2009 – Page 313

The Alternative Social Forum (FSA) will hold a parallel summit to the government’s with an expected 100 social organizations in attendance. The PRD, which is expected to attend the ‘alternative summit,” has yet to decide whether it will take part in the government summit and says that it will announce its decision at 4pm. Amparo …

Read more…

The Chamber of Deputies has passed, after a first reading, the bill that proposes the launch of discussions on the constitutional reform bill presented by President Leonel Fernandez. Of the 126 Deputies present 97 voted in favor while 22 abstained. The PRD block voted against the bill after the six-hour session. Spokesman for PRD Deputies …

Read more…

Journalist Victor Grimaldi has been appointed as Dominican Ambassador to the Holy See through decree 44-09. Grimaldi was a close aide of the founder of the ruling PLD, Juan Bosch for many years. Grimaldi was appointed Comptroller General during the last Joaquin Balaguer administration in 1996. He went on to serve as the DR’s representative …

Read more…

Regional Migration deputy director Juan Isidro Perez says that the government is only issuing identification cards to Haitian farm workers. Perez denied reports that the Migration Department is also giving out work permit cards to construction workers. Perez said the permits are valid for six months and are being issued as a way of determining …

Read more…

The Ministry of Environment is allowing farmers with small farms in Los Haitises National Park to stay until March before leaving and taking their harvests with them. Minister Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal said that recent operations in the park revealed more than 150 small farms within its limits, but because of interventions by the Catholic …

Read more…

Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC) director Jose Tomas Perez said the decision to ground Caribair for at least nine months was based on the outcome of an investigation into the airline after one of its planes made an emergency landing in North Carolina on 3 January 2009 due to lack of fuel. Perez says that …

Read more…

According to Manuel Hernandez Ruigomez, Spanish consul general in the DR, an estimated 130,000 Dominicans live in Spain, mostly in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. According to Ruigomez, while 30,000 already have Spanish citizenship, a further 30,000 are there illegally. The remaining 70,000 are living in Spain with legal residency papers. The …

Read more…

The National Association of Vehicle Distributors (ANADIVE) has voiced its opposition to a bill aimed at increasing taxes on vehicles as one option being considered for paying for the proposed wage increase for public sector doctors. According to ANADIVE, car sales have already dropped 50% since 2007, mainly due to the increase in interest rates. …

Read more…

Blair Thomas, president of EdeEste power distribution company says the DR government’s lawyer in an arbitration case being heard by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Jack Kerr, is determined to “take control of EdeEste.” Thomas is also a representative of DR Energy Holdings, Ltd, which has a 50% stake in EdeEste. In a letter …

Read more…

A recent national survey of blind people has found that 30,000 blind people live in the DR, of whom 47.5% lost their sight due to cataracts. Doctor Juan Batlle and Cristina Nogueira of the National Commission for the Prevention of Blindness and the Pan American Health Organization, respectively, emphasized that this type of blindness is …

Read more…