2005 – Page 52

A front-page picture of a Native American Indian, with full headdress, selling gewgaws in Santo Domingo’s Colon Park is certainly eye catching. The story reported by El Caribe says that the Dominican Republic does not have the necessary controls to know who is residing in the country. While Haitian nationals are still at the forefront …

Read more…

New National Police chief Bernardo Santana Paez has told reporters that during his first month in office crime fell by 4.7% as the government put into motion its Plan for Democratic Security. He said that his investigators had solved 338 cases of homicide, rape, shootings, car theft and robberies. Santana Paez gave this news to …

Read more…

The National Milk Council has reached an agreement with milk suppliers to the government’s breakfast program that will allow local farmers to sell at least 50% of the milk needed for the program. According to Cesareo and Pablo Contreras, the presidents of the Cattle Farmers and Farmers Association and the Federation of Cattle Farmers Associations, …

Read more…

When Deputy Marino Collante spoke about agreements reached between the government’s economic team and the Chamber of Deputies Finance Commission to withdraw several items from the application of VAT (ITBIS) as reported in yesterday’s Diario Libre (see DR1 Daily News 20 October 2005), Tax Department Director Juan Hernandez angrily denied the information. Other members of …

Read more…

According to a Tax Department source, the extension of VAT (ITBIS) to approximately 200 products which are not currently taxed, will provide collections of RD$11 billion annually. Of this total, three products – sugar, coffee, and cooking oil – represent RD$4.2 billion (38.1%). With the extension of VAT, the government seeks to recover approximately RD$32 …

Read more…

According to an EFE press agency cable, the Paris Club, which consists of the main creditor countries, announced a reduction in the service of the DR’s debt for a total of approximately US$137 million. The debt is being reduced from US$357 to US$222 million and loans awarded as public aid for development will have interest …

Read more…

Wilson Antonio Disla and Jose Elena Garcia Perez are two ex-convicts who were deported from the US after serving time in prison for drug trafficking. Diario Libre reports that both are now involved in the passport fraud case after getting false election certificates, which they used to obtain official passports. Yesterday, DR1 reported on Isidro …

Read more…

All preparations for the introduction of the DR-CAFTA agreement need to be completed by mid-December, according to US Trade Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, as reported by Diario Libre. This would allow President George W. Bush to notify the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the agreement would become effective 1 January 2006 as …

Read more…

Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda Rancier, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, and Chief of Police major general Bernardo Santana Baez, agree that a judicial framework must be established to control the operation of discotheques and other types of nightclubs. According to Listin Diario, the opening days and hours should be controlled by this framework. …

Read more…

Public hearings for the artificial island project scheduled for yesterday were suspended due to a lack of attendance. Only Eulogio Santaella, representing the promoting company, and three members of the Senate Finance Commission, who are in charge of studying the contract signed with the government, were present. New hearings have not been scheduled. In November, …

Read more…