2008 – Page 333

The number of voters in the Dominican Republic has increased. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has announced that the electoral rolls now include 5,781,169 people, but the JCE also warned that this number might decrease after all the political parties go over the voter registration lists and make their observations. On Monday the lists were …

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If the Central Electoral Board approves all the requests and accepts the appeals, 37 political parties will be clamoring for the voters’ attention this coming 16 May. In fact, 13 new requests for official recognition were received for today’s session of the JCE. The agenda for today’s meeting includes requests for consideration from ten parties …

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The Dominican Council of Bishops has addressed a letter to the faithful that will be read in most Catholic churches next weekend. The letter commemorates the Day of Our Lady of High Grace (21 January), and reaffirms the bishops’ position that corruption, political patronage and populism still persist in the Dominican Republic. The bishops deplore …

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Despite a recent uproar that led to the withdrawal of similar pay increases in San Cristobal, city councilors in Santiago have now voted for considerable increases for themselves. El Caribe reports that Mayor Enrique Sued’s pay went up from RD$75,000 to RD$180,000 a month, while deputy mayor Petroushka Munoz’ wages were increased to RD$108,000. City …

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Affiliates to the Family Health Insurance Plan (SFS), the government’s attempt at universal health insurance, are once more threatened with loss of coverage. This time it is Resolution 147-07, issued by the Superintendent of Health that stipulated that the HMOs would pay doctors and clinics at the rates that were in force before the government’s …

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Only 1% of the doctors writing prescriptions for the Family Health Insurance program (SFS) are using the Single Forms required by the system. The doctors complain that the prescription forms ask for too much information and the format is too complicated. This information was given to the press by Dr. Waldo Ariel Suero, the president …

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The National Council for Business (CONEP) has announced that it would prefer the government to sign a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund so that the economic resources of the state are not used for campaign purposes. A press release from Conep said that “Unfortunately, we all know how politics works in the Dominican …

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Hoy newspaper’s Coctelera page two column speculates that the real reason behind the Haitian ban on chicken and eggs imports from the DR is the Haitian authorities’ interest in getting concessions out of the Dominican government. The Haitian authorities know that the government is under pressure from the country’s poultry exporters who are seeing millions …

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The old bridge that connects Ramon Santana with San Pedro de Macoris collapsed and fell into the river when a large truck hauling sugar cane attempted to cross. The bridge, built in 1915, had been repaired two years ago. Some 17 small communities were cut off from San Pedro as a result of its collapse. …

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Dominican born authors Junot Diaz and Julia Alvarez are among the nominees for the US National Book Critics Circle awards that were announced yesterday. Junot Diaz received widespread acclaim for his novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” and Julia Alvarez was nominated for her biographical work “Once Upon a Quinceanera”. For the full …

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