2001 – Page 132

According to an analysis in El Caribe, the year 2000 US Census shows that the Dominican population in the United States has increased 47% in the past 10 years. It has gone from 520,151 in 1990 to 764,945 last year. The census shows that Dominicans make up 2.2% of the Hispanic population, that is in …

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The Dominican government chose the Canadian firm SNC Lavalin International for the construction of the RD$1,600 million aqueduct in the Southwest. The aqueduct is programmed to supply water to some 400,000 inhabitants in the southwestern provinces of Barahona, Bahoruco and Independencia. Ambassador Bruno Picard of Canada was present during the signing of the contract with …

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The Dominican government chose to go ahead with the issuing of the first Dominican sovereign bonds. Advocates of the bond say it will give the government the resources to reactivate the economy and carry out construction projects. The government appointed economist Andres Dauhajre to head the Unidad del Programa de Mediano Plazo de Financiamiento Externo, …

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President Hipolito Mejia has signed into law the Social Security Bill. He did so during a meeting of the cabinet on May 10 to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of PRD party leader, Dr. Jose Francisco Peña Gomez. The signing of the law starts a complex process to create a bureaucracy to manage …

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As reported in Hoy newspaper, the government and the PRD have rejected the positions expressed by the legal advisor to the President, Guido Gomez Mazara. He referred to making modifications to the Constitution "above whomever it may be", and said that all government jobs and social programs should be for PRD members. See http://www.dr1.com/daily/news051001.shtml President …

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Meanwhile, Gomez Mazara assumed full responsibility for the statements he made during the party meeting. He said he had no problem with defending his ideas and what surprised him was that the video was not shown earlier, as it was taken on 29 April. He confirmed that the PRD would reduce tp 40% the percentage …

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The Court of Appeals of Santo Domingo yesterday absolved former President Salvador Jorge Blanco (PRD 1982-86) and his government collaborators of all criminal responsibility. The judges cleared the former statesman and collaborators Retired General Manuel Antonio Cuervo Gomez, Leonel Amonte, and Juan Tomas Peña Valentin of all charges of corruption in office.

El Caribe reports that government income was 22.9% more in the first trimester of this year compared to the same period in 2000. However, the government had hoped for a 29.6% increase in revenues, as established in the 2001 National Budget. To cover the deficit, the government borrowed RD$800 million from private banks to be …

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The government expects to generate RD$100 million a month by increasing residential, industrial and commercial electricity bills by 20-40%. The increases will affect all who pay more than RD$1,500 a month. The Minister of Industry and Commerce Angel Lockward announced that the measure will go into effect next month and will show up on July …

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