2001 – Page 124

The Chamber of Deputies gave second reading to a bill that would provide major incentives to companies building hotels and tourism businesses in less developed destinations. The bill would provide tax exemptions for projects in Jarabacoa, Constanza, Espaillat, Santiago, Juan Sanchez Ramirez, Maria Trinidad Sanchez (Rio San Juan and Playa Grande), Samana (Las Terrenas, Portillo, …

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El Caribe newspaper reports that local interest rates have been declining. During the first three months of the year interest rates went from 30.33% average in December to 29.14 in March. They dropped to 26.8% in April and could end this month at an average of 25%, with the prime rate hovering at 24%. This …

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Chief of the Police Pedro de Jesus Candelier ordered that plain clothes police officers not be allowed to attend riots. Colonel Nelson Rosario, spokesman for the Police, said the order will limit the participation of plain clothes officers to extreme cases only. In those cases, the police should carry rifles instead of pistols.

Atlanta Braves president Stan Kasten and general manager John Schuerholz visited San Francisco de Macoris in the Northeast to formally open the Las Caobas Baseball Training Camp. The RD$50 million investment was made together with Jose Hazim, president of Los Pollos winter professional baseball team. The Braves intend to have all their Latin American players …

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Congress finally passed the bill that provides the legal framework to organize sports activities in the country. Deputy Elias Wessin Chavez, a former minister of Sports, was most active in convincing his fellow congressmen to move on the bill. The President must sign the bill before it becomes law.

Dominican high jumper Juana Arrendel will compete in the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics scheduled for 3-12 August in Edmonton, Canada. This will be her first competition abroad following her two year ban after testing positive in the Pan American Games of Winnipeg. Arrendel won a gold in the Pan Am Games, only to …

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The Ministry of Environment is urging everyone to turn off their cars for a day and joint the bicycle ride from the Mirador del Sur Park to the National Music Conservatory (Pedro Henriquez Ureña and Alma Mater streets). The event is being organized by the Ministry to create awareness of the the importance of the …

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President Hipolito Mejia leaves this afternoon for a four-day trip to Central America. With this trip to Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, President Mejia will have visited every Central American country during the first nine months of his government. President Mejia is primarily going to attend the Central America, Belize and Dominican Republic summit on …

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The judges of the Junta Central Electoral, the government body in charge of organizing elections in the DR, voted in favor of adopting the new electoral system under Law 275-97. Some sectors within the ruling PRD party had opposed the change in the way citizens vote for congressional representatives and city government aldermen. The JCE …

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