2001 – Page 127

The director of Vegetation Sanitation at the Ministry of Agriculture has warned that Black Sigatoka is now found in the DR. It is a leaf disease that causes yield losses of 50% or more, premature ripening and is a serious defect in exported fruit. He said all efforts must be expended to prevent the disease …

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In its Latin American Prospects 2001 report, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has revised its January forecast of 6% growth rate for the DR to 4%. This is down from 7.8% in 2000 and 8.2% in 1999. In the report, the organization revises growth forecasts for Latin American countries downward …

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The promoters of the Zona Franca Multimodal Caucedo announced they hope to start construction in August of this year. Samuel Conde and Manuel Enrique Tavares said they are awaiting completion of the environmental impact study required by the Ministry of Environment to grant the go ahead to the project. In an interview in Hoy newspaper …

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Caribbean Business reporter John Collins writes that Costa Rica is hard on the heels of the Dominican Republic and the DR could lose its position as the United State’s largest trading partner in the Caribbean. He points out that exports from Costa Rica to the US could surpass those from the DR by the end …

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The Institute of Human Rights of Santo Domingo is hosting the conference “Challenges of the First Ombudsman of the Dominican People” this Thursday. Speakers will be Minister of Labor Milton Ray Guevara, who wrote the original bill that created the post; Rhadys Abreu de Polanco, advisor on human rights at the Ministry of Foreign Relations; …

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El Caribe newspaper reports that the Ministry of Education’s Psychological Orientation Department will evaluate 11-year old Benjamin Peña’s intelligence. The Department is sponsoring his visit to Santo Domingo. They have prepared an agenda for him that includes a visit with President Hipolito Mejia and to city museums. Samanel, a leading computer sales company, will donate …

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Dominicans can now vote for the players of the Major League All Star Game. Baninter, a leading communications and financial organization, launched the program together with Deportes en la Cumbre, a sports-oriented business. The program will enable Dominican baseball fans to vote for the Dominicans listed as possible players in the Major League All Star …

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President Hipolito Mejia, nine months into his leadership, has shuffled managers of the National Lottery, Civil Aviation, Customs, Migration, Post Office, Digenor, Inespre, Omsa and the Commission for the Reform of State Enterprises (Crep).  Anibal Amparo Garcia, who was the director of the Civil Aviation Board, was sent to direct the National Lottery.  Retired General …

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The General Controller of the Republic, Federico Lalane Jose denies that there are 350,000 employees on the Mejia administration payroll. He said it is true that 350,000 checks are being issued, but it is because many employees receive two to four salaries. He said that in many institutions, employees are let go and the cancellation …

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