2008 – Page 204

The advantages of time saved and safety provided by the newly opened Northeast Expressway that connects Santo Domingo with Samana are offset by the cost of the tolls. It costs more than RD$600 to travel to and from Samana on the Expressway by car and over RD$2,400 by truck. While drivers interviewed by Hoy newspaper …

Read more…

The Dominican Medical Association (CMD) has announced the continuation of its strike action in pursuit of higher salaries and an elimination of fees for patients in public hospitals. Their next work stoppage will affect the north of the country and will last for 24 hours. CMD president Waldo Ariel Suero announced the strike at a …

Read more…

The local beer companies have turned to light beer as a way of saving money without losing customers, according to an article in today’s Listin Diario. Esteban Delgado writes that the move to lighter beers with lower alcoholic content is also designed to attract new clients. As the reporter says, “it’s all business.” The Dominican …

Read more…

Economist Luis Vargas says that the DR’s trade deficit with the United States is up 92.1% to US$955.9 million, up from US$497.7 million for the same first quarter last year. As reported in Hoy, he says that the deficit is a combination of a 23.4% increase to US$2.27 billion in imports, plus a decline of …

Read more…

The Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior and Police are each trying to exert control over the growing private security business. According to Diario Libre, the ministries are fighting so intensely over final control of the sector that the process in the Dominican Congress that will actually produce a bill to oversee the …

Read more…

The chief of police in the Dominican Republic, Guillermo Guzman Fermin, told reporters and an audience of police officers that he was in Santiago to support the efforts of General Raudo Ramirez Comas in his work to tackle the ongoing crime wave in the region. The police chief had expressed some negative comments last weekend …

Read more…

Super Pola is promoting 35% reductions on fruits and vegetables. La Cadena is advertising squash for RD$3.95lb, Tommy Adkins mangos for RD$5.95ea, pears for RD$41.95lb, ripe plantains for RD$7.95ea, red onions for RD$7.95, and green beans for RD$15.95lb. Nacional supermarket is offering 40% off eggplant, and 20% off other fruits and vegetables. Also, Milex milk …

Read more…

President Leonel Fernandez is back in the DR after a 10-day overseas trip during which he attended the FAO World Food Summit in Rome and met with potential investors in Spain. Fernandez and First Lady Margarita Cedeno arrived on an Iberia flight from Madrid at 3:30pm yesterday. He was greeted at the airport by Vice …

Read more…

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) presented its study “The Dominican Republic in 2030: Towards a cohesive nation” with a proposal for a 25-year agenda for the DR at the Presidential Palace yesterday. Delegates from 50 Western Hemisphere countries are meeting in Santo Domingo for the 32nd assembly of the Economic …

Read more…

The US Embassy is providing US$600,000 to conduct a feasibility study on setting up a 911 emergency help system in the DR. The agreement was signed with the Ministry of Interior and Police. Verioska Mella, director of the Call Center 911 and Teresa Rojas, director of the Program and Planning Division at the Ministry of …

Read more…