2003 – Page 287

The Diario Libre reports a ?vigorous recovery? being made in the Dominican hotel sector. Sim?n Suarez, president of the Caribbean Hotel Association, in a television interview on Thursday claimed that although occupancy rates have not returned to the levels of the year 2000, a recovery is indeed under way. He attributes this positive trend to …

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The north of the country was shaken by an earthquake early Thursday morning. The quake happened at 7:03am and lasted for approximately 5 seconds. The epicenter was pinpointed in San Francisco de Macoris and the tremor was felt as far away as Santiago, Moca, Salcedo and Cotu?. Although the authorities received many panicked calls, no …

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According to a decree issued yesterday, the Ministry of Environment will charge RD$4 for every cubic meter of gravel extracted. President Mejia signed the decree after reaching an agreement with aggregate producers, as reported in El Caribe newspaper. The producers will be required to pay the fee monthly for amounts of gravel that will have …

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Despite President Mejia?s plea for austerity from taxpaying Dominicans, the Senate dedicated many hours yesterday to the approval of 47 pensions. El Caribe points out that of the 47 pensions, only 15 are within the range of RD$4,000 to RD$5,000, with the rest going from RD$8,000 to RD$25,000 a month. This adds an additional RD$4.5 …

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The Executive Branch published a page-and-a-half advertisement in the El Caribe and Hoy newspapers to highlight honors extended to several outstanding Dominican women. The government could have called a press conference to make the announcements for free, which would have been more in keeping with the government?s recent call for restraint in spending. The women …

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Rafael Toribio, former rector of the INTEC University, proposes in a story today in El Caribe that the new presidential commission created to prepare suggestions for the reduction of public payroll should limit itself to recommending the application of the Civil Service Law. Toribio, in his contribution to today?s publication, says that in his 27 …

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With celebrations set to honor Woman?s Day on March 8, El Caribe and the Listin Diario carry reports today on intra-family violence and the pathos caused by the needless deaths of so many women. So far, police statistics show that conjugal violence has claimed the lives of 29 Dominican women so far this year.  El …

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The Dominican Republic imports Spanish products worth US$300 million a year, and Dominican goods exported to Spain are valued at US$20 million. The discrepancy is compensated by service exports, such as tourism to the DR. 135,000 Spaniards visited last year.  According to a report in Hoy, the Dominican Republic is the third largest buyer of …

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Journalist John Collins of Caribbean Business reports that the Dominican Republic is the largest importer of US foodstuffs in the Caribbean region. He highlights that the DR imported US$542.6 million last year, which is one-third of the total US$1.7 billion received by the entire region.  According to statistics recently released by the Foreign Agricultural Service …

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Andres Polemir of the Ministry of Sports told Hoy newspaper yesterday that the Dominican delegation to the Pan American Games in 2003 should reap 25 to 35 medals. The president of the Dominican Track and Field Federation expects medals to be won in track and field, judo, karate, weight lifting, women?s volleyball, boxing, basketball, wresting, …

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