2011 – Page 50

President Leonel Fernandez received the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, at the Presidential Palace yesterday. The UNHCR, regarded as one of the world’s foremost humanitarian organizations, is preparing a ministerial-level meeting of all member states of the United Nations, to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1951 …

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President Leonel Fernandez was in the Cibao and northeast yesterday to head the formal inaugurations of several aqueducts. They were built with an investment of RD$273 million and will benefit the residents of the provinces of Duarte (San Franciso de Macoris), Monsenor Nouel (Bonao) and Hermanas Mirabal (Salcedo).

Most government institutions have increased their power consumption despite the presidential mandate to reduce consumption by 10% this year. A report in Listin Diario says that monitoring by the National Energy Commission (CNE) found that of 137 government entities, only 28 showed savings above RD$100,000 in reduction in their power consumption. Most of the government …

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The Fernandez administration seeks to borrow an additional US$285 million from the Brazil export finance bank, BNDES. The Executive Branch sent bills with the loan approval requests to be studied by Congress where the ruling party is majority. The government says the money will be used to build the Hermanas Mirabal aqueduct (US$50 million), rebuild …

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The Fernandez administration announced last night that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is giving it a break by allowing it to increase government spending this year, as reported in Listin Diario. President Fernandez made the announcement while attending a lecture on “Global Changes and Challenges to Dominican Foreign Policy” by Mexican senator Rosario Green at …

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Sociologist Cesar Perez said that the 80% public rejection rate towards the Leonel Fernandez government explains why the PLD presidential candidate Danilo Medina is trailing behind the PRD candidate, former President Hipolito Mejia. Perez said that the polls reflect the public perception of Medina as a continuation of the government that has an 80% rejection …

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Former President Hipolito Mejia, the front-runner in polls in the lead-up to the 2012 presidential election, was the first to sign the Political and Social Pledge for Education in the Dominican Republic at the Santo Domingo Catholic University today. The Commitment, organized by the Coalicion por una Educacion Digna, sought to commit presidential candidates to …

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Wataru Suzuki, political and economic charge d’affaires at the Japanese Embassy in the Dominican Republic and Takuji Tomono, a volunteer for the Japanese International Cooperation Agency told Listin Diario there is room for more farm exports from the DR in Japan. Suzuki said the Embassy was working with the Mango Cluster and the Dominican Export …

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A private business group in the Colonial City, the Fundacion Ciudad Ovando, has funded the installation of 63 surveillance cameras. Interior & Police Minister Jose Ramon Fadul said the cameras and the monitoring center would bolster security in the historical quarter, the leading attraction for visitors to Santo Domingo. Louis Brocker, spokesman for the Fundacion …

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The Venezuelan consul in Haiti was the target of an armed robbery as he made his way from Haiti to Las Americas International Airport on Monday to take a flight to Panama, as reported in Diario Libre. Marcos Villegas was robbed on the Carretera Sanchez, near Yaguate in San Cristobal. As reported he was intercepted …

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