2008 – Page 108

A loud thunderstorm with brilliant flashes of lightning led to flooding in Santo Domingo early on Tuesday morning. Heavy rainfall flooded major and minor roadways. Meteorologists say the early morning showers are due to an active tropical wave that is interacting with the last remnants of Hurricane Ike. http://www.dr1.com/forums/weather-beyond/  

Reports from the Emergency Operations Center (COE) indicate that the rains caused by Hurricane Ike, which passed 150 kms to the north of the DR, led 16,000 people to seek shelter outside their homes over the weekend. A COE report this morning says that six communities were cut off, two bridges were damaged and 2,383 …

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The intense rains affected traffic along the Duarte Highway at km. 59 (to the west of Villa Altagracia) towards Bonao. In the south, the flooding of Ocoa river caused disruption to traffic between Azua and Peravia provinces and affected several communities in the vicinity of Palmar de Ocoa. As a result, dozens of trucks loaded …

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The DR is sending a team of 17 doctors and paramedics to Haiti via the border crossing at Jimani to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of the recent storms. Rains and winds caused by the latest storm, Hurricane Ike, have killed 58 people in Haiti, which had already suffered the effects of intense rains resulting …

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Eleuterio Martinez, the new deputy minister in charge of Protected Areas at the Ministry of Environment has announced that one of his first tasks will be to seek a series of changes to Sectorial Law 202-04 on Protected Areas. As reported in Diario Libre, he said, “What we have is madness. There are many protected …

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Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations Jose Manuel Trullols and Dominican Ambassador to the European Union Federico Cuello will represent the Dominican Republic at the Caribbean Heads of Government Summit scheduled for 11 September in Barbados, where the signing of the European Partnership Agreement (EPA) will be decided. The signing of the agreement has been postponed …

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Spokesmen for leading business organizations want the International Monetary Fund back to monitor the Dominican economy and government handing of its finances. “We cannot go at it alone,” said Pedro Perez, spokesman for the National Organization of Shopping Malls (ONEC). “It is sad to see the government hiring bonanza, with an incredible number of deputy …

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The government increased its spending by RD$50.46 billion from January to August, compared to the same period in 2007. That is a 40% increase, according to a report in Listin Diario. This is RD$11.6 billion more than tax collections. As reported, the government spent RD$176.69 billion, compared to RD$126.23 billion in 2007. According to the …

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As reported in Hoy, former Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp described President Leonel Fernandez’s government as one of liars, spendthrifts, full of fallacies and opportunism and bursting with corruption. Speaking on the Aeromundo TV program on Sunday, Tolentino Dipp said that the President violates and mocks its own Law of Austerity. Tolentino Dipp, …

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Convicted financier Luis Alvarez Renta was admitted to Corazones Unidos hospital yesterday, on a special permit to leave Najayo jail where he is serving a 10-year sentence for his role in the Baninter bank fraud. He was admitted for high blood pressure and other heart problems.