2008 – Page 200

The Minister of the Armed Forces, Lt. General Ramon Aquino Garcia, has replaced the commanding officer of the Specialized Frontier Corps (Cesfront), Major General Adriano Silverio Rodriguez. General Silverio Rodriguez was given command of the Second Battalion in Santiago. The new commanding officer of Cesfront will be Major General Jorge Garcia. Sources close to the …

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The Senate has approved the US$71 million loan that will be used to build the dam and hydroelectric facility at Las Placetas. The loan was negotiated through the Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) of Brazil. The original documents were signed in December 2007 and January 2008. The Dominican Corporation of State-owned Electricity Companies (CDEEE) …

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The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean will meet at the Hilton Hotel in Santo Domingo next Monday and Tuesday. The agenda will center on the theme of “Productive Transformation 20 Years Later: Old problems, new opportunities.” President Leonel Fernandez and ECLAC executive secretary Jose Luis Machinea will attend the meeting. Proposals for …

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The Dominican government has done an about-face in its privatization strategies, and now prefers to buy back, at a high cost to taxpayers, major ventures that had private partners or were privatized in the 1990s, as reported by Listin Diario. The trend is thought to have began when the Hipolito Mejia administration bought back the …

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The National Council for the Reform of the State (Conare) proposes to reduce taxpayer funding for political parties from 0.50% to 0.25% in presidential election years, and from 0.25% to 0.125% in congressional election years. Of the funds, 70% would be distributed in proportion to valid votes received in the previous election. Of the remaining …

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At least two transport unions have put a halt to the announced increases in passenger and freight costs. Ramon Perez Figuereo, the head of the National Central of Unified Transportation (CNTU) and Juan Hubieres, the head of the Fenatrano group announced their decision to heed Vice-President Rafael Alburquerque’s call for patience. According to El Nuevo …

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The latest reports are indicating that the country’s oldest and largest reservoirs are filling up with sediment faster than ever projected. These reservoirs are all behind dams, starting with Tavera and including Valdesia, Sabaneta, Sabana Yegua, Rincon and Hatillo, all of which are over 20 years old. According to Hoy newspaper, a report from the …

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The Dominican government has set up a committee to oversee the handling of the country’s dams during the hurricane season. There are a total of 32 dams in the Dominican Republic, ranging in size from the largest, Valdesia and Tavera-Bao, to tiny, almost micro-generators. The director of the National Institute for Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI), Hector …

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As usual, private schools in the Dominican Republic have announced increases in tuition fees for the 2007-2008 school year, some as high as 100%. The president of the Public and Private School Parents Federation, Juan Avila said that 20% of Catholic schools had announced increases and 50% of the other private educational centers had done …

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The Dominican Olympic Committee honored the best athletes of the year yesterday. For the first time the Athlete of the Year Award was shared by six leading athletes – Yuderkis Contreras in weight lifting, Gabriel Mercedes, taekwondo, Wendy Cruz, cycling, Luis Lin Ju, table tennis, Heidi Rodriguez and Dionisio Gustavo, karate. The winners by sport …

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