2009 – Page 114

If you were to ask drivers about the dangers of using the nation’s highways, the answers are almost identical: poor signage, poor pavement and poor lighting. And if you asked the transit authorities, they would point out careless and reckless driving by drivers and their lack of respect for the laws and norms of good …

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The government ordered gasoline prices reduced yesterday, but they also increased the price of a gallon of diesel fuel. Gasoline prices fell by RD$1.30 on premium and RD$1.90 on regular. However, there was a RD$0.50 cent increase in the price of both types of diesel. The price of propane for home use or vehicles was …

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Despite losing to Argentina in a very battled game, 89-87 in the final day of Round 1 at the FIBA Americas Championship, the DR moved on to the second round of the event. The DR had been ahead at halftime 43-37. In the overtime period the Dominicans had an 81-76 lead after a three point …

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The Ministry of Culture is sponsoring the presentation of the concert “Voces por la Paz” this coming Wednesday, 2 September at the Maximo Aviles Blonda Hall of the Palace of Fine Arts (Palacio de Bellas Artes). Free admission. Known pieces by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Bisset, Gonzalo Roig, Julio A. Hernandez, Aura Marina del Rosario …

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President Leonel Fernandez leaves today for Tripoli, Libya. He is scheduled to leave on a private jet from the San Isidro Air Base at 11am. He will make a stopover in New York and then Paris. He is traveling to participate in the African Union of Chiefs of State and Heads of Government Summit that …

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President Leonel Fernandez says he is defending democracy in Latin America, not Dominican business interests in his stand on the Honduras political crisis. He rejected last night the statements from representatives of the business sector in Honduras that called his proposal to exclude Honduras from the Free Trade Agreement as “dirty and opportunistic”. Fernandez spoke …

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Dominican participation in the Central American Parliament costs taxpayers RD$65 million a year, as reported in El Dia. The US$1.8 million a year the DR pays to be an observer in the Parlacen is questioned. Resolutions of the symbolic parliament are not enforceable. Each of the 22 members the DR appoints to the Parlacen receives …

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Secretary of the Presidency Cesar Pina Toribio announced yesterday at the end of a meeting of the National Council on Democratic Security, chaired by President Leonel Fernandez, that the United States is donating US$30 million to fight drug trafficking. A public bidding will be held on 27 September for new radars to track illegal flights …

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The business sector favors the government stepping up spending, but not on current expenditures. The International Monetary Fund has advised the government to stimulate the economy. But the business sector warns the government against taking loans that will not help development or create new jobs to maintain its present current spending levels. As reported in …

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The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reported that for the first half of the year, Dominican exports fell 16% compared to 2008. Last year, according to the ECLAC website, the decline in DR exports was just 3% for the first half, at the start of the present financial crisis. Regarding imports, …

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