1999 – Page 199

The Senate yesterday approved in first reading the bill which would authorize the Government to issue bonds to pay off RD$500 million in its debt to suppliers and contractors of public works. Passage had been delayed because of complete opposition to the measure by two Democratic Union (UD) Senators, members of the Santo Domingo Agreement …

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The administrator of the state-owned Dominican Electricity Corporation (CDE) announced this week that the process of "capitalization" (Dominican officials insist that the term "privatization" is inappropriate) of CDE will restart in April. Radham?s Segura said that the bidding for the distribution units of CDE will commence on April 15th, while that for generation units of …

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The President of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES), Rafael Blanco Canto, yesterday released the final statistics of his organization on tourism in the DR during 1998. He cited the statistics during a presentation to the Caribbean-U.S. Forum on Investment and Trade. According to ASONAHORES: (a) 2.3 million tourists came to the DR …

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Customs Director-General Miguel Cocco Guerrero and Airport Security chief General Luis Dami?n Castro Cruz revealed this week that a number of airport security guards and customs employees working at Las Am?ricas International Airport (AILA) have been caught seeking and taking bribes from travelers by hidden cameras that authorities have installed in the Immigration, Customs and …

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The Senate approved in first reading the proposed bill to create a pension system for Dominican sports stars. The bill was approved without amendments, and now goes to study and vetting by the Senate Finance and Sports Committees before coming up for a second reading vote. Originally proposed to Congress by President Fern?ndez in January, …

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The DR’s national selection soccer team plays tonight the most crucial game of the elimination round for the Caribbean Cup. Tonight at 7 pm in Port-au-Prince’s National Stadium the Dominican team faces off against the host Haitian team. Haiti is favored to win the elimination round and be the team that goes to the Cup …

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The First Caribbean-U.S. Forum on Trade and Investment opened yesterday morning at the Jaragua Hotel in Santo Domingo. The event brings together some 300 official and private sector delegations from the U.S. and the Caribbean region to discuss trade and investment policy issues and opportunities. The first welcoming speech was from Eddy Martinez, Investment Promotion …

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In his welcoming speech yesterday to the First Caribbean-U.S. Forum on Trade and Investment being held here in Santo Domingo, President Fern?ndez announced the creation of a new kind of free trade zone (FTZ, or "zona franca" as they are known in the DR) – a "cyber-city" that will be devoted to attracting investors linked …

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The fifth session of the political dialogue is due to be convened at the National Palace at 4 pm today amid hopes of a breakthrough. Participants claimed that the last session, on Tuesday, saw significant progress made on the two thorniest political issues, the composition of the Central Election Board (JCE) and who should be …

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The bill to create the General Law on Electricity was finally reintroduced yesterday by three Senators from the Santo Domingo Agreement (ASD) bloc. [The ASD groups PRD with a series of small allied parties). The bill’s chief sponsor is Jos? Gonz?lez Espinosa (Dominican Workers Party – Barahona), who claimed that the bill is a "consensus …

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