2001 – Page 53

The Dominican Association of Free Zones (Adozona), unions and the Ministry of Labor are scheduled to sign an agreement today that would establish a Monday to Thursday 12-hour work week, with Friday through Sunday off for workers. The so-called 4 x 4 work week was sought by the Dominican Association of Free Zones. Another flexible …

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Employees of the Instituto Postal Dominicana, the Dominican post office, are on strike. They demand payment of two and a half months of unpaid wages and 40 weeks of meal allowances. The strike is affecting the delivery of mail and money orders which are piling up at Dominican airports.

Haiti’s Minister of Foreign Relations Philippe Antonio Joseph is in the DR for bilateral talks with his colleague Hugo Tolentino Dipp. Press reports say they will discuss the work of the bilateral commission, frontier development plans, border markings, and the future of the Haitian police officers who sought exile in the DR. The ministers will …

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Tekron Inc., a US telecommunications company, announced on 22 August that it seeks to enter the billion dollar Dominican telecommunications market. The company, which lists on Wall Street, said it has entered a Letter of Intent with Land Connect Dominican Communications, S.A. to form a joint venture for the installation of wireless cable solutions for …

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El Caribe reports that in the past five years, the Senate has passed loans for US$1.9 billion. Of these, US$952.1 million were requested during the 4-year administration of former President Leonel Fernandez. The newspaper highlights that almost half of the total loans for the five years was approved by the Senate in the first year …

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Several of the nation’s leading business organizations published a communiqué today rejecting the government’s plan to retroactively collect a 1.5% tax on gross sales made last year. The tax went into effect in January 2001. The business groups say the government’s plan violates the Dominican Constitution which prohibits the retroactivity of the application of laws. …

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Weather forecasters say all those with interests in the West Indies should continue to monitor closely the development of disturbances in the area. Forecasters point to the large fairly disorganized tropical wave that is south of the Cape Verde Islands and making its way west. “This could be the first system of the season to …

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Dominican baseball sensation, Albert Pujols, became only the 22nd Major League player to bat 30 or more home runs in his first year. He plays with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Downgraded to a tropical depression, Dean missed the Dominican Republic as it sped north of the island bringing only rain showers. August and September are the peak months of the Caribbean Basin hurricane season which ends 30 November. Weather forecasters say that more storms are on the way. A small tropical wave is located near …

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Kevin Manning, vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce, and chief executive for Empresa Generadora Itabo (Ege Itabo), favors the full privatisation of all power generation and distribution in the DR. He suggested that the state sell its 50% share of the companies and just keep a regulatory role over the power sector. He …

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