2004 – Page 95

The dean of law at the PUCMM campus in Santo Domingo, Flavio Dario Espinal, writes in today’s El Caribe that one of the last laws issued by former President Hipolito Mejia was a bad idea, perhaps a very bad idea. The law, which established the system of primary elections for all political parties in the …

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Voter identity cards (known locally as “cedulas”) expiring in 2004 will continue to be valid until 2008, says a report in the Listin Diario today. While there is no need to have these cards renewed, any person wishing to have obtain a duplicate of their present cedula may do so voluntarily at the JCE offices, …

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The front pages all tell the story of how two-time world champion and Pan American victor, Felix Sanchez, won the 400-meter hurdles final yesterday afternoon, amid screams and tears of joy from a nation that sorely needed a boost. Sanchez, who had won his preliminary heats in walkovers, was barely challenged at the eighth hurdle …

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Juana Arrendell hit her highest height of the year, but failed to qualify for the finals in the women’s high jump. While she managed to get over 1.89 meters, she failed three times to clear the 1.92-meter that might have led her to the finals. The gold medalist in last year’s Pan Am Games, with …

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It appears that the PLD party’s planning during the interim overlooked the need to fill the bureaucratic posts with its members, only appointing its jobs commission on 12 August, just four days before the inauguration. This small lapse has been the catalyst for the delays and improvisations that have characterized the government bureaucracy during the …

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After four rounds of talks, the government economic team and the Chamber of Deputies’ special finance commission obtained a consensus on a new set of tax reforms. The fiscal package that won acceptance will produce RD$19 billion for the national treasury, RD$3 billion less than the original plan. The legislation was placed as the fist …

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And pretty soon you are talking about serious money.” This famous quote from the halls of the United States Congress seem very apt to describe what the Finance Ministry is trying to do: find out where a sum of RD$5 billion disappeared to. According to the Listin Diario, ministry technicians are investigating how this sum, …

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The latest bond auction produced annual interest rates of 37.75%, implying a reduction of the quasi-fiscal debt. The new interest rates on government certificates are nearly 13% less that the interest obtained just two weeks previously. In spite of these lower rates, says El Caribe, demand for the certificates was more than double the RD$3.0 …

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The government authorized a RD$200-million payment to the importers of propane gas at the same time that Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa announced the gradual reduction of the subsidy on propane that is the root cause for the current propane quandary. The new president of the refinery, Aristides Fernandez Zucco, told reporters from the Listin Diario …

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The anticipated news that the government would reopen negotiations on the various contracts with electricity generators and distributors became a reality yesterday, with an announcement by Ruben Montas of the Energy Commission. This is but one step in the government’s process to resolve the electric crisis that is affecting the entire population. Other steps include …

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