2006 – Page 290

The president of the American Chamber of Commerce, Kevin Manning said yesterday that the tax reform pushed forward by the Fernandez administration has reduced the DR’s competitiveness when compared to its Central American competitors, in a year when the free trade agreement the country has signed with the United States is to start. Manning expressed …

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Guillermo Moreno, dean of the UNIBE Law School, writes about the double standards in Dominican justice in his column in today’s Diario Libre. He explains that Dominican judges do not apply the same rigor to procedures and guarantees, and have two measures for judging people, depending on the subject, the people and their influences. “That …

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The Central Electoral Board has put a halt to its efforts to introduce electronic voting machines for this year’s municipal and congressional elections in May. The Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), one of the major players in Dominican politics, had sent a formal note to the JCE expressing their objection to such a project at this …

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The local citizens’ watchdog group Participacion Ciudadana has elected a new coordinator. He is Paulo Herrera Maluf, who replaces lawyer Luis Schecker Ortiz as the Participacion Ciudadana leader. The press release says that the PC national board is composed of 12 members chosen at their annual general assembly. Herrera Maluf is a Cum Laude graduate …

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The Department of Customs says it is continuing an investigation into a RD$60 million cargo contraband at the Las Americas International Airport (AILA) cargo terminal. Yesterday, DR1 erroneously reported that this had occurred at the Punta Caucedo port terminal. While Las Americas is located at Punta Caucedo, it should not be confused with the Punta …

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The first successful birth of sextuples in the Dominican Republic is still newsworthy, as the six babies are now in their small house in Santo Domingo, and the doctors who handled the case so successfully are now talking to the press. Hoy newspaper reports that the six neonatal specialists had been very worried about the …

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Sports Minister Felipe Payano handed over the RD$25 million check to the team managers for the Dominican participation in the first ever World Baseball Classic that begins next 2 March. Payano said that “the greatest ambassadors the Dominican Republic has are in the Major Leagues.” To follow what is happening with the World Baseball Classic …

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The Senate approved the 2006 National Budget and Public Expense Bill in two consecutive readings yesterday. The budget, which amounts to RD$239 billion, now has to be signed into law by President Leonel Fernandez. He has three days to do so. El Caribe reports that in the first round the vote was 17 out of …

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Next Monday, several neighborhoods in Santo Domingo will benefit from the first phase of the government’s energy and fuel saving program with the substitution of more than two million regular light bulbs for low-wattage fluorescent bulbs. A report by Diario Libre says that this program is costing US$2 million. El Caribe reports that Industry and …

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The National Competitiveness Council, together with the US Embassy, the American Chamber of Commerce and the Fundacion Global Democracia y Desarrollo are hosting workshops on DR-CAFTA nationwide. They are releasing results of research compiled by the firm of Araujo Ibarra & Asociados on the business opportunities within the Dominican Republic and Central American trade agreement …

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