2018 – Page 12

Museums and cultural centers will remain open until late on 15 December 2018. For the closing of the day, the Ministry of Culture is sponsoring a “Merengue, Patrimonio Cultural de las Americas” concert to celebrate that merengue music and dance was honored as intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the UNESCO in 2016. The merengue …

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The Segundo Tribunal Colegiado, a court in Santiago, sentenced Yoryi Randol Vargas to 10 years in prison for trafficking in migrants. Vargas had been arrested after army intelligence officers on 23 July 2016 inspected a five-person vehicle in which he was transporting 22 Haitian nationals, including 13 men, six women and three minors, all without …

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Five days after the Wednesday, 5 December 2018, tragic explosion at the Polyplas plastics factory in Villas Agrícolas, Distrito Nacional, the director of the Center for Emergency Operations, Juan Manuel Mendez announced rescue operations had concluded after no more missing persons had been reported related to the explosion. The toll of the accident is eight …

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According to the president of the National Commission of Human Rights, Manuel María Mercedes, there have been at least 115 extra judicial executions so far this year, and called on the head of the National Police, General Ney Aldrín Bautista to do something about it. The information came from a study that covered issues such …

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On Thursday, 6 December 2018, the oldest known Dominican in the country died, as reported in Listin Diario. Jaime (Jaimito) Vicente was born in January 1901 in Hondo Valle, Elías Piña, and would have been 118 on 28 January 2019. He was a farmer, and enjoyed singing, especially bachatas, as reported in Diario Libre. He …

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A US$50 million default judgment has been reversed in favor of the Dominican Republic, as reported in law.com’s Daily Business Review. The case involves a US$51.8 million irrigation construction contract awarded in 2001 to Sun Land & RGITC LLC and Architectural Ingenieria Siglo XXI LLC (AIS). As reported, construction had begun in March 2004 but …

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On Monday, 10 December 2018, the first line of the Santo Domingo Metro was out of service due to a system failure that has not been identified. According to passengers, the line went down at around 7:45am, a peak travel time, affecting travelers commuting between the stations of Gregorio Luperon and José Francisco Peña Gómez. …

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A shipment arrived on Monday, 10 December 2018, with a cargo of 38,516 metric tons of coal to be used for the synchronization and tests of the first unit of the Punta Catalina thermoelectric plant starting in January 2019. The shipment was dispatched by the US Xcoal Energy & Resources to the Dominican Public Electricity …

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The board of the National Commission in Defense of Competition, (Procompetencia) has announced a fine of RD$46 million against the Cervecería Nacional Dominicana (CND) for the abuse of its ‘dominant position’. The CND is the manufacturer of Presidente beer, now under ownership of Ambev, a Brazilian brewing company that is itself owned by Belgian company …

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The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) is investigating the presence of what is thought to be natural gas in Villa Tapia, Hermanas Mirabal province. Ministry geologists say that the site is part of the Bloque Cibao Oriental where studies show there may be natural gas. The Ministry of Energy and Mines, nevertheless, warned that …

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