2006 – Page 41

Business associations in Santiago and the Cibao are warning that the government’s new fiscal reform proposal does not affect sports betting and gaming, or luxury vehicles. Ricardo Fondeur, president of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce said that gambling has become a growth activity in the country. Furthermore, he urged the government to establish a borrowing …

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Economist Arturo Martinez Moya, writing in Hoy newspaper, says that the Dominican Republic internal and external debt have both increased during Leonel Fernandez’s Presidency. Martinez says that the debt now stands at US$4.25 billion and that this amount is US$350 million higher than the debt accumulated during the Hipolito Mejia presidency, which he claims was …

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The Office for Metropolitan Bus Services (OMSA) will be receiving RD$30 million in funds in order to improve the bus system, which has become increasingly deficient in recent months. Ignacio Ditren, quoted in El Caribe newspaper, made the announcement and said that the funds will help rescue the bus system. Ditren says that there are …

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Mediation has given rise to possibility that the impasse between Verizon Dominicana and the Tax Department (DGII) could come to an end a lot sooner than most had expected. On Wednesday night, as reported in Diario Libre, President Leonel Fernandez met with officials from the telephone company and the American ambassador to the DR, Hans …

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Although the process has been conducted with a good deal of discretion and members of the election panel have been tight-lipped about it, rumors about who the next judges on the Central Electoral Board will be have begun to gather pace. Diario Libre reports that Aura Celeste Fernandez, Luis Scheker Ortiz, Ana Teresa Perez and …

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The National Office for European Development Funds (OPRET) has announced that they will allocate RD$24 billion towards socially beneficial projects in the border regions. The works, according to Diario Libre, will include the construction of water supply systems for the communities of Los Roas, El Ingenio, Canada Honda, Los Fonditos, Bejucal and El Gajo, in …

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The Armed Forces have taken a step further into the 21st Century with their surveillance technology, C4I. This hi-tech equipment will help the Armed Forces combat drug trafficking, conduct surveillance and protect maritime and land border zones. The sophisticated equipment, which cost US$50 million, is part of a bi-lateral agreement between the DR and Italy …

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Listin Diario reports that the Dominican Consulate in New York has announced that they will be reducing the price of passports. Marcos Montilla, Dominican consul in New York, said that the cost of passports valid for six years was US$200, which has been reduced to US$170 and passports that used to cost US$175 will now …

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It was business as usual for most citizens in Santo Domingo yesterday as the threatened strike went ahead without much fanfare or support. A 48-hour strike had been called by CNTU transport organization head Ramon Perez Figuereo in protest against the announced fiscal reform, the increase in poverty, the energy crisis and other topics of …

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The United States government has obtained the extradition of Edward David Pena Lora who is wanted on charges of trafficking cocaine and heroin. Pena, who was apprehended in Santiago, was handed over by the Department of Drug Control to two American officials and boarded American Airlines flight 780. Dominican courts issued an arrest warrant for …

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