2012 – Page 287

The Transport Reorganization Office (Opret) has announced that works for the installation of beams on an elevated portion over the Las Americas Expressway would be postponed until next Thursday, 8 March. Commuters had been alerted that the construction works would cause a traffic diversion from the Juan Carlos Bridge to the toll plaza every night …

Read more…

According to figures released by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMET) and reported in El Dia, 1,586 people were killed in traffic accidents during 2011. 60.47% of fatalities were on motorbikes, 21.12% on foot, 8.26% in cars, 2.48% in trucks, 2.27% in pick ups, 1.20% in buses, 3.34 in SUVs, 0.44% in minibuses, 0.25% on machinery, …

Read more…

Banco de Reservas administrator Vicente Bengoa has rejected a claim by economist Miguel Ceara Hatton, who stated that the Dominican external debt was too high, and said that, on the contrary, it was lower as a percentage of Gross National Product (GNP) than when President Leonel Fernandez returned to power in 2004. Hoy newspaper quotes …

Read more…

The Association of Hotels and Tourism (Asonahores) and the Association of Hotels La Romana-Bayahibe (AHRB) went public with their support of the government initiative to rebuild the Navy vigilance facilities in Saona Island as long as the latter meet environmental norms and serve to facilitate tourism in the area. Both organizations favored the decision of …

Read more…

Broadcasters Julio Martinez Pozo, Euri Cabral, Jose La Luz, Victor Gomez Casanova and Melton Pineda, announced yesterday, Thursday 1 March, that they have left the hugely popular “El gobierno de la manana” radio program that is transmitted by Z-101, saying that they have been censored when dealing with certain issues. They stated that the decision …

Read more…

In response to an Amnesty International report containing allegations of torture by police officers in the DR, Interior and Police Minister Jose Ramon Fadul and National Police chief Major General Jose Polanco Gomez have said that there is a campaign to discredit the country, using the pretext of supposed human rights violations by officers of …

Read more…

A court in the Dominican Republic has sentenced a New York bachata singer of Dominican heritage to six years in prison for drug trafficking, after being caught trying to smuggle more than a kilogram of heroin in his stomach on board a US-bound flight. Bachata singer Jaime Vargas was arrested in 2010 at Santo Domingo’s …

Read more…

Last December, analysts for the US State Department and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as well as independent analysts, told a US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Drug Trafficking that the Sinaloa Cartel, Mexico’s largest and most powerful group, is establishing drug routes with the Dominican Republic as the command center. When law enforcement began to …

Read more…

According to Acento.com.do the International Police (INTERPOL) are looking for 106 Dominicans, including civilians, military and police personnel accused of various crimes including murder, drug trafficking, fraud, as listed on their website. Curiously the names of some people already in custody are still on the website such as Sobedia Felix Morel, Leavy Nin Batista and …

Read more…

Presenting Oxfam’s strategic plan for 2012-2016, the international development agency’s director in the Dominican Republic, Rosa Canete, said that it is imperative to change the political culture, the culture of the politicians, and the people in general to be able to have real democracy in the country. The four areas prioritized by Oxfam in the …

Read more…