2004 – Page 9

“Aguinaldos,” the beautiful Christmas tradition of singing carols in the early morning hours, is now becoming an instrument for crooks to gain access to homes. One of the favorite songs that is always performed by the carolers goes like this: “Open your door, open your door, I am in the street, and if you don’t …

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Columbia University and the Multilateral Investment Fund of the InterAmerican Development Bank have just released two studies on remittances. Their research is based on 3,000 door-to-door interviews conducted in the Dominican Republic and 800 telephone interviews of Dominican households in the US. These consultations were made in October 2004 by Bendixen & Associates. Titled “Sending …

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Yet another Dominican baseball player has landed an enviable contract, as Adrian Beltre, from the El Cafe sector of Santo Domingo, signed a US$64-million deal with the Seattle Mariners. The contract is a five-year deal and is only pending a physical examination of the Dominican slugger who led the National League in homeruns in the …

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The Dominican Presidency enjoys the use of 20% of the National Budget with some 25 expense items that pertain to the executive office. The Listin Diario says that over the past years, through two different administrations, the practice of allowing the President to spend more and more has placed a large portion of the budget …

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Dominicans are overwhelmingly optimistic that things are getting better and will continue to improve. Some 1,194 Dominican adults were polled in the CID-Gallup Latin American survey that was conducted from 24 November to 2 December. Seventy-nine percent of Dominicans feel the Dominican economy is improving and that they will be better off next year, according …

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The Central Electoral Board (JCE) announced that it has requested RD$2.0 billion for the 2005 fiscal year, but that the Executive Branch cut its proposal by nearly RD$700 million. Headlines in Hoy say that the JCE announced that without the funds they will not be equipped to implement the primaries as the law establishes. Luis …

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At the various Civil Registry offices, the books recording births and deaths are tomes of damaged paper, uncared for and tossed into the corners of offices in which the personnel perform their duties on obsolete typewriters. In Bani, there are 12 employees documenting official birth and death certificates on three, old manual typewriters, as others …

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The Senate and the representatives from the Executive Branch are still hard at work on eliminating the 25% tax on soft drinks made with HFCS (corn syrup) and the compensation package sought in exchange by the sugar industry, and now by the agricultural sector and industries in general. After a two-hour session, the various sides …

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The Dominican Association of Free Zones (ADOZONA) warned that the proposal to compensate the industrial and agricultural sectors with sizeable tax breaks, in exchange for the removal of the 25% tax on soft drinks containing corn syrup, would interfere with the State’s ability to perform its administrative duties during the coming year. According to Hoy …

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A recent CID-Gallup poll shows that 57% of Dominicans that have heard about the Free Trade Agreement with the US believe the FTA will have positive consequences for the country, while only 20% believe it will do harm. Verizon CEO Jorge Ivan Ramirez, in a letter sent to Senate president Andres Bautista, says the survey …

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