2007 – Page 132

With summer winding up and the kids about to return to school, Casa de Campo brings Brazilian legend Caetano Veloso to perform at its 5,000 seat Altos de Chavon amphitheater on Friday, 17 August at 8 pm. Veloso has been called the Bob Dylan of Brazil and the Brazilian troubadour. The New York Times described …

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The time is right for people living in the DR to have a final look at their hurricane preparedness plans as the island enters the busiest part of the hurricane season in the Caribbean – end of August and September. Tropical Depression 4 has entered the Caribbean Sea, and models at this very early stage …

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Labor Ministers from Central America and the DR have agreed to promote dignified jobs for workers in their respective countries as a way of improving their citizens’ living conditions. The agreement by the labor ministers, the Santo Domingo Declaration, was issued as part of the 24th Regional Conference of Labor Ministers. On Wednesday the Dominican …

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Treasury Minister Vicente Bengoa says that the DR’s consolidated public debt declined by US$94.2 million in the second quarter of the year, a 1.1% decrease. According to Bengoa, the total national public debt as of 30 June is US$8.33 billion, or 25.4% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

A report by the National Statistics Office (ONE) says that 63.1% of the Dominican population belong to the middle low and low socio-economic groups. Specifically 34.2% of Dominicans are in the low- income bracket and 28.9% are in the middle low- income class. According to the report, 8.6% of the Dominican population belongs to the …

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The National Population and Family Council (Conapofa) says that 9.3 million people now live in the DR, up from 8.9 million in 2004. In 2008, the population is expected to reach 9.5 million. This means that from 2004 to 2008, there was an increase of 573,484 inhabitants, or a 6.4% increase. Candido Rivera, director of …

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Optimism seems to be this administration’s greatest strength as Diario Libre reports that the government’s Office for the Reorganization of Transit (OPRET) is planning a radical restructuring of the transport sector. The new plan calls for the gradual elimination of the risky motoconcho (motorcycle taxis) and conchos (shared taxis) throughout the DR. The Office for …

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Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez says that the DR is in the process of breaking the “sun and sand” tourism mold and working towards a development model consisting of a range of tourism offers, all involving the local community. He foresees new developments in wellness, scuba, golf, hunting, business and cultural tourism. He said that it …

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William Kaschak, of the USAID-backed Environmental Protection Investment Fund (FIPA) has warned that groundwater resources in the Dominican Republic’s eastern tourism area are showing signs of stress and increased salinity due to extensive urbanization, tourism developments, and the cultivation of sugar cane for ethanol production, as reported in Hoy. He said that this environmental degradation …

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Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez and Public Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez, speaking on yesterday’s Nuria & Huchi afternoon CDN radio talk show, said that the gastroenteritis outbreak at the Bahia Principe Rio San Juan resort is now suspected to have been caused by the rapidly spreading virus known as norovirus, which would probably have been …

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