2001 – Page 78

El Siglo reports on a tender held by the government for the construction of the Northwest aqueduct, a project estimated to cost about US$160 million. The winning company, Norberto Odebrecht from Brazil, did not present the cost, the design nor explain how the project would be financed nor where its funding would come from. President …

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Smith-Enron Cogeneration, the principal supplier of power to the Cibao region, says its plant will remain shut off until it receives US$14.9 million from the state. Smith Enron in a paid advertisement in the press said that it will keep its Puerto Plata-based plant out of service until the payment is made. Smith Enron says …

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El Siglo newspaper reports that in the past two and a half years, at least 150 police officers have been accused of participating in drug trafficking, extortion, theft, assaults, aggression against judges, operation of bars and gangs dedicated to issuing false checks or credit card fraud.

23-year old Felix Sanchez, who will compete for the Dominican Republic in the 2003 Pan American Games, won the 400 meter hurdles in the CGU British Grand Prix 2001 held in London last weekend. At 47.95 seconds, he clocked the same time as Angelo Taylor, winner of the Olympic Games of Sydney who came in …

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The World Bank Chief Economist for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, Guillermo Perry, said that the timing is not right for emerging countries to place sovereign bonds. A former Minister of Finance of Colombia, Perry favors the DR participating in international capital markets, but warns that the economic woes of Argentina could have a …

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El Caribe newspaper criticizes the Municipality of Santo Domingo for turning down Colombit’s offer to build 46-square-meter homes for residents in Los Praditos neighborhood for RD$60,000 or US$3,500 each in 1999. The Municipality now favors a company known as Breica that offers to build the homes for US$5,200 to US$9,200. El Caribe points out that …

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The Dominican government has signed loan agreements with Fortis Bank of Belgium for the construction of hospitals in Santo Domingo and the interior for US$169 million yesterday. On the same day, the government approved $6.6 million financing in Euros for the installation of a laboratory to clone fruit trees. The loan agreements were signed by …

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El Caribe newspaper reports that Attorney General Virgilio Bello Rosa has ordered that no pharmaceutical dispatches be made from the warehouse of the government program that distributes medicines to pharmacies in public hospitals. The Programa de Medicamentos Esenciales (Promese) has been questioned for importing and selling over 20 different pharmaceuticals of questionable origin and without …

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