2004 – Page 185

The Dominican Republic is participating in the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival that runs from 22 April (Earth Day) until 22 May (International Biodiversity Day). The event is coordinated by the Society for the Study and Conservation of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) and BirdLife International. In the Dominican Republic, Grupo Jaragua, which focuses on the environmental heritage …

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The Ministry of Public Works mega pedestrian walkway going up over the intersections of Maximo Gomez and 27 de Febrero will keep the cross streets closed at least until Thursday, as reported in El Caribe today. The government has spent RD$14.7 million in the gigantic passway that measures 30 meters high and 80 meters wide. …

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President Hipolito Mejia and Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue met last Friday at the Hotel Santo Domingo. Speaking at the end of the brief encounter, Latortue said that President Mejia had guaranteed that the DR would not be used to destabilize Haiti. He said the governors had discussed border security, diplomacy and joint projects to …

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The Central Electoral Board (JCE) is promising that results from the upcoming election will be made known as early as 10pm on Sunday, 16 May (election day) as reported in Hoy newspaper. The voting stations will open at 6am and close at 6pm. Informatics director Franklin Frias said the computer center has a monitoring security …

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Participacion Ciudadana held a test run of their Presidential electoral monitoring exercise over the weekend. The civic group has 6,000 accredited observers before the Central Electoral Board (JCE). Vianela Diaz, coordinator of the center of operations, said that most of these observers are young people. University of Toronto Professor of Political Science Neil Nevitte, an …

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El Caribe points out today that the 2004 Presidential election has become a contest of emotive slogans, rather than a discussion of what the candidates will do to resolve national problems. On the hit parade of slogans, ?E pa? fuera que van,? (Out they go) of the PLD leads for its catchy appeal. The other …

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Minority party politician ?Bacho? has gotten a welcome spurt of publicity after the company that printed the 5.6 million ballots in his name used Rafael, instead of Raul, as his first name. The ballot correctly indicates that ?Bacho?, the nickname under which Raul Perez Pena is running for the Partido Autentica Democracia party. Bacho has …

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The president of Plan Renove, Fabio Ruiz, told those who had filled out forms to get one of the 100,000 tax-exempt and soft-term financed motorcycles the Mejia administration has promised that the bikes would only be distributed if President Hipolito Mejia is re-elected. The president of the transport area commando of the PRD, Antonio Marte, …

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President Hipolito Mejia visited the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) yesterday and announced the country would take on a new US$15-million credit to modernize and automate the state university. He said the funds, made available by the government of Taiwan and designated to install new computerized systems, would be accessible as soon as Congress …

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The Administracion de Bienes Nacionales, the government department that oversees government property, announced that more than 250,000 families that had illegally occupied state property and private properties have received their property titles and vouchers worth RD$100,000. The property certificates were issued by the Dominican Agrarian Institute (IAD), the State Sugar Council (CEA) and the Bienes …

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