2009 – Page 170

The Central Bank (CB) has announced a 1% decline in interest rates to the general public on its certificates of deposit. Listin Diario reports that the move is aimed at stimulating growth. The new Fixed Rate Certificate of Deposits are 180 days, 6%; 365 days, 7.0%; 18 months 8.0%; 24 months, 7%; 30 months, 8% …

Read more…

Servio Tulio Castanos Guzman, vice president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice, and former prosecutor Virgilio Bello Rosa of the PRD have rejected statements by president of the Supreme Court of Justice drawing parallels between the government and political conflict in Honduras and what could occur in the DR. Subero Isa is disputing the …

Read more…

According to a study by the World Bank, Governance Matters 2009, the DR has slipped in most World Wide Governance Indicators (WGI). The worldwide governance indicators (WGI) report aggregate and individual governance indicators for 212 countries and territories over the period 1996-2008, for six dimensions of governance: Voice and Accountability, Political stability and absence of …

Read more…

The Dominican government has officially purchased the EdeEste energy distribution company from its previous owner Trust Company West (TCW). The distributor was purchased for a price of US$26.5 million and Gerardo Sosa, formerly of EdeNorte, was immediately appointed as EdeEste’s new general manager. Sosa said that over 1,000 employees who currently work at EdeEste would …

Read more…

State-run Electricity Companies (CDEEE) vice president Radhames Segura says that recent accusations of corruption and nepotism are just part of a defamation campaign by interested parties and downplayed the gravity of the situation. He says the “interested parties” are seeking to exert pressure so that the state sells its energy companies at cheap prices. He …

Read more…

In her El Informe investigative report on Channel 7, Alicia Ortega presented irregularities in hiring at the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI). In a follow-up to her first report on irregularities in dam construction contracts, Ortega questioned the work carried out by advisors who make RD$50,000 to RD$110,000 a month at the INDRHI, and …

Read more…

Diario Libre is reporting that copies of the recently held National Standardized Exams were sold to students throughout the country in advance of the exams and in San Cristobal each was sold for RD$1,200. Two Ministry of Education employees, Juan de Dios Abad and Michael Alexander Baez Montilla, were sent to jail for their role …

Read more…

Minister of Public Health Bautista Rojas Gomez has acknowledged public concerns following an outbreak of infection in the pre-natal intensive care unit at the Robert Reid children’s hospital. The recent outbreak caused the sudden deaths of six babies last week and has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to launch an investigation into the causes.

A military contingent has distributed eviction notices to a large numbers of residents of Gonzalo, in the province of Monte Plata, who have opposed the installation of a cement plant by the Dominican Mining Consortium on the edge of Los Haitises National Park. The reason is that the lands belong to the State Sugar Council …

Read more…

Camelia Valdes was sworn into office yesterday as Passaic County Prosecutor in New Jersey. This makes her the first Dominican-American County Prosecutor in US history to be appointed or elected. Valdes, a Bronx native who grew up in Newark, NJ was nominated to the post by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine on 16 March 2009. …

Read more…