2001 – Page 76

El Caribe newspaper questions that four companies coincidentally located at the same Madrid address have benefited from 26 government contracts for goods and services to be purchased without tenders. For the purchases, the government is borrowing US$437.7 million from two Spanish banks, Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Deutsche Bank, Sociedad Anonima Española. The newspaper says that …

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The Chamber of Deputies has sent the sovereign bond bill to a special commission for study. The bill was approved by the Senate two weeks ago. PLD deputy Ana Isabel Bonilla and PRSC deputy Mario Fernandez protested the bill. News reports say that the PRD deputies could maneuver to pass the bill on Thursday, 26 …

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The Senate has ratified the Cotonou Agreement. It had already been passed by the Chamber of Deputies. The agreement was signed by the DR in Cotonou, in the African nation of Benin on 23 June 2000. Another 77 Asian, Pacific and Caribbean states have signed the agreement with 15 European Union countries. It is a …

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The Dominican Petroleum Refinery suspended production for the past five days following a breakdown in one of its manufacturing pipes. Amaury Justo Duarte, president of the Refinery, said that supplies would not be affected because extra petroleum has been imported to compensate.

Rafaela (Lila) Alburquerque of the PRSC was nominated as the choice of the PRD and the PRSC for the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. The election will take place 16 August. The presidency is important because that person sets the agenda of the day. Alburquerque has been president of the Chamber since 1999. Despite …

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Victor Diaz Alba, president of the Dominican Medical Association, urged the government to intervene to restore adequate levels of pharmaceuticals in the so-called “boticas populares”, or discount drug stores in public hospitals. Diaz says that medicine supplies have declined 90%.

The body of 16 year old Lucecita Valdivia, who lives in Italy with her mother and was vacationing in the DR staying with her grandparents, was found dead on Boca Chica beach on Monday. Her father, Esteban Valdivia, said she had last been seen on Sunday with her boyfriend and neighbor, 21 year old Hamlet …

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Santo Domingo is hosting the 2001 Panamerican Weight Lifting Championships. The event opens Wednesday, 25 July and will continue until Monday, 30 July. Competitors from 18 countries are participating in the event at the auditorium of the Ministry of Public Works. The president of the International Weight Lifting Federation, Dr. Tamas Ajan, is in town …

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President Hipolito Mejia has assumed full responsibility for choosing the builders of the Northwest Aqueduct, a project that will cost more than RD$2,800 million (or US$160 million). News reports indicate that President Mejia favors the Brazilian firm Odebrecht (http://www.odebrecht.com.br/). He said the contract has not been signed yet, but that he will have the last …

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The president of the Senate Ramon Alburquerque warns the Executive Branch about onerous borrowing, sometimes for projects for which the final destination of the money is not known. One of the loans highlighted by Alburquerque is for US$50 million for signposting. President Mejia says that Alburquerque is miffed because he was not chosen as PRD …

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