2003 – Page 71

The very astute Pedro Silverio is one economist who does not believe everything he reads in the official documents. In his op-ed article in today’s El Caribe, Silverio looks at how the government puts a spin on its spending. Recently, Technical Secretary to the Presidency Carlos Despradel reported that there were indicators that pointed to …

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In another article in El Caribe, Elena Brineman, the head of the USAID office, said that everyone should pay for electricity. At the same time, she advocated a study to determine the real costs of electricity in order to obtain transparency in the market. Commenting on how 40% of the electricity is not paid for, …

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El Caribe newspaper reports that the National Emergency Commission (COE) has issued 700 permits for firework vendors this year – an unprecedented number. The COE last year reported 84 cases of second- and third-degree burns in children ranging 8 to 15 years old, due to accidents caused by the explosives over the holidays. The peak …

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A sad note in today’s news is El Caribe’s report that the Pearl F. Ort burn unit at the Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital (formerly known as the Morgan) has not received its government subsidy for the past four months. According to sources at the hospital, at least 15 patients needing transfusions and medicines could have …

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The Dominican College of Physicians (CMD) told the press yesterday that 90% of the public sector hospitals are receiving monthly allotments that are well below the minimum needed. The president of the board, Waldo Ariel Suero, said that demands to boost funding have not been met by the public health authorities. Suero complained that despite …

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President Hipolito Mejia’s intensely troubled PRD party is even more divided this morning after the three presidential hopefuls who were to challenge Mejia at the party convention abandoned the contest. Vice-President Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Rafael Subervi Bonilla and Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero withdrew their participation from any party convention that included Hipolito Mejia. Previously, the group …

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According to the Listin Diario, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, the coordinator for the National Dialogue, met with ambassadors from the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan. The diplomats voiced their worries over the political crisis affecting the country. Dubbed the “Mini Dublin Group”, the ambassadors met with Monsignor Nunez to analyze the current …

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Aeromar Airlines has promised to pay a collective US$1.5 million to ticket holders recently left stranded in New York. Meanwhile, a group of travel agents has asked President Hipolito Mejia to intercede in order to get another carrier for the marooned Aeromar passengers. They referred to the two Air Atlanta 747s currently parked at the …

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Two Dominican popular music sensations, Chichi Peralta and Juan Luis Guerra, have joined forces with Spanish Joan Manuel Serrat, Dominican tenor Francisco Casanova and Puerto Rican Danny Rivera to make the plight of Bahia de las Aguilas known to the world. The stretch of beach in the southwestern province of Pedernales is regarded as a …

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In their second match of the 2003 NORCECA Zone Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the Dominican national women’s team, ranked 14th in the world, defeated the Canadian team, ranked 20th. The Canadian women got off to a strong start in the first set with a score of 27-25, but fell to the 2003 Pan American Games gold …

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