1996 – Page 50

The Central Bank has announced that the number of visitors entering the country has grown by 12.9% during the five months ending 31 May 1996, when compared to the same period last year. The hotel occupancy was 76.4% for the same five months, an increase 0.8% over last year.

Juan Bolivar Diaz, veteran journalist and news director of TeleAntillas (channel 2) in Santo Domingo, was convicted of libel and slander by Judge Juan Maria Severino on 19 June, and sentenced to six months in prison with a fine of RD$200 and payment of RD$3,000,000 in damages. The conviction comes after Generoso Ledesma filed a …

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The Ministry of Public Health, together with the Instituto Dominicano de Seguro Social (IDSS) and the Armed Forces, have decided not to allow residents working towards specialists’ qualifications to graduate as they were not able to complete their studies and training during the six-month doctors’ strike in both the public and IDSS hospitals that only …

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Judge Alexis Henríquez Nuñez has continued his questioning in connection with the murder of 12-year-old Jose Rafael Llenas Aybar, who was allegedly killed by his cousin Mario Jose Redondo Llenas and Juan Manuel Moline Rodriguez, both aged 19. Mr. Redondo Llenas was questioned for the second time in two weeks, in addition to Jose Rafael’s …

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The mayor of Haina, Manolo Mesa Morillo, has announced that due to the problems in the Duquesa dump, where the concentration of refuse and resultant toxic gases pose an environmental hazard to the surrounding areas, the central government has ordered refuse collected in the National District to be dumped in Haina. In related news, the …

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More than 30 vehicles stolen on the U.S. mainland and in Puerto Rico, and later shipped to the Dominican Republic, have been recovered in Santo Domingo in the last three months. The majority have been detected at the toll booths on Las Americas highway near Las Americas International Airport and at the ports of East …

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According to a study conducted by Dr. Dajer Acra, a high percentage of workers in factories which work with, or produce car batteries, scrap metal, paint, iron, ceramics, welding materials, refrigeration or anything related to leaded fuel have alarming levels of lead poisoning. Of 1,016 workers employed in such factories, more than 50% showed traces …

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The director of the Dominican Red Cross, Rosa Belliard, claims that 99% of the blood donated to banks throughout the D.R. is safe for transfusion. She said that in the last few years the Ministry of Public Health has tightened its control over blood banks, prompted by the presence of the AIDS virus, and now …

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The Corporación Dominicana de Electricidad (CDE), has received more than RD$2,000 million (US$147.75 million) from the Interamerican Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Investment Fund of Venezuela and the government of Spain for the repairing of power lines, which have been one of the main causes of the frequent power cuts …

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Cigar manufacturers met with President Joaquín Balaguer last week to recognize his efforts in favor of their industry. Hendrick Kelner, president of the Association of Cigar Producers, said that the Dominican Republic continues to be the principal cigar exporter to the world, with an increase of 25% expected this year. The Association of Cigar Producers …

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