2006 – Page 82

The government-sponsored Essential Medicines Program (Promese) has gone past the RD$50 million mark in sales after it corrected some of the issues related to the medicine market and related to the People’s Pharmacy program. For the buying public, the Promese offer is a 30% savings (or more) on many medications. For example, Acetaminophen caplets (500mg.) …

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Electricity Generator Itabo has issued US$125 million in bonds on the international market. The corporate bonds will pay 10.875% APR and interest will be paid every six months beginning in March 2007. Fitch Ratings gave the bonds a “B-“rating with a positive outlook and S&P gave the bonds a “B” rating also with a positive …

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Details of a preliminary report published by the BHD Bank’s Business Consultancy Program is reporting that around one third of Dominican business could close after the country’s entry into DR-CAFTA if they fail to make the proper fiscal reforms. BHD president Luis Molina Achecar informed that 30% of businesses are competitive while 40% can be …

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Thieves removed four kilometers of electric cables from the Las Americas Highway over the weekend and left a major portion of the causeway without lighting. This is the second robbery in the last week, according to El Caribe. The first robbery was of 25 large copper ground wires for transformers along the highway. The most …

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The BanCredito fraud case took another odd turn when it was announced that the firm hired to audit the actions of the Banco Leon subsidiary BanCredito was an insurance company, which is prohibited under Dominican law 146-02. So it turns out that the judgments against Manuel Arturo Pellerano Pena and Juan Felipe Mendoza Gomez were …

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Economist Felix Calvo, a former official of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic during the Mejia administration, writes in today’s El Caribe that Eduardo A. Masferrer, the former president of the Hamilton Bank, was sentenced to 150 years in jail by Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District Court in Miami, Florida. Calvo …

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Diario Libre reports that the Chamber of Deputies is studying the possibility of granting the Ministry of the Interior and the Police responsibility for carrying out a first official census of foreigners living in the country, both legal and illegal. Once the initial study has been completed, Immigration and the intelligence organizations will be responsible …

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The Metropolitan Transit Authority (AMET) is reminding the public that tomorrow is the last day for renewing vehicle license plate stickers. Transit authorities informed Diario Libre that 250,000, or 40% of all vehicles, have not yet had their plates renewed, an alarming rate for a process that began in early July. Last week AMET warned …

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A young man in Villa Mella was killed because he tried to stop the sale of drugs in front of his house. The young man, Eskarlen Villar, 24, was shot by a man only identified as Jean Carlos, and died at 10:00pm. Looking for quick revenge, Villar’s family members set the murderer’s house ablaze, but …

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Dominicans of Chinese origin are holding their October Full Moon celebrations in the Barrio Chino, Santo Domingo’s Chinatown district. This year’s festivities are placing a particular emphasis on the Dominican people’s wellbeing. Construction on the Avenida Duarte, where the celebrations took place, didn’t affect the ceremony, which is sponsored by the Chinese Cultural Center and …

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