2004 – Page 48

The World Series championship thus far has been very much dominated by Dominicans David Ortiz and yesterday Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez. Last night, Martinez kept the St Louis Cardinals at 0 runs for seven complete innings. Martinez, who just turned 33, confined the Cardinals to three hits in seven innings, striking out six and …

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The Customs Department has intensified its efforts to uncover major tax evasion in the previous government. Customs has sent inspectors to six companies that the Listin Diario says the government has fingered for bilking the system of RD$20 million. The scheme regards companies who were taking advantage of the irregular application of Law 28-01, which …

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The Ministry of Labor has released the official holiday calendar for 2005. Certain celebrations will be shifted to the Monday closest to their date, making for several long weekends. See http://dr1.com/travel/prepare/holidays_2005.shtml

The Ministry of Public Health is implementing a nationwide vaccination program, with plans to immunize half a million children, ages 5 to 10, against the measles. Another 58,261 students will receive the “pentavalente” vaccine that protects against the five major childhood infectious diseases, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type B (HIB). …

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The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has put in a request for RD$747.2 million for the organization of the political parties’ primaries, as reported in Hoy newspaper. This amount has risen from the original RD$487.2 million originally requested. Both amounts, however, are being viewed as outrageous, given the current economic difficulties in the DR. The PRD-majority …

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President Leonel Fernandez has appointed eight new ambassadors. These are Hector Galvan, Korea; Pablo Arturo Marinez Alvarez, Mexico; Teresita Migdalia Torres Garcia, Guatemala; Alejandro Gonzalez Pons, Spain; Victor Manuel Sanchez Pena, Taiwan; Nestor Juan Ceron Suero, Ecuador and Rafael Antonio Julian Cedano, Uruguay.

Poverty in the Dominican Republic increased significantly from 2002-2004. Niki Fabiancic, the resident coordinator for the United Nations Development Program in the Dominican Republic, said that those going hungry in the Dominican Republic account for 25% of the population, as reported in the Listin Diario. This information is part of a study carried out by …

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Two-way traffic is flowing normally through Chavon after a temporary bridge was erected earlier this month. Engineer Alberto Pagan, who has overseen the building of the bridge, said that the structure has the capacity to carry any type of vehicle and that it may remain open on a permanent basis. According to Pagan, once the …

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The Ministry of Public Works announced that it has restored the bridge on the main route that connects Nagua and San Francisco de Macoris by way of El Factor. Tropical Storm Jeanne damaged the bridge, necessitating the construction of a temporary structure. A permanent solution is expected to be ready by January. The Ministry of …

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True to its word, the Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMET) began cracking down on vehicles with tinted front windows last weekend. On 8 October, the traffic police had given all drivers 15 days to have these features removed. While AMET has started taking these shady drivers to task, as pointed out in El Caribe today, the …

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