1998 – Page 19

Just days after a poll showed him to be the favorite choice of most Dominicans to be the Reformista (PRSC) candidate for President in the year 2000, former Vice President Jacinto Peynado announced that he would launch "within hours" the process to make him an official PRSC presidential precandidate. Besides completing the registration process within …

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At the meeting held yesterday at the National Palace, President Leonel Fernández approved the settlement plan presented by officials of the Banco de Reservas (Banreservas) and the Commission for the Reform of Public Enterprise (CREP) in regards to the tremendous debt owed Banreservas by state firms headed for capitalization. The Dominican Electricity Corporation (CDE), State …

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Just two weeks before CDE becomes the first state-owned enterprise to be put to bids in the Government’s capitalization program, a coalition of five leftist organizations have announced that they will seek court actions to block the program’s implementation. The Patriotic Union (UPA), Dominican Workers Party (PTD), Dominican Popular Movement (MPD), Communist Workers Party (PCT) …

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Groups affiliated with the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) are drafting proposed changes to the tariff reform bill sent to Congress by the Fernández Government two weeks ago, says the newspaper Hoy. AIRD members are disturbed that the government’s proposal leaves the tariff levels for many primary materials at high levels, some …

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The Director-General of the Corporation for Industrial Promotion (CFI), José Tomás Pérez, reported yesterday that the nation’s free zones ("zonas francas") will set an export record this year, exporting around US$3.1 billion worth of goods and services despite the production interruption caused by Hurricane Georges. In the 1997 the zones exported US$2.6 billion. Pérez projected …

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At a press conference held yesterday at the National Palace, the Director of the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewer Corporation (CAASD), engineer Euclides Sánchez, announced that the Fernández Government plans to invest RD$1 billion over the next year and a half to solve Santo Domingo’s longstanding water supply problem. RD$300 million of this will be …

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The Ministry of Public Health (SESPRES) issued a warning yesterday against a group of swindlers, passing themselves off as SESPRES officials, extorting money from merchants, producers and others in exchange for falsified sanitary permits and certificates. Many establishments, including colmados, supermarkets, restaurants, bars, food processors and others, are required to get special permits or certificates …

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On Wednesday. the Executive Director of the Dominican Association for the Well-being of the Family (PROFAMILIA), Magaly Caram, raised a lot of eyebrows by calling on the Fernández Government to return full-fledged sex education in the nation’s schools. Caram cited a number of alarming statistics about teenage pregnancy in the DR (23% of girls age …

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National Police (PN) spokesman Simón Diaz announced yesterday that the PN’s chief, Major General José Aníbal Sanz Jiminián, has ordered a nationwide mobilization of 25,000 police officers starting next Monday with the aim of keeping the holidays safe for citizens. The operation will last until Three Kings Day (Epiphany), January 6th. Diaz said that normal …

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The DR’s Attorney-General, Mariano Germán Mejía, yesterday ordered the release of a Dominican man held while waiting a decision on his possible extradition to the United States. 33-year old Victor López Paulino had been detained by the National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) and the U.S. had sought his extradition to stand trial for allegedly killing …

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