, met yesterday in New York, to search for a solution to the impasse that has put a hold on Venezuelan petroleum shipments to the DR. The chancellors were in New York to attend the United Nations Assembly. El …

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The United Nations Development Fund has published a report on the state of the Dominican economy. The compilation of data depicts the same bleak picture as that of the Central Bank’s mid-year report published earlier. The UNDP analysis highlights the fact that government spending for August was up 12% since January of this year. The …

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The Senate building was broken into yesterday and the CPU containing important Senate documents was removed from the office of Senate secretary Paris Goico. The robbers did not bother to remove the monitor of the computer.

EGTT Dominicana, the company that formerly handled Santo Domingo Este municipality’s garbage collection, disputes the statement made by Mayor Domingo Batista which said the company was billing RD$16 million a month for the service, as reported yesterday in DR1 Daily News. “On average, the French company has been billing approximately 10,000 tons a month times …

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