2008 – Page 193

Today’s newspapers give the account of a little girl who stepped on a live wire inside her home and was electrocuted. Dr. Julio Manuel Rodriguez Grullon, the head of the Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital, says that in 2007 274 people were killed by electrocution, more than came to the health center for dengue, measles, TB, …

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Over the weekend the newspapers talked about a weak tropical wave that would bring rains to much of the Dominican Republic. A Green Alert was issued for most of the east and as far north as La Vega. According to Hoy, the last bulletin from the National Meteorological Office (Onamet) was forecasting “rains, lightning and …

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The DR spends RD$944.6 million per year on corruption fighting institutions, but Diario Libre writes that the successes of these entities have been minimal at best. The result of this failure is that it generates skepticism among citizens and creates the perception that all cases are politically motivated. DL writes that between 2004 and 2007 …

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Investors are asking the Ministry of Tourism to help reduce all the red tape involved in approving tourism projects by creating a one-stop approval process. The one-stop process would include the paperwork required by the Ministries of Public Works, Environment and Tourism. Ministry of Tourism sub Minister Radhames Martinez Aponte said that investors had proposed …

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US officials have once again pledged to help the DR in fighting the war against drugs. During a conversation with US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Joseph Nimmich, National Drug Control Department (DNCD) director Rafael Radhames Ramirez Ferreira spoke about the successes the DR has had in the war against drugs. He added that the major …

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The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is the latest organization to chime in on the Santo Domingo Metro project. Although the first line of the Metro is almost complete, the UNDP is criticizing the government for not releasing the environmental studies, plans and or budgets for a public works project of that size. In a …

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Angela Hills, head of Health, Safety and Operational Support at the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) says that British newspapers aren’t publishing relevant tourist information provided by the Dominican Tourism promotion office in London. She added that in cases where information is provided, it is relegated to the back page of the papers. Hills said …

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The National Free Trade Council for Exports has approved the creation of 22 new companies that will be opened in the free trade zones (FTZ). The incorporation of the new businesses will require an investment of RD$832.2 million and could generate as much as US$22 million in revenues and salaries. The new businesses are expected …

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The Center for Exports and Investments – Dominican Republic (CEI-RD) is reporting that representatives from twelve US companies are interested in importing Dominican grown mangos. The US firms are based in New York, New Jersey and Miami. In recent years the Dominican mango has become a hot agricultural commodity. The DR has 1,014 mango producers …

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For the next five years the DR will receive RD$12 billion (EUR220 million) as part of a non-refundable cooperation program. National Authorizing Office for European Funds (ONFED) director Onofre Rojas said that the funds are part of a promise made by the European parliament that seeks to direct 0.56% of its GDP towards development in …

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