2005 – Page 250

News analyst Juan Bolivar Diaz in a Saturday write up in Hoy newspaper compares the costs of the Puerto Rico metro at US$2.2 billion or US$127.9 million per kilometer (17.2 kms) to the US$327 million figure used by Metro Minister Diandino Pena for the Santo Domingo metro. When its construction was begun in 1996, the …

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The PEME case is back in the headlines. The case that involves high-ranking officials of the first administration of Leonel Fernandez (PEME = a Program to Make Work) has been in the courts since 2000. Stated in the briefest of terms, the PEME program was designed to de-activate community activists, known for organizing strikes and …

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The Superintendent of Electricity Francisco Mendez told reporters that the majority of the complaints received from consumers were true. As reported in Hoy, Mendez said that he demanded that the electricity distributors treat their customers with dignity, especially those that pay their bills on time. He pointed out that those that pay their bills, something …

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A pedophile that is accused of over 100 cases of sexual abuse of young boys was arrested in Santiago yesterday. Juan A. Taveras Garcia fled the United States in 1989 after charges had been filed against him in the courts in New York. American agents had located Taveras in 2004 and issued an international arrest …

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Between 1998 and 2004, the deportation of Dominicans from the United States has risen from 2,500 to 5,000, and the New York City Council is taking steps to see that the deported persons are guaranteed their rights. Over one third of the deportees were persons that had arrived in the United States illegally or had …

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Medical residents have a tough life. It is supposed to give them the tools with which they will cure the sick during their professional careers. But, in the case of the 1,222 residents in programs offered by the Dominican Social Security Institute (IDSS) and the Armed Forces, the residents say that they are lacking too …

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The Supreme Court decision to endorse the controversial law that allows the development of hotels in previously protected fragile environmental areas has divided influential factions within the government. On one side Felix Jimenez, the tourism minister who has supported hotel construction in the Bahia de las Aguilas area since his first term in that same …

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The Environmental Defense Coalition, which includes all the groups opposed to the Sectorial Law on Protected Areas (2002-04 of 30 July 2004) has called the Supreme Court ruling “false and out of context”, and has announced it will begin a series of protests. The Coalition’s response to the controversial decision is that if the law …

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The environmental prosecutor, David La Hoz, has asked that several Mejia government officials linked to the rockash import scandal be banned from leaving the country. On the list are former environment minister Frank Moya Pons, former customs directors Vicente Sanchez Baret, and former port authority director Arsenio Borges. He also called for the arrest of …

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As occurred in the previous PRD administration, but was never fully implemented, the new PLD government is calling for the streamlining of government employment. Public servants who have more than one government post are being asked to choose between jobs. Meanwhile, those who receive pension payments from the government are being asked to choose between …

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