2009 – Page 315

Caribair airline operations have been suspended for at least nine months by the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC), as reported in El Caribe. The decision is based on revelations that the airline committed “operational irregularities.” IDAC also reports that the company violated Civil Aviation Law 496-06 and aviation rulings. IDAC communicated the news of the …

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Tomas Dionisio Parra Segura, aero-navigability inspector at the Cibao International Airport (STI), who was fired following a Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC) probe into how a pilot with a cancelled license and a criminal background was allowed to take off from the airport with 11 passengers on board, says he has been made the scapegoat …

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The Met Office (Onamet) forecasts that light rains will continue in the north, northeast and east of the country, as well as over the central mountain range because of the wind flow coming in from the east. Onamet reported that the storm front that caused flooding in several areas during the long weekend and left …

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DR1 Daily News will not be updated on Monday, 26 January, a holiday in the Dominican Republic. The 26th celebrates the anniversary of the birth of Juan Pablo Duarte, founding father of the Dominican nation. He was born in Santo Domingo in 1813 and masterminded the movement that led to independence from the dictatorship of …

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Eddy Martinez, director of the Dominican Republic Center for Export and Investment (CEI-RD) says that Dominican exports will recover in 2009 and promised that Dominican businesses will improve their participation within the DR-CAFTA trade agreement. This statement from Martinez comes only days after it was announced that between November and December 2008 the trade deficit …

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The Presidential Press Secretary and the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate all agreed yesterday that there is no reason for postponing the proposed constitutional reform. This announcement comes after members of the public and private sectors complained that it is not in the best interest of dialogue for the political summit to …

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Although the overall unemployment rate hovers between 16% and 18% and is considered among the highest in the region, unemployment amongst people between the ages of 15 to 24 is the highest of all the DR-CAFTA countries. According to a report released by the Ministry of Labor, youth unemployment is at 30.9% According to Hoy, …

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Educational standards among students entering high school and university in the DR has been a topic of concern of late, with new statistics from the Education Ministry adding a new dimension to those concerns. According to the Ministry last year a total of 178,814 students quit school. There was a 7% desertion rate for primary …

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The Association of Vehicle Producer Concessionaires has announced that new car sales dipped by 29% in 2008 and forecasts a similar trend for 2009. Acofave indicates that if lucky, vendors will sell 12,000 new vehicles, at most. Acofave director Enrique Fernandez said this could be similar to 2003, which was the worst year for car …

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Dominican banks finished 2008 with assets totaling RD$596.5 billion, for an increase of RD$60 billion over 2007. Listin Diario reports that the advantage of this is that an increase in liquidity could be beneficial in the event of a financial crunch on the world markets. Bank Superintendent Rafael Camilo made the announcement on the state …

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