2007 – Page 122

President Leonel Fernandez and First Lady Margarita Cedeno spent most of yesterday performing inaugurations and cutting ribbons. In Villa Altagracia (VA) and Santiago, the First Family inaugurated two hi-tech community centers that will provide Internet access to large sections of the population. Called Community Technological Centers (CTS), each one has 30 computer terminals that are …

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Seven important private sector groups have released a document that takes a long hard look at Dominican education. The consensus is that the deficiency in the national educational system is the country’s greatest problem. The seven associations pledged to join forces to tackle it. The National Council of Private Business (CONEP), the American Chamber of …

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While textile exports from other Central American nations have fallen, none has seen the decrease suffered by the Dominican Republic, as reported in Diario Libre. Both the total value and the overall volume have been reduced in the face of the new global realities. Of the five Central American nations, only two, Guatemala and Costa …

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The Family Health Insurance Plan (SFS) got the “go ahead” from the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) and the National Association of Private Clinics despite several unresolved issues. According to Diario Libre, the medical laboratories are still at odds with the government and are waiting their turn to present their proposals for payment for laboratory services. …

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President Leonel Fernandez has appointed Franklin Beltre Cabral to replace German Pena Guadalupe at the Land Transport Office (OTTT). He also appointed engineer Pedro Diaz Paniagua to head the new Fondo de Desarrollo del Transporte Terrestre (FONDET), the Fernandez administration’s transporter assistance fund, which has been dubbed Plan Renove II. Diaz, the former executive director, …

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Interviewed on Channel 11 TV’s El Telematutino program yesterday, economist Bernardo Vega criticized what he described as excessive governmental spending. He said that President Leonel Fernandez has followed his predecessor, President Hipolito Mejia’s example. He addressed the increased the public payroll and spending despite President Leonel Fernandez having told the nation in his inaugural speech …

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A group of civil society organizations have begun a campaign to engage citizens about the need to fight corruption. Rafael Madera, spokesman for the group, said yesterday that their campaign focuses on large and small-scale corruption. He said that studies carried out show that small-scale corruption cost Dominicans RD$6.2 billion in 2006. Madera said that …

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Temple University professor Rosario Espinal analyzes the changes in Dominican electioneering in Hoy today. She says that in politics there is always the big risk that pragmatism will annihilate idealism. She says that the PLD is now on this road, the same way as the PRD in the 80s, when it abandoned its democratic ideals …

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The chief magistrate of the Central Electoral Board, Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman, has asked the group of high ranking former officers of the Dominican Armed Forces to provide evidence that the government is planning to commit fraudulent acts during the upcoming elections. Castanos Guzman also predicted that the complaint filed by the Dominican Revolutionary Party …

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Oscar Pena Chacon, the new chief executive of the largest Dominican telecommunications company, Codetel, has praised the business climate in the DR and announced that this year the company would be investing US$250 million, in their first year of their operation of the former Verizon operation. As reported in El Caribe, the company is investing …

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