2007 – Page 259

During the current wage talks, the employers’ position has been that any wage increases will go to minimum wage earners. The labor representatives have been insisting on a wage increase for all salaried workers earning up to RD$30,000 per month. Last week, business sector representatives offered a sliding scale of wage increases, which was rejected …

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The National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE) has revealed that their latest survey of business opinions shows decreasing confidence in the Dominican Republic. The study shows that confidence rates have gone from 112% in August of 2006 to 89% in March of 2007. Regarding the current situation, the study showed a drop of 24% from …

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For years the Dominican cigar has been earning an increasingly outstanding reputation for excellence, and recent figures show that this reputation is well deserved. A US$100 million increase in exports from 2005 to 2006 was announced by the director of the National Tobacco Institute (INTABACO), Adalberto Rosa. Rosa revealed that 85% of the cigars were …

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Industrialists are trying to push for legislation aimed at providing the sector with a big competitiveness boost. Called Industrial Innovation and Competition, the initiative would appoint the Customs Office as the sole arbiter for expediting raw materials, machinery and capital goods coming into the Dominican Republic for use by certain specific companies. These companies would …

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In one of the first cases of this type ever to reach a final verdict, importer Juan Carlos Genao was convicted of contraband and tax evasion to the tune of RD$84 million. Magistrate Alexis Gomez sentenced Genao to six months jail time in La Victoria prison, payment of RD$40 million in fines, and the court …

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Taxi drivers of the famous or infamous yellow vans, called “pollitos” (little chicks) by most people, attempted to combine political expediency with a sly move to get more special treatment from the government. In what one paper is describing as “discriminatory treatment”, drivers of the yellow vans were allowed to park near the Presidential Palace …

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Cid Wilson, the former President of the Dominican American National Roundtable (DANR) and founding board member of Dominicans On Wall Street (DOWS) held a kick-off rally yesterday in Hackensack, New Jersey where he announced that he was running for New Jersey State Assembly. His announcement came following a Democratic convention on March 22, in which …

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The Police have the two accused killers of a student, yet another case of murder for a cell phone. Officials of the Catholic Church handed over Victor Manuel Tavarez (El Pollo) to the authorities in Esperanza, Valverde. Tavarez and Fernando Devora Batista, a brother in law, were formally accused of the murder of student Juan …

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In a joint operation, the Navy and the US Coast Guard confiscated 81 kilos of cocaine. Of these, six kilos were confiscated at 3 am after a search of the 22 foot speedboat named Pro-Sport, with registry PR-3306-C at the beach of Bayahibe, near La Romana. Puerto Ricans Juan Rosario and Angel Leonardo Rodriguez were …

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The Weather Department forecast that weathers will continue today and tomorrow as a rain front moves west from Haiti. The scattered showers have caused major flooding in the Cibao central region. The rains came after months of drought.