2004 – Page 56

In the first nine months of 2004, the Dominican government has paid out RD$21.3 billion in subsidies for propane gas and electricity. These subsidies accounted for 27% of all moneys spent by the government during this period, with total expenditures estimated at RD$79 billion. This year’s subsidy numbers are 184.4% higher when compared to the …

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The Ministry of Public Health and Assistance (SESPAS) ordered the recall of 17 medications that are available in local pharmacies and that contain Rofecoxib (better known as Vioxx). These medications are usually prescribed for muscular or arthritic pain, but the ingredient rofecoxib has been linked to cerebral and vascular problems. The head of the pharmacy …

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Deputy Ramon Agramonte (PRD-La Romana) announced that a team of legislators will begin work on a bill that will modify the newly-introduced Penal Code. In his statements to support his proposal to adapt the Penal Code less than one month after its formal introduction, Agramonte told the Chamber of Deputies, “It is a good code, …

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In spite of the attention the Senate’s approval of the 30% increase to the minimum wage received in the national press and media, the process is not yet finished. Yesterday, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco, told reporters that the chamber had yet to even read the legislation and that they would …

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The government’s accounting office is questioning sums of RD$137 million and US$61,838 of the funds used to build the airport at La Isabela. The government invested RD$957.5 million and US$4.7 million in the airport facility, which has never been used and is now useless, making it the costliest white elephant in the Dominican Republic. As …

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National Energy Commission chief Ruben Montas told reporters that the government would pay AES-Dominicana US$5 million today in order for them to purchase fuel for their generators in Boca Chica. Montas said the payment was agreed upon after a meeting between officials of AES-Dominicana and the National Energy Commission, together with Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa. …

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Beat Siegenthaler reports that the emerging markets team of Commerzbank Securities has upgraded their recommendation on the Dominican Republic to overweight from marketweight based on a number of positive news it received on Wednesday that confirmed their previously cautious optimism. Amongst the positive news is the fact that the government confirmed the payment of a …

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The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) warned yesterday that the Dominican Republic had better “take more care of the coastlines and watershed areas in order to avoid natural disasters such as those that struck Jimani and the DR’s East Coast following Hurricane Jeanne. Ricardo Zapata, the head of the Disaster Unit …

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Three rice cultivators are dead following an incident that evoked the Wild West and that centered around the water rights for crops. The three deceased men, Fausto Cruz, Manuel Emilio Bautista and Braulio Valdeyaque, drew their weapons and shot at each other, as they argued over the water that passes over their lands, all sown …

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The Brugal Foundation announced last night that the Salesian Technological Institute in Santo Domingo was awarded the grand prize in their XIII Award Ceremony. The prizes total RD$4 million, with RD$1 million going to the winner of the “Brugal cree en su gente” award. The ceremony took place at the Casa San Pedro in Santo …

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