2008 – Page 175

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has suspended the sale of subsidized diesel fuel to the transport unions. Saturday’s announcement by minister Melanio Paredes was forced on the government as a result of the continuing increase in the price of a barrel of oil. Over the weekend the price of oil hit US$142 a barrel. …

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The Central Electoral Board (JCE) earns millions from its Civil Registry offices. According to Hoy newspaper’s Loyda Pena, in a little over a year, the offices where people register births, deaths, marriages and divorces have generated over RD$490 million. Much of this income is a result of assigning fixed salaries to their employees and remodeling …

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Former head of the Dominican Refinery and current president of the National Energy Commission Aristides Fernandez Zucco has called on the electricity distribution companies to provide the electricity they charge for. In fact, some energy distributors charge for an electricity service that they do not supply and should therefore be penalized, according to Fernandez Zucco. …

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Seldom in the news and never in headlines, banker Alejandro Grullon featured in both last Saturday as he blasted the Central Bank’s policy of high interest CDs that “sucked up” much of the nation’s cash. According to Grullon, who is president of the Popular Financial Group, “the lack of liquidity that is affecting the financial …

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The trend for ever higher prices for basic foods continued throughout last week. Staples such as poultry, pork, eggs, refined sugar, pasta, plantains and bananas have been subject to more price hikes. Reporter Luis M. Cardenas found plantains at RD$10 each, ripe bananas at 3 x RD$5, and poultry for RD$40 a pound at Las …

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While the front page picture was certainly a cheerful portrayal of youthful exuberance, the reality of millions of gallons of pure water going to waste was embarrassing for many. A valve that controls part of a new aqueduct called the Salinity Barrier is not working properly, and water gushed out of the system, forming what …

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Amid the calls for increased exports to pay for oil under the PetroCaribe agreement, Diario Libre is reporting that 12 products have been identified as having good export potential. What is interesting is that neither coffee nor cacao is on the list. Instead, it includes rice, beans, garlic, onions, mangoes, avocados, bananas, oriental vegetables, beef, …

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Electricity distribution company Ede-Este has just restored electricity to the Las Americas Freeway that connects Boca Chica with Santo Domingo. The 24-kilometer stretch has been in darkness since the repeated theft of thousands of meters of valuable copper wire, transformers and even light fixtures. According to El Nuevo Diario, Ede-Este has spent nearly RD$7 million …

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A panel of industrialists and technicians is analyzing the recent set of Regulations for the Law on Incentives for Renewable Energy and Special Regimes. The group found that the regulations contain so many inconsistencies, gaps, complications and discretionary clauses that such a vital new sector could be stalled in the paperwork. The analysis, conducted at …

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The latest blow to local wallets was a RD$7 per gallon increase in the price of diesel fuel. A gallon of the cheapest diesel fuel now costs RD$181.90. Propane went up RD$4 a gallon, and kerosene went up RD$2.70 a gallon. Premium gasoline is now at RD$207.90 and regular is RD$197.80. Subsidized propane is now …

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