2000 – Page 167

The World Bank has authorized a US$5.5 grant to establish distance learning programs throughout the nation’s public schools. The money will be used to acquire hardware and software, and provide instructor training, for a program of the World Bank’s Training Institute, which has created similar arrangements in other Asian, African and Latin American nations. The …

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The first hundred and eighty vehicles of what will ultimately be a fleet of 2,000 new taxis to serve the National District (i.e. Santo Domingo and environs) were unloaded from a Spanish transport ship at the pier in Haina over the weekend. The six passenger vehicles, which resemble fore-shortened mini-vans, will be powered by gasoil, …

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The Director of the Santo Domingo Water and Sewer Company (CAASD) has asked the Director of the National Institute of Water Resources (INDRHI) to divert 75% of the water generated by the Valdesia Dam to Santo Domingo’s uses. Currently, 50% of Valdesia’s water is directed toward the capital, a quantity that nonetheless leaves "the majority …

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The newly empowered Superintendent of Electricity has not yet created consumer complaint booths due to lack of funds. Only a small part of the DR$11 million (about US$687,000) budgeted for the purpose has been delivered by the Ministry of Commerce. The decision to place the booths in each branch of the private electric companies was …

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Out of 400,000 electric consumers located in the "eastern region," comprising the eastern half of SD and the five easternmost provinces, just 275,000 are clients of the electric company that serves them. This finding was reported in a document titled "Report 1999-2000" issued by AES del Este, which is one of the trio of companies …

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Four gun-wielding thieves struck a branch of the Popular Savings and Loan Association (Associacion Popular de Ahorros y Prestamos) and made off with over DR$400,000 (around US$25,000) last Friday. Only one of the thieves, who were described by bank employee Maria Isabel Garcia as "very young," took the trouble to wear a mask. The heist …

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For the second time in four months, the Mayor of Santo Domingo has been involved in an automobile accident. According to Robert del Castillo, press officer to Mayor Johnny Ventura, his honor had a "tremendous scare," and held "a discussion in an elevated tone of voice" with the other vehicle’s driver. No one was hurt …

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Mayor Ventura is not alone. A division of the National Directorate of Urban Transport (DGTT) has disclosed that traffic incidents in the capital have increased by 12.15% and 14.68% respectively in the two years since 1997. The year 1999 saw 19, 917 accidents reported, as compared with 17,280 in 19978, and 18,380 in 1998. Fatalities …

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The gifted impersonator, Julio Sabala, whose uncannily precise impressions of performers such as Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias and Stevie Wonder have delighted audiences for many years, is returning to his homeland for a limited engagement. Sabala, who won’t reveal his age, is a native of SD, but performs mostly in Europe and North America. So …

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In a well-timed counterpoint to the largely negative critique offered by the United Nations Development Agency (PNUD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) has hailed the DR for its increased expenditures directed toward the eradication of poverty. CEPAL is also a UN dependency. The PNUD report, published earlier the week, found …

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