2004 – Page 14

The Superintendent of Electricity (SIE), Francisco Mendez, promised that the electric rates will be frozen during 2005, beginning in January, as the EDE distributors have overcome their 30% cash flow deficit by issuing the 9.4% increments that were applied during October and November of this year. The official said that another factor that will influence …

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The Dominican IMF representative dislikes the proposed legislation that would provide tax incentives for the Dominican industrial sector to compensate for the removal of the 25% tax on soft drinks using HFCS (corn syrup). Economist Ruddy Santana calls the billion-peso tax relief package a “monstrous mistake.” Furthermore, Santana said that such a move would completely …

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The nation’s businesses, large and small, as well as the government, will begin handing out Christmas checks today to the tune of RD$10 billion. The Dominican government will contribute nearly a third of the total, or RD$2.88 billion. Journalist Hector Linares reports in the Listin Diario that between RD$10-RD$15 billion will enter the economy this …

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The fact that buses are eight time more cost-effective than a subway system has placed OMSA director Ignacio Ditren in opposition of the proposed metrm. Ditren said effecting a recovery in the current transit system should be the government’s first priority and the construction of a metro system should be the last. According to Ditren, …

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Former President Hipolito Mejia hosted a lunch yesterday at his home in San Cristobal for PRD party leaders. According to the report in Hoy newspaper, those invited were “front-line” PRD members with close ties to the Mejia administration that left office last August. The cited aim of the meeting was to motivate the party’s leadership …

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The sale of thousands of false documents through the office of the Civil Registry has brought about the firing of the director and assistant director its central office of the Civil Register in Santo Domingo. Ricardo Thevenin and Florinda Salas were dismissed as a result of an investigation that detected the alteration of several of …

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Police Chief Major General Manuel de Jesus Perez Sanchez designated his assistant, General Rafael Calderon Efres, the assistant prosecutor assigned to the National Police, Guillermo Jimenez, and the Interior & Police Vice-Minister Juan Adames to head a high-level commission to investigate the charges made by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito and Archbishop Nicolas de Jesus …

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In response to a series of criticisms carried in most of the local newspapers regarding the lack of small change in Dominican commercial establishments, the assistant operations manager of the Central Bank said that businesses are “not interested” in keeping an inventory of small change in their cash registers. Jose Clemente Taveras Rivas told Listin …

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Of major importance during vacations and holidays is the news that the National Brewery, makers of the ubiquitous Presidente beer, has just announced the introduction a new bottle size: one full liter, or 33 ounces. Rafael Melo, Presidente’s brand manager, told El Caribe that the new bottle will contain as much beverage as “grande” and …

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Speaking from the United States, President Leonel Fernandez said that as of January his administration will begin a revolutionary program of “electronic government.” According to Que se dice, the must-read column in Hoy newspaper, the President plans to take the country from “the artisanal to the digital.” The project, as he explained, consists of putting …

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