2004 – Page 188

United Kingdom Ambassador Andy Ashcroft announced yesterday that the UK will donate US$9,000 worth of computers, printers and other supplies to Participacion Ciudadana, the civic society group. The equipment will be used by the civic movement to monitor the 16 May election, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Ashcroft said that as a friend of the …

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The director of public relations at Santiago?s Cibao International Airport, Carlos Manuel Estrella, announced that technicians are at work installing a new US$200,000 landing system, as reported in the Listin Diario. The innovation will allow pilots to take off and land without full visibility, thereby augmenting security. Estrella said the new system became a necessity …

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The seventh annual Santo Domingo Book Fair officially opens this evening in a ceremony to feature President Hipolito Mejia and Puerto Rican Culture Minister Teresa Tio at 8:30pm in the Manuel Rueda Hall of the National Music Conservatory. The fair will open to the public as of tomorrow, with daily hours from 9:30am ? 10pm. …

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Dominican solidarity with the US Bush administration vanished yesterday, when President Mejia announced he would join Honduras and Spain by pulling the DR?s troops out of the Iraqi conflict, as headlined in all of today?s newspapers. Citing the fact that the Spanish retreat signifies a more exposed role for the Dominican troops, Mejia instructed Armed …

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Hoy newspaper describes the convoluted economics that is spelling ?blackouts? for most of the country these past few days. El Caribe reports that EGE-Haina took the ?Sultana del Este? off-line and that last week Itabo took out one of its units, reducing its production to just 120MW. Now it seems that EDE-Este, the electricity distribution …

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The Diario Libre is reporting that the government has halted its official efforts to promote the Dominican Republic as a tourist destination. Apparently it has been eight months since the government has taken any proactive steps to promote the DR as a tourist haven. The president of the National Hotel and Restaurant Association (ASONAHORES), Johnny …

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El Caribe newspapers carry stories on the Senate?s approval of the modification of 24 articles in the Protected Areas Bill presently before Congress. According to El Caribe, the modifications effectively permit the fragmentation of large areas of the delicate coastal eco-systems of the Jaragua National Park and in the National Park of the East. The …

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President Hipolito Mejia told students at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) yesterday that the flyash (also known as rockash) deposited in Monte Cristi and Samana should be returned to Puerto Rico immediately. As reported in El Caribe newspaper, President Mejia said the material entered the country due to “a weakness of the …

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Hoy newspaper reports that the monetary authorities are still undecided as to what should be done about the forthcoming payments on the sovereign bonds. They will reportedly decide this week whether they should attempt to renegotiate the bonds under conditions comparable to the reprogramming of the debt held by the Paris Club. This information was …

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The Diario Libre reports that the Dominican government could go looking for as much as US$100 million to pay some of its creditors. The country has to cover a shortfall in the balance of payments for about the same sum in relation to the amount of money that was not successfully renegotiated at the Paris …

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