2003 – Page 245

The proposed new Penal Code would place the police and members of the Armed Forces under Civil Law for the first time. The new legislation will continue to be debated article by article in the Senate, according to the head of the Justice Commission of the Senate, Enriquillo Reyes, and the heated discussions will continue. …

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Silvio Carrasco and F?lix Garc?a signed a series of accords that will establish 83 river-watch committees along some of the most important waterways of the Dominican Republic. Carrasco, as head of INDRHI, and Garc?a, the head of the Santiago Development Association, signed the RD$6.933-million deal that will oversee the Yaque del Sur, the Yaque del …

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Guillermo Perry, an economist for the World Bank, said yesterday that the Dominican Republic does not have enough hard-currency reserves to convert to a dollar-based economy. Speaking to reporters at the presentation of the document ?Closing the Gap in Education and Technology?, Perry said that the first thing that must be done is collect all …

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El Caribe newspaper reports that the dollar was creeping above RD$26 on the local exchange market yesterday, setting a new record-low for the Dominican peso. The Euro was selling for as much as RD$30. Minister of Finance Rafael Calder?n announced that the Monetary Board would meet to study measures to be taken. He told El …

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The International Monetary Fund, in a report to the Central Bank, requested that the government effectively monitor its spending on salaries, capital investment and subsidies to reduce overall spending. The report mentions that during the first quarter, government payroll expenses were up. The report specifies that the number of government employees is excessive and that …

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El Caribe newspaper, in its ?En la cosa? column today, tells that when economist Carlos Despradel took over from his predecessor Rafael Calder?n as head of the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency, his priorities included an analysis of the composition of the foreign debt contracted by the present administration. The original documents were nowhere to …

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Former President Leonel Fern?ndez said on the ?Temas del D?a? TV program on Channel 23 that the PRD has converted democracy into a ?tigercracy? (tiguerocracia). The catchy new term could find its place in the political jargon used in the country and is derived from the word ?tiguere?, which is commonly used to describe all …

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The chaotic driving conditions generally noted on the roads in the Dominican Republic are the subject of an article in today?s List?n Diario. Apparently, illiterate drivers cannot understand the signs or the meaning of ?Exact Change? at the tollbooths, and frequently stop their vehicles, get out and attempt to obtain the correct change, all the …

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The five young men who drove around nude in an SUV along Abraham Lincoln Avenue were being interrogated yesterday by police, to see if their actions had been influenced by the use of drugs. Meanwhile, the District Attorney for the National District, M?ximo Aristy Caraballo, said that the young streakers could face up to six …

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President Hip?lito Mej?a, speaking on the Sunday Una Vez a la Semana show broadcast on the state?s television station, said that he would not implement the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund to increase taxes (IMF proposed to raise ITBIS tax) and attributed local economic woes to the war in Iraq, high petroleum prices and …

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