2007 – Page 114

Dominican-Haitian Women’s Movement (MUDHA) coordinator Sonia Pierre doesn’t agree with recent statements by Haitian Ambassador to the DR Fritz Cineas, who told Hoy newspaper that children born to non-resident Haitian parents in the DR are Haitians, not Dominicans. She says that the Haitian Constitution doesn’t have jurisdiction in the DR and that the Haitian constitution …

Read more…

The discovery of an “exquisitely preserved orchid pollinarium attached to an extinct stingless bee preserved in a piece of amber, has led scientists to conclude that the flower is older than once believed. The discovery of the bee and the pollen indicates that orchids could have been around during the time of dinosaurs, 80 million …

Read more…

Education Minister Alejandrina German has defended the quality of the Dominican educational system, saying that the improvements are due in part to the government’s efforts. German says that the quality of education has improved also due to long-standing strategic alliances between several business institutions and Dominican civil society. German, responding to criticisms about the deficiencies …

Read more…

The Ministry of Education is taking education into the 21st Century with the introduction of “Wiki Dominicana.” The online interactive encyclopedia, based on the extremely popular Wikipedia, will be an ongoing project edited by readers. The site, which is similar in style to the original Wikipedia site, seeks to connect Dominicans through the Internet. www.wikidominicana.edu.do

In comments earlier this week in Santiago on occasion of the inauguration of millionaire facilities for university students, President Leonel Fernandez explained that the government could not invest more in education because of the massive public debt it had inherited from its predecessor, the Hipolito Mejia administration. In his column in El Caribe today, news …

Read more…

Clave newspaper reports on hefty increases in government propaganda during the Fernandez administration’s first three years. The newspaper points out that despite the 2007 Austerity Law that requires the government to reduce advertising spending by 25% of the 2005 level of advertising, the opposite has been the case. For the first half of 2007, government …

Read more…

According to a transparency in government index presented by civil society group Citizen Participation (PC), the Attorney General’s Office (at 78.40%) is the most transparent government office and the Ministry of Agriculture (at 12.23%) the least. Also analyzed were the ministries of Education-SEE (45.66%), Public Health-SESPAS (34.56%), Public Works-SEOPC (66.49%), Labor-SET (48.47%), Environment-SEMARN (35.26%), Foreign …

Read more…

Haitian Ambassador Fritz Cineas says that Haitians make up 85% of the laborers in the country’s construction sector. In an interview for Hoy, Cineas added that Haitians work as electricians, plumbers, carpenters and even site managers. Cineas also highlighted the work of Haitians in the development of the country’s agricultural sector, especially the sugar, coffee …

Read more…

“Offspring of Haitian parents born in the DR are as Haitian as I am, when I was born in Port-au-Prince,” said Haitian Ambassador Fritz Cineas in an interview published by El Dia newspaper. He said it is not up to Haiti to decide the nationality of children born in the DR, because that is clearly …

Read more…

US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Roland Bullen has commended the work of the Dominican authorities and ports in their work against illegal trips to Puerto Rico. The interim ambassador says that illegal trips from Higuey province to Puerto Rico have been reduced. Bullen added that since 2006, 42 illegal vessels have been intercepted before entering US …

Read more…