2005 – Page 88

As people scurried to fill their tanks last Friday, the nation was hit by the reality imposed by the disaster unleashed by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf region of the United States. Fuel prices hit record prices, just as predicted by the Minister of Industry and Commerce a week ago. Regular gasoline went up to …

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During yesterday’s taped television speech, Leonel Fernandez outlined his “National Fuel Saving Plan”. This consists of limiting the hours when gasoline is sold to the public, alternating the “public cars” days of work, the elimination of vehicles in really bad shape, removal of speed bumps in most places, the establishment of fixed stops for publicos …

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The scandal caused by the resignation of one of the most fervent members of the PLD, Gustavo Montalvo, has forced the director of the Presidential Information Technology and Communication Office (OPTIC) to accept the intervention of the National Committee of Ethics (CNE) in the bidding for the government’s new website. The fact that Montalvo was …

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President Leonel Fernandez left Santo Domingo on Saturday on the start of a 10-day trip around the United States and Puerto Rico. He will visit Miami, Washington, New York and Puerto Rico. According to Diario Libre, the President took a commercial flight out of Las Americas International airport to Miami where he participated in the …

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Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, speaking at a gathering of Dominican residents in Miami at the inauguration of the Consulting Commission there, told his audience that he would ask the United Nations to sponsor a World Oil Summit to propose solutions the aggressive rise in oil prices over the last few weeks. Fernandez said that he …

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Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, the head of the National Dialogue and rector of the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra, has asked the government to avoid an inflationary spiral resulting from the continual increases in the price of fuel. The prelate’s request comes at a time when the Alternative Social Forum and other community groups …

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A new export advocacy group, Lobby Exportador – Accion Dominicana (LEAD) has issued its Punta Cana Declaration, calling for a 10-year pro-export plan. The group seeks an agenda of specific measures that would enable Dominican exporters of goods and services to compete with the onset of DR-CAFTA, which was recently ratified by the Dominican Congress. …

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The Dominican ratification and Presidential publication of the bill will now force Dominican customs officials to move faster to process containers entering the nation’s harbors. This, according to the Committee on Expediting Commerce, a part of the American Chamber of Commerce in Santo Domingo, is what is needed in order for the country to compete …

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The Shell Company’s resident director and a vice-president of the Dominican Refinery, Rafael Maradiaga, revealed that the REFIDOMSA had increased its demand for dollars by 34% over the first eight months of the year. The refinery bought US$1.202 billion dollars on the local market. At the same time Maradiaga estimated that to cover its needs …

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The Federation of Dominican Traders (FDC) has announced that they will not accept the application of ITBIS (VAT) of 16% on coffee, sugar, cooking oils and 50 other products that make up the basic foodstuffs for Dominican consumers. As a counter-proposal, the FDC suggests that the government begin a program that will allow greater efficiency …

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