2009News

A criminal state?

Servio Tulio Castanos of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice has criticized the current purges of the army and police. “They are useless,” he told Hoy. He said that the measure is only a reaction to unstoppable situations. “One cannot talk of a purge when members of those corps commit crimes that they themselves plan,” …

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2009News

Independence Cycling Tour

Chilean Pan-American champion Luis Sepulveda finally beat Dominican Wendy Cruz on the second stretch of the Dominican Republic cycling tour. He now leads the race, followed by Wendy Cruz. Sepulveda clocked in with 3″39.16 with Cruz a minute and 12 seconds behind. They covered the Santo Domingo-San Pedro-Santo Domingo route, or 144 kms. The competition …

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2009News

Water still a concern

Hector Rodriguez Pimentel, director of the National Hydraulic Resources Institute (INDHRI), says that the DR only stores 17% of the 11 billion cubic meters of water it consumes in one year. This is 13% below international standards. He said that in order to tackle the issue of water storage, his department, which oversees reservoirs in …

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2009News

Taxes could stall TC

Increasingly high taxes could stall the development of the Dominican telecommunications (TC) sector, according to Oscar Pena, president of Claro and Codetel. According to Pena, telecommunications companies in the DR have to pay three separate taxes: 1) the 16% ITBIS tax, 2) a 10% Selective Consumption Tax (ISC) and 3) a 2% Contribution to the …

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2009News

Housing market dives

The DR’s housing market and the complementary construction sector took steep dives last year as a result of a decrease in housing demand. Hoy, quoting statistics from construction sector representative Ramon Elias Hidalgo of Constructora Cohisa, reports that house sales in 2008 dropped by 50% compared to 2007. Hidalgo, quoted in Hoy, believes that the …

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