1999 – Page 20

The Junta Central Electoral, the Dominican government body in charge of organizing the 2000 presidential election, had criticized Dominicans yesterday, saying that it is part of national idiosyncrasy to leave everything for last minute. The reference was made to the 1.5 million Dominicans that have as of yet to get their voting/identification cards. As a …

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Of 3,000 new policemen job openings, the National Police has only been able to recruit 300. Apparently the starting salaries of RD$1,600 and long work hours are not attractive to Dominicans. Hoy newspaper recently published that 9 out of 10 policemen make less than RD$6,000. The great majority make less than RD$3,000, which is barely …

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Hoy newspaper says there could be 50,000 persons in Dominican jails by 2010 if the present situation continues. Of those in jail, 75% have not had judicial hearings, given the backup in the Dominican judiciary. At present there are 18,000 persons in Dominicans jails. The Dirección General de Prisiones, the department in charge of jails, …

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Delegates from 34 Latin American and Caribbean countries will be meeting in Santo Domingo starting tomorrow to revise policies, trends and perspectives for international cooperation come the new millennium. The XIV Meeting of Directors of International Technical Cooperation will take place in Santo Domingo from 1 to 3 December. The inauguration of the event will …

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Minister of Tourism Felix Jiménez says that cruise ships will make 113 stops at Dominican ports, bringing 116,572 tourists on board from 13 October to 30 April 2000. Ships will make 73 stops at the Port of Santo Domingo, bringing 58,150 tourists. Catalina Island in La Romana will receive 40 cruise ship visits, bringing 58,150 …

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The Dominican Republic is the spokescountry for the unified grouping of African, Caribbean and Pacific states before the II World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (www.wto.org) that opens in Seattle, USA 30 November. The position of the ACP governments for "globalization with a human face" also has the support of Latin America and Eastern Europe. The …

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President Rene Preval of Haiti and President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic met for lunch for an hour and a half on Saturday. President Preval was in the DR for the II African, Caribbean and Pacific Summit that concluded on Saturday. He had already shared President Fernández’s table at other activities during the summit. …

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El Siglo newspaper reports that 18 inmates will be exhibiting at the Sala Maria Ugarte of the Centro Cultural de España, the Colonial City Spanish embassy-sponsored cultural center. The exhibit/sale of art, clothing and cakes is the result of months of efforts by Monte Plata inmates. When Colombian inmate Julio Cesar Valencia Quintana (one would …

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An eight-second blackout introduced the 35 visiting dignitaries to life in the Dominican Republic yesterday morning, prior to the opening of the II African, Caribbean and Pacific Summit. It took about the eight seconds for the back-up power plant to kick in. Street power was restored three minutes later. News reports say the blackout was …

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The reduction of poverty, the pardoning of the foreign debt as a measure to help countries develop, and the effects of globalization on developing economies were recurrent themes focused upon by those speaking at the opening ceremony. Host President Leonel Fernández called the attention of developing nations to the extreme burden the foreign debt is …

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