1998 – Page 23

The presidents of the National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP) and the Mining and Petroleum Chamber yesterday called upon the CREP to drop its idea of putting harsh penalty clauses into CDE’s contracts with the new regional electricity distribution firms. CONEP’s Celso Marranizi and the Chamber’s Luis Rafael Pellerano noted that CREP is considering inserting …

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Starting today thousands of Dominicans returning home for the holidays will enjoy the traditional holiday customs exemptions on items they bring with them. Under Law 9-96, Dominicans living abroad who have not returned to the DR within the last six months can bring in tax-free sweets, clothes, shoes and electro domestic goods (televisions, stereos, kitchen …

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The news daily Hoy continues to trickle out parts of its November 7-12 opinion poll of 1,000 Dominicans conducted in cooperation with the firm Hamilton & Staff. Today’s installment regards who the general public (as opposed to just the picks of the party faithful) feel should be the presidential candidates for the Reformista Party (PRSC) …

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Finance Minister Daniel Toribio declared yesterday that it might be politically easier for the Fernández government to abandon its tariff reform proposals and seek only a minor adjustment thereof, "but that would be an irresponsible act that the current authorities will not commit." The DR has signed several trade agreements that necessitate the reforms, and …

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Central Bank Governor Héctor Valdez Albizu told reporters yesterday that the Dominican Republic will be the only country in Latin America to close out the year without a balance of payments deficit. Valdez Albizu pointed out that just before Hurricane Georges the Bank’s analysts were projecting a balance of payment deficit of US$12.8 million, and …

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The Dominican Municipal League (LMD) yesterday denounced the national government for failing to send municipalities RD$70 million they were to receive from the national budget, which municipalities use to issue paychecks to their workers and to pay off bills and fulfill local commitments such as trash collection. Law 17/97 requires the National Treasury to remit …

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The association representing the domestic pharmaceutical industry, INFADOMI, is asking for changes to the tariff/tax reform proposal sent to Congress by President Fernández. INFADOMI’s President, César Jiménez, and its Executive Director, Hochi Vega, argued yesterday that the proposal in its current form will favor imports over domestically-produced medicines, harming the local industry. They pointed out …

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It was confirmed that a key figure in the murder case of journalist Orlando Martínez was arrested last Saturday in New York City and that the Dominican Government has formally requested his extradition. Mariano Durán, a former Dominican Air Force corporal, is accused of being the trigger man in the March 17, 1975 shooting of …

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Sugar workers have taken to occupying the Montellano mill until State Sugar Council (CEA) Director Oscar Santiago Batista makes good on his promise to pay them 40% of the back-pay due them since early 1998. The CEA owes its workers some RD$17 million in back pay. Sugar workers picketed the National Palace last week to …

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The Dominican Republic and Central America finalized negotiations and signed the Free Trade Agreement in Miami, on Saturday, 28 November. This is the first free trade agreement completed by the Dominican Republic. A second trade agreement is negotiated with the CARICOM nations of the Caribbean. Ambassador Frederich Emam-Zadé was the nation’s leading negotiator. Negotiations leading …

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