2008 – Page 293

National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDHRI) director Hector Rodriguez Pimentel is claiming that the INDHRI had nothing to do with the mismanagement of the Tavera dam during Tropical Storm Olga last December, and swiftly shifted the blame to the State Run Electricity Companies (CDEEE). According to Rodriguez, it is the CDEEE that administers the floodgates …

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Business representatives say that external factors are to blame for the continued high prices of products that are now tariff-free as part of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement. On Saturday the agreement, which was touted as a strengthening tool for the Dominican economy, will have been in place for one year but not much has …

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The Dominican Armed Forces is stationing more troops on the Haitian/Dominican border due to an increase in tensions between the two countries. The heightened tensions come after a Dominican businessman, Teofilo Reyes de Aza, was seized by alleged drug traffickers while on a business trip to Haiti. According to initial reports, Reyes de Aza, a …

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Hoy reports that more than RD$5 billion in workers compensation payments has accumulated in national banks because private and public employees aren’t aware of their right to access those funds. Elisaben Matos, director of the Health Risk Administrators (ARL) of the Dominican Social Security Institute (IDSS) says that hardly any workers know that they are …

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Yesterday citizens held a vigil outside the Supreme Court, calling for justice for a 12-year old girl who was raped by six men over the course of two days. Director of the Women and Health Collective Sergia Galvan and director of the Women’s Ministry defense office, Clara Luna, along with two of the girl’s aunts …

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The Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (REDOVIH) is accusing the Dario Contreras Hospital of refusing to operate on a young patient who is infected with HIV/AIDS. REDOVIH president Dulce Almonte says that patients are being refused treatment at this hospital because they are HIV positive, which is in violation of article 20 of Law …

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The UASD University has a new dean, Franklin Garcia Fermin. Fermin was elected after a second round of voting last Friday and will be replacing Roberto Reyna Tejada as dean of the oldest University in the Americas. Garcia, who will serve from 2008 until 2011, explained that he will work hard to maintain the UASD’s …

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Insurance companies pay out around RD$800 million per year as a result of car thefts. In the first two months of 2008, 125 vehicles were reported stolen, of which 75% have not been found. Four percent of stolen vehicles are classified as SUVs. In all of last year 621 vehicles where stolen, mostly new SUVs, …

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Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Argentina’s president Cristina Kirchner have both announced their attendance at the Rio Group Summit Conference next week. The XX Summit of the Rio Group will be held in Santo Domingo with President Leonel Fernandez giving the keynote speech. The Rio Group will bring together the heads of state and the …

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This past weekend the Santo Domingo Metro took 300 passengers for a 14-minute ride from one end of the tracks to the other. The ride was part of a process in which engineers from France, Spain and Germany will certify whether or not the Metro system is ready to enter into service. Of course, all …

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