2005 – Page 212

Sporting News highlighted recently its list of the top 50 baseball players, or 18%. Interestingly, among the top 50 are nine Dominicans, as reported in the Listin Diario. These are Albert Pujols (2), Vladimir Guerrero (3), Alex Rodriguez (4), Miguel Tejada (12), Manny Ramirez (17), Adrian Beltre (23), Pedro Martinez (30), Aramis Ramirez (37) and …

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Hoy newspaper reports that the 95 Dominicans on Major League rosters will make approximately US$270.45 million in contracts. Among the better paid Dominican players are: Alex Rodriguez (US$25.7 million), Manny Ramirez (US$19.8 million), Sammy Sosa (US$17.8 million), Vladimir Guerrero (US$12.5 million), Adrian Beltre (US$11.4 million), Albert Pujols (US$11 million), Pedro Martinez (US$10.8 million), Bartolo Colon …

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The Dominican Senate approved after two consecutive readings, the latest bond issue for RD$1.89 billion. The money raised will be used to pay off 50% of the 1999 bond issue. The legislation received the positive votes of 26 of the senators. The proposal now goes to the Chamber of Deputies for final approval before moving …

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The rains that have fallen over the past 72 hours have dampened the forest fires that raged for the past 27 days. In spite of assistance from Venezuela, the rains were the definitive step to put out the fires. According to the report in Hoy, Danerys Santana, the deputy minister for Protected Areas, said that …

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The environmental prosecutor’s office of the Ministry of Environment has charged 61 persons with deliberately causing the fires. Since 2 February, the Ministry of the Environment has registered 91 separate fires, some of which, like those in the central mountain range became more intense given the dry spell that has affected the country since December.

When the fire fighting brigades entered the forests of Loma Novillero, they discovered that at least 100 mahogany trees, some as much as one meter across, had been felled by unknown persons. Roberty Blandino, the president of the Ecological Foundation of Villa Altagracia, told reporters that the “mess with the fires was nothing more than …

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Miguel Cocco, the head of Customs, told reporters from Hoy and other newspapers that the former Custom head should be jailed for the pillaging of public assets and the “disappearance” of 1,080 vehicles without any auction and for RD$14.42 billion that the department neglected to collect during the past administration. Cocco was head of the …

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Certainly it is not a new topic of discussion. But while service has improved in some areas, especially in Santo Domingo, in other areas blackouts are longer. According to Ruben Bichara, the administrator for EdeSur, blackouts will remain part of the daily life of most Dominicans. Thus, Ruben Bichara of EdeSur told reporters that any …

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At least one wounded and a dozen jailed was the result of two days of protests in the Cibao Valley. The protests called by local community organizations were supposed to be peaceful. Jose Mateo (Cheo) was in serious condition from a bullet wound in his leg. He was transferred from Bonao to the Dario Contreras …

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The business sector of the Dominican, almost in its entirety, has requested that the government remove tariffs and taxes on raw materials and capital goods. Their argument is that these goods and materials are receiving a much more favorable treatment in the Central American republics, where the industries pay between 1% and 15% on such …

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