2011 – Page 240

Dominican Republic has established diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso signed the agreement with the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in India, Prasal Kariyawansam during his visit to India as part of President Leonel Fernandez’s delegation. Present at the signing were Dominican Ambassador to India Hans Dannenberg Castellanos and Sri Lankan …

Read more…

The Ministry of Education has announced the indefinite cancellation of the school breakfast program. Education Minister Melanio Paredes said the decision came after a recommendation by President Leonel Fernandez himself, on the grounds that if the program could not be guaranteed, it was better off being suspended. The decision came following more food poisoning cases …

Read more…

The Ministry of Environment has announced its plans to open 20 eco-touristic circuits in the Greater Santo Domingo area. Jose Enrique Baez, director of the Ministry’s National Plan Green Quisqueya told Hoy that the Ministry has recovered 24 important green areas and converted them into ecological parks and protected areas. He said that what many …

Read more…

New tolls that will be established for travel to the southwest and the north as of April are being set at RD$50 up from RD$30. The government had said there would be no tax increases or new taxes implemented in 2012. The Ministry of Public Works announced that it was awarding a concession of the …

Read more…

The Ministry of Environment has imposed a RD$3 million fine on the owners of the MSC Ronyt that spilled petroleum at the Multimodal Port of Caucedo on 28 January.

The general coordinator of Participacion Ciudadana says that new laws and departments set in place by the government to fight administrative corruption have had a “virtually invisible” effect. While presenting the civic group’s annual report yesterday, Santiago Sosa mentioned that the procurement law, laws that regulate public credit handling, the treasury, internal controls and budgetary …

Read more…

The Ministry of Public Health has confirmed that two Haitian children who died last week had been ill with cholera. The children were found dead inside a rural temple in El Javillar, Puerto Plata. The pastor had tried to revive the children using rites and prayers, as reported in Listin Diario. The Ministry of Public …

Read more…

A report in Listin Diario says that 90% of Dominican families have suffered watching a relative or close friend battling cancer. Reportedly, the public cancer center, the Heriberto Pieter Oncology Center receives 12,000 new cases a year. The mortality rate for cancer patients at the hospital is 40%. 50% of cases are diagnosed in an …

Read more…

The Police announced yesterday that it has dismissed 46 officers and will be filing charges against Mayor Cristino Batista Roa and lieutenant Fernando Julia Urbaez for their complicity in the attempted murder of Jordi Veras in Santiago. Batista Roa is also being investigated for the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Virgilio Casilla Minaya, a Police Internal …

Read more…

Three people have been arrested, including two Haitians and a Dominican, as part of investigations into a break-in at the residence of judge Claribel Nivar Arias. Judge Nivar Arias has been in the press for being in charge of the case against Sobeida Felix, the lover of Puerto Rican drug capo Jose Figueroa Agosto. She …

Read more…