2008 – Page 84

Hacienda Minister Vicente Bengoa has announced that during the first nine months of the year the government has given the energy sector RD$18.1 billion in subsidies and is expected to give the sector and additional RD$10 billion for the remainder of the year. Bengoa says the increase in the energy subsidy results from an increase …

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Agriculture Minister Salvador Jimenez says that cacao exports have increased to US$99 million during the first nine months of the year. Jimenez says this will be a historic year for cacao exports, adding that the high level of demand in comparison to supply is keeping cacao prices stable. According to the Economic Commission for Latin …

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Representatives of the Santiago Development Association (APEDI) have told Hoy newspaper that before considering the construction of a metro, Santiago needs the government to improve the Port of Manzanillo in Monte Cristi province to facilitate cargo exports and imports. Eduardo Trueba, Hendrick Kelnener, Enmanuel Castillo and Sonia Guzman said that the greatest expense affecting competitiveness …

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As arguments rage on about the EPA agreement between the EU and CARIFORUM, the DR is wasting no time in making the most of the trade pact. This week the country sent 12,048 metric tons of sugar to Europe and during October a second ship containing 20,373 metric tons of sugar worth US$19.3 million will …

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Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez Albizu underwent surgery earlier this week at the New York Hospital in New York City. Valdez was admitted after doctors detected a growth in his brain. A biopsy revealed that the growth was benign. Doctors Anis Vidal and ophthalmologist Ramon Valdez Albizu accompanied him to New York. Listin Diario reports …

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Eight members of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) administrative board staged a hunger strike yesterday on the second floor hallway of the Ministry of Public Health. The CMD has spent months battling the government that instead wants to peg public hospital doctor wages to productivity and not give an overall wage increase. CMD president Waldo …

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Santiago based leather-goods manufacturer Teneria Bermudez has been fined RD$300,000 for environmental damage. The Ministry of Environment discovered that the company was dumping its residual waste into the Yaque del Norte River, polluting the river. Environmental prosecutor Jacinto Mejia said that the company needed to install a residual waste treatment plant. The company was closed …

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Criminal judges in La Vega are requiring Senator Euclides Sanchez to show evidence of supposed complicity between members of the La Vega judiciary and drug traffickers. Judge Mario Mariot Torres said that the statements by Sanchez are irresponsible, defamatory and intend to stain the honor and good name of the judges in La Vega. He …

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The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Caribbean Corridor Initiative (CCI) have announced the seizure of approximately 1,930 kilograms of cocaine with a street market value of US$58 million on board the Panamanian-flagged vessel Megan Star. The Dominican National Drug Control Department (DNCD) provided “significant” assistance leading to the confiscation. DNCD spokesman Roberto …

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The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says that in 2008, for the first time in a decade, Latin America and the Caribbean will experience a decrease in remittances. The expected decrease will result from the economic crises in the US and Spain, inflationary pressures and the weak dollar. The IDB’s report indicates that families and friends …

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