2004 – Page 32

Transport union entrepreneur Ramon Perez Figuereo said that businessman Johnny Morales benefited from a US$90-million purchase order for transport equipment that was granted without a legal tender and without his ever having been a dealer or concessionaire of vehicles. Morales is presently under domiciliary arrest for his involvement in the Plan Renove case. Perez said …

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The Dominican Republic’s team finished in third place at the 14th Pan American Taekwondo Championships held over the past weekend in Santo Domingo, thereby earning three gold medals. Gina Maria Ruiz won the third gold on Sunday in the 72-kilo event, defeating Mexican Maria de Jesus Mata. Ruiz had won a gold in the 2003 …

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President Leonel Fernandez is traveling to Costa Rica today to join the XIV Iberian-American Summit Conference of Presidents and Heads of State. He is scheduled to return on Sunday, 21 November. First Lady Margarita Cedeno, Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, the Presidential press secretary and the head of the Reserve Bank of the Dominican Republic …

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The Ministry of Public Health rejected a proposal made by the Dominican Medical College (CMD) that sought to give the doctors a 50% pay raise in January 2005, and another 50% pay raise in January 2006, rather then the 30% offered by the government. The immediate reaction of the CMD was to call a 72-hour …

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The government of the Dominican Republic announced yesterday that a delegation had left for Washington, DC in order to negotiate the remaining details of the new IMF program, as reports Beat Siegenthaler of Commerzbank in a release today. Members of the delegation are Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas, Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa and …

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Charles Rangel, the Democratic representative from Brooklyn, NY, better known as Charlie to his friends, told the press that President George W Bush was employing pressure tactics that he would not use against other important commercial partners. Rangel was referring to the possible exclusion of the Dominican Republic from the Free Trade Agreement between Central …

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In a note that is closely related to the preceding story, Senate leader Andres Bautista met yesterday with United States Ambassador Hans Hertell, after which he immediately called the Senate to a special session this Saturday. The agenda will include a piece of legislation that would eliminate the 25% tax on soft drinks made with …

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Senators from Elias Pina and Pedernales complained that funds from the European Community that have been channelled through the Cotonou Accords do not reach the frontier provinces for which they were destined. Instead, say the senators, the monies go to more developed provinces like La Romana and Santiago. The legislators did say that they appreciated …

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Agents from the Provincial Office of Price Control spread out in Santiago, checking the prices of the most popular items in the local supermarkets. The first step of the renewed effort to protect consumers will be a survey to establish a baseline of prices for later comparison. Eighteen men and women worked Santiago’s major retailers, …

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The president of the Supreme Court has suspended Judge Francisco Inoa Bisono, the presiding judge in a murder case that involved a police sergeant and a Dominican who resides in New York. The youth accused of the cold-blooded murder of National Police Sergeant Santiago Fortuna Sanchez near a popular bar in Santiago de los Caballeros …

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