2005 – Page 218

The closure of Dos Sportswear in the Esperanza free trade zone, and the firing of 1,400 workers, brings the total of jobs lost in free zone manufacturing plants to almost 20,000 so far this year. Even worse, the community loses the RD$14 million in monthly wages these workers received. According to Pedro Manuel Garcia, the …

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The Listin Diario publishes today an editorial requesting that President Leonel Fernandez cancel the 10-day trip to Asia that has been unofficially reported in the press. Initial reports mentioned the President would travel to Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. Later the trip was reduced to a visit to Taiwan and Japan as of 8 April. The …

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The Tax Department (DGII) will put into place a computerized system that will permit license plates to be renewed by Internet or by phone. Domingo Tavarez, director of the Presidential Information Technology Office, made the announcement. Although the exact date has not yet been established, Tavarez said the system should be in place in time …

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Architect Erick Dorrejo writes in El Caribe op-ed newspaper on how Avenida 27 de Febrero has been transformed into merely a way to get between two points. “The slumization that has occurred alongside the overpasses or expressways that were built on the Avenida 27 de Febrero from Leopoldo Navarro to Duarte Bridge, has not been …

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Despite the apparent destruction of the commercial worth of Santo Domingo’s former leading commercial avenue, the 27 de Febrero, the Fernandez government wants to do a repeat in Los Alcarrizos, a low income suburb. El Caribe newspaper reports today that a new overpass is likely to eliminate the vibrant businesses that are located there, in …

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Leave your cell phone at home if you will be visiting the US Consulate. The Consulate does not have where to keep the mobiles, so persons with mobiles will not be admitted.

The chief of the Santo Domingo Fire Department told Hoy reporters that 90% of the buildings in the city lack fire escapes or other emergency exits. Garcia pointed out that the majority of the apartment buildings do have service entrances but do not have emergency or fire escapes. News reports today carry the story of …

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The free trade treaty that is currently being debated in some of the Central American countries, and which will be debated in the Dominican Congress shortly, requires the nations to preserve their environment and their forest reserves. According to the El Caribe, this will be very difficult to do when there are laws on the …

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Environment Minister Max Puig estimates that 100,000 tareas (62.8 miillion square meters) of forest have been affected by the spring forest fires, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Puig said that until the fires are extinguished an evaluation of damages would not be possible, nevertheless. Puig said that the drought period worsens the likelihood of new …

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Richard Martinez and Hamlet Otanez, directors of the Santo Domingo and Santiago potable water departments, said yesterday that residents in these two cities need to take measures to save water, as reported in Hoy newspaper. They explained that as a consequence of the intense drought that has affected the country since January, water supplies are …

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