President Danilo Medina issued Decree 168-18 on Wednesday, 9 May 2018 appointing four key cabinet ministers.
Agronomist Ángel Estévez, formerly minister of Agriculture, who will be replacing Francisco Domínguez Brito at the held of the Ministry of Environment. Domínguez Brito recently resigned the position announcing he would dedicate himself to his campaign for the PLD presidential candidacy in the 2020 general election. The Ministry of Environment faces many controversial issues, including the issuing or not of permits for mining operations and for the construction of high rises in the Punta Cana area, as well as actions to regulate waste disposal and use.
To head the Ministry of Agriculture, the Presidency appointed Osmar Benítez. Benítez is the long time head of the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD), and a long time close government collaborator.
At the Ministry of Public Health, the President appointed Rafael Sánchez Cardenas to replace Altagracia Guzmán Marcelino. Sánchez was serving as deputy minister at the Ministry of Superior Education at the time of his appointment. Guzmán was named honorary medical advisor to the Expediente Integrado de Salud division. The Ministry of Public Health has been in the press for recent deaths of newborns at the Barahona hospital that is being remodeled by the government. The Ministry is challenged by a widespread hospital renovation program that has affected the operations of several working public hospitals and by recent efforts to instate controls on the medical staff, as well as by demand of immigrants seeking free services on the public hospitals.
President Medina appointed architect and former consul in New York City, Eduardo Selman as the country’s minister of Culture. He replaces Pedro Vergés.
In the same decree, the Presidency appoints Narciso Reyes Cabrera as deputy minister for international relations of the Ministry of Superior Education (Mescyt).
To the board of the Banco de Reservas, the Presidency appointed Kirsis Fernández, to replace Kenia Lora Abreu. Lora Abreu was appointed director general of the Consejo Nacional para la Niñez y la Adolescencia (Conani).
Félix Estrella and Chanel Marie Stocker Bogaert were appointed to the board of the Consejo de Directores de la Unidad de Electrificación Rural y Suburbana (UERS).
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Presidencia
10 May 2018
