2013 – Page 204

The presiding judge of the First Collegiate Tribunal of the Penal Chamber of the Court of the First Instance of the National District, Gisselle Mendez, has declared the Bahia de las Aguilas case, involving thousands of acres of public lands, to have expired, and therefore closed the case. The government had sued former Agrarian Reform …

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In today’s El Dia newspaper, Wednesday 5 June, residents in Bonao give their reactions to announcements that Falcondo Xstrata will cease operations in the country if a mining permit for Loma Miranda is not granted. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Environment denied the permit and rejected the arguments in the Environmental Impact Assessment presented …

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In its session yesterday, Wednesday 4 June, the Chamber of Deputies declared the legislative proposal to be urgent and approved the Law that creates the 911 emergency call and response system after one reading. The program will receive government funding during the initial stages. Legislators say the first stages of the program will cost some …

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The Ministry of Armed Forces says that none of its generals had given a Dominican diplomatic passport to French-Lebanese citizen Ziad Takieddine, who is in jail in France for arms trafficking. The Ministry says that its investigation found that a Dominican-American citizen had sold a forged passport to the arms dealer for US$200,000. Armed Forces …

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Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito recently announced the arrest of anyone caught soliciting the services of prostitutes. He said that especially in Puerto Plata officers would be alert in an effort to reduce the harassment currently experienced by visitors. A new controversy on the issue has come forth after a former mayor of Sosua, Vladimir …

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The president of the main opposition PRD party, Miguel Vargas Maldonado, and former President of the Republic Hipolito Mejia, are due to meet this week to discuss a draft of a memorandum of understanding in the hope of ending the internal conflicts within the party. Party stalwart Jose Joaquin Puello confirmed the plan last night, …

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Former Minister of Tourism Frank Jorge Elias was released yesterday, Tuesday 4 June after a bail of RD$2 million was posted. Judge Isi Muniz of the Third Penal Court of the Appeals Court of the National District said the decision was taken because the plaintiff did not present testimonial proof of the violence or psychological …

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The weather over the Dominican Republic will continue to be rainy, according to the National Meteorological Office (Onamet). The presence of a low-pressure trough and its interaction with a tropical wave over the Mona Passage and moving westwards will lead to rains over most of the country today, Wednesday 5 and tomorrow Thursday 6 June. …

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The “Festicafe 2013” coffee festival was held in Polo, Barahona, 1-2 June. The trade fair features the organic coffee produced in the hills of Neiba and Polo by some 300 small farmers around this small southwestern town located some 1000 meters above sea level. There as lots of coffee to taste and test during the …

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The first cultural summer camp aimed at Dominican-American children will be held from July 8 to July 20, in the historic vacation farm of former Dominican president Joaquin Balaguer, in Guiagui, near the city of La Vega. Campamento Raices seeks to connect the second generation of Dominicans living abroad with their cultural roots using folklore, …

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