2008 – Page 182

The head office of the Agriculture Bank of the Dominican Republic (Bagricola) is to be put up for sale, according to the latest decision of the board of directors. Paino Abreu Pichardo told reporters from Hoy newspaper that not only the headquarters building, a huge1950s edifice between George Washington and Independencia Avenues, but many of …

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The Ministry of Industry and Commerce froze the price of diesel this past week and only increased the price of regular and premium gasoline by RD$1.30 and RD$2.50 respectively. According to Hoy newspaper, both subsidized and non-subsidized propane went up RD$2.00 per gallon. Diario Libre reports that the real price of diesel fuel should be …

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Over the medium term the obligations that the Dominican Republic has contracted with Venezuela under the PetroCaribe Pact cannot be paid by foodstuffs produced in the DR. The main cash crop, black beans, has not seen an increase in local production for years. Ever since it was made known that the oil from Venezuela could …

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Cuba shows up as the best and the Dominican Republic as the worst in a study of third and sixth graders in 16 countries in the region, as well as the state of Nuevo Leon in Mexico. A total of 196,000 students, 8,854 classrooms and 3,065 urban schools were part of the four-year study, which …

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Eminent hotelier Enrique de Marchena Kalaf was elected to lead the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) during a meeting of the association in Washington, D.C. In his address to the assembly, De Marchena told his audience that the association was faced with the difficult task of making the United States government understand the importance of tourism …

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Father Jose Navarro, S.J., has been awarded the Henri Nestle Prize for scientific research for his work in child nutrition in the Dominican Republic. The prize was awarded in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The prize rewards the best research in the areas of nutrition in public health, clinical nutrition, biochemistry and food technology that is done …

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Baby milk products and medicines have increased in price. According to a report by Aleida Plasencia in Hoy, a tour of several pharmacies revealed increased prices for formula, water for formula and medicines. In neighborhoods like La Fe, Naco and Cristo Rey, the effects of the strong euro, the increasing costs of raw materials and …

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Today’s newspapers give the account of a little girl who stepped on a live wire inside her home and was electrocuted. Dr. Julio Manuel Rodriguez Grullon, the head of the Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital, says that in 2007 274 people were killed by electrocution, more than came to the health center for dengue, measles, TB, …

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Over the weekend the newspapers talked about a weak tropical wave that would bring rains to much of the Dominican Republic. A Green Alert was issued for most of the east and as far north as La Vega. According to Hoy, the last bulletin from the National Meteorological Office (Onamet) was forecasting “rains, lightning and …

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The DR spends RD$944.6 million per year on corruption fighting institutions, but Diario Libre writes that the successes of these entities have been minimal at best. The result of this failure is that it generates skepticism among citizens and creates the perception that all cases are politically motivated. DL writes that between 2004 and 2007 …

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