DECEMBER 2008
RD $300M to recover Santo Domingo’s Malecon, beach
For beautifying avenue George Washington’s panorama
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO.- The National District City council will recover Santo Domingo’s Malecon, the beach at Güibia, the Juan Baron plaza and the Eugenio Maria de Hostos park at a cost of 300 million pesos, aimed at beautifying avenue George Washington’s panorama.
Mayor Roberto Salcedo, who made the announcement during the inaugural of Duarte avenue’s First Booksellers Fair, said the works in the Malecon will begin in January.
He said during his tenure a series of parks were built, and that several technical-vocational schools, day-care centers and tech centers will be inaugurated in 2009.
He said the cleanup of the Ozama and Isabela rivers is another challenge for Santo Domingo’s town hall, a project he said the Santo Domingo East City Council will also participate.
Dominican Today, 01.12.08
Bids called for 2nd Dominican subway, even before 1st one rolls
To buy a second tunneling machine
BREAKING NEWS : Santo Domingo. - Even before the Santo Domingo Metro’s ribbon-cutting, the Transitt Reform Office (Opret) already began the procedures for the bidding to build and operate the second line, as well as for the Santiago-Haina train.
Opret requested two international tender offers on Tuesday, the first to buy a second tunneling machine to continue excavations for the subway, and the second for the construction and operation of the Metro’s second line, and the Santiago train.
Opret director Diandino Peña asked that companies or partnerships to present their offers, although the terms for concession aren’t specified. The folder containing the terms of reference will be available in this Office
on Maximo Gomez avenue as of tomorrow Wednesday, until December 29.
Dominican Today, 02.12.08
Around 800 police trained for Dominican capital’s subway
Graduation of 132 youngsters in a basic course of mass transit security system
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO.- Around 800 security agents will protect and monitor the Santo Domingo Metro’s 16 stations, which will begin to formally operate in the next few weeks.
Metro Security Corp (CESMET) director Daniel Martinez Lorenzo said his agency is ready to carry out its functions because the personnel were properly trained.
He said the agents were trained in conflict handling, passenger protection and first aid treatment, firefighting and to help the handicapped, among others.
Martinez spoke in the graduation of 132 youngsters in a basic course of mass transit security system, held in the Armed Forces Ministry.
Dominican Today, 03.12.08
Closing México
Installation of a pedestrian bridge
BREAKING NEWS: SANTO DOMINGO.- The Ministry of Public Works has announced that Santo Domingo’s Mexico Avenue will be closed this Saturday from 10pm through Sunday at 12pm.
Both traffic lanes will be closed.
The road is being closed for the installation of a pedestrian bridge in front of Club San Carlos on the corner of Emilio Prud’homme Street.
DR1, 05.12.08
« La Noche Larga de los Museos »
On December 10
BREAKING NEWS: SANTO DOMINGO. - The Secretariat of the Culture and the Under-secretary of the Cultural heritage are going to celebrate the National Day of the Cultural Heritage with an activity called « The long Night of the Museums ».
The event, which will be held in more than eight museums of the country, will take place on next December 10, in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo, in the Place of the Culture and the Colonial Fortress Museum of San Felipe in Puerto Plata.
This activity carried out for the first time in the country plans to leave the doors of the museum freely open until midnight. The museums which will open their doors for the occasion are the Museo de la Familia Dominicana, Casa del Tostado, Museo de Armas Fortaleza Ozama, Museo de las Casas Reales, Museo Alcázar de Colón, Museo Atarazanas Reales, Panteón de La Patria, Museo de Arte Moderno and Museo del Hombre Dominicano. As well the Museo de la Música which will also ahve and interestant part in the Teatro Nacional.
During this event, music, dance and representations will animate the streets
The Padre Billini Place, the Colón Park, el Reloj del Sol, the María de Toledo Place and the España Place will propose alternative activities, just like the Spanish Arts centre, the House of the Theatre and the Quinta Dominicana.
The restaurants of the zone will be also participating by offering a reduction by 20 percent in their menu prices.
The Assemblies of Neighbours of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo will have stands to sale tea, ginger and typical sugar refineries, while clowns, mimes, storytellers and harlequins will animate the neighbourhoods.
In the morning, young students of the National Art school will paint on the Spain Place and the María de Tolèdo place, for the pleasure of the public.
Al Momento, 08.12.08
Metro will be free until January
The exact date for the beginning of operations is still unknown
BREAKING NEWS : Just as during last spring’s first runs, when Dominican got their first taste of the new Metro, this Christmas season will also feature free rids on the subway, allowing people to repeat the experience.
The measure, according to explanations given yesterday by Diandino Pena, the director of the Office for the Reorganization of Transportation (OPRET) will be in effect for about two weeks with the idea that riders become « educated » as to how the new system of transportation works.
He said the idea is that people can have free access and this will last from eight to ten days, depending, because it costs, but what we are looking for is that the riders become educated and learn to access the service.
Once the test period is over he said, the commercial operations could begin in January, and the customers would be paying between RD $20 and RD $25 pesos per ride. He indicated that the fare would be paid through the use of a « smart card » that will open the access doors.
Diandino Pena said, The card can be purchased for RD $20, but it can be charged for a year, and the same card can be used just once, just like a document, so the people should take care of them.
The exact date for the beginning of operations is still unknown, but Pena said that this week he will have a meeting with President Leonel Fernandez to set a date.
At the present time brigades of workers are finishing the details, polishing floors, painting and cleaning up the exterior areas at the OPRET offices and the Metro stations.
Pena said that they are trying to finish this work 100% in a few weeks but he said that they will not impede the use of the system on the announced date. He said, Whatever is pending will be done as we go along.
Diario Libre, 10.12.08
The project which will change the face of Santo Domingo
Urban growth
BREAKING NEWS: SANTO DOMINGO. –The announcement had been made in year 2005, before we spoke about the Subway of Santo Domingo: the mouth of the Ozama river would be the theatre of the private urban project most ambitious of the 20 last years and, for the first time, the Eastern zone of the city would have the best part of the benefits.
During the three last years, the old Don Diego port was reorganized, a new terminal on the Eastern side was built, the contaminated Ozama river was cleaned and dredged and was prepared to receive larger boats. A real estate project of ambitious size will be set up in Villa Duarte, behind the famous black and yellow lighthouse of Punta Torrecilla.
The project, managed by the Group of the Tourist Investments Sans Souci, promises to change the skyline of the city.
The investment exceeds 250 million dollars and guarantees, once finished, approximately 15 thousand direct employments and a great contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.
Of the three phases which divide the project (harbor, real estate and marine), the priority was the adequacy of the harbor to be able to receive cruise liners, phase which is practically finished. In January the 2009, the Sans Souci Tourist Port will be inaugurated.
The real estate project will be developed on the land where the emblematic Naval Base of 27 of Febrero is located today.
The most radical changes which will undergo the environment will be the disappearance of the Naval Base and the offices of the Navy and the deviation of the España Avenue.
“We will make an urban project at tourist, residential and commercial vocation. We want to develop Sans Souci in the town of Santo Domingo as an entertainment destination”
said the representative.
The general plan includes an open commercial place with restaurants, a space for the permanent fairs, an amphitheatre for spectacles and concerts being able to accommodate some thousand people, a residential and institutional sector connected to the port, luxury hotels, shops, convention centers, office buildings, a building for the general headquarter of the Navy and firemen and police stations.
Santo Domingo Live, 11.12.08
The First Lady announces the official Christmas Gala
Social work
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO. - The famous Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and the Dominican creator Oscar de la Renta will be the special guests of the Official Christmas Gala sponsored every year by the Office of the First Lady, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, and whose funds are intended for social works.
The concert will take place in the Caryatids Room of the National Palace and will be entitled the music only brings solidarity and hope
, and this last will be given in the presence of the guests, of President Leonel Fernández and his wife.
The official reception will take place on Monday December 22 starting from 20:00. according to the information revealed by Mrs Cedeño de Fernández at the time of a press conference.
Julio Iglesias will interpret his songs which will also include a « special Christmas », while the designer de la Renta will present his « Colección Resort 2008 », inspired by the colors and the style of the Caribbean.
For the opening of the official party, the First Lady will be accompanied by the manager ladies of Social Solidarity, one of the principal programs of her Office, and among them there will be Isabel Turull and Rosa de Grullón, who direct the organization of the event.
It will be the fifth consecutive time which the Office of the First Lady presents the Official Christmas Gala at the National Palace.
The preceding official parties gathered funds which had been invested in the reorganization and the construction of the hospitals Robert Reid Cabral, Central, of the Armed forces, Dr. Ramón de Lara, Municipal de Engombe and Doctor Francisco Moscoso Puello.
Santo Domingo Live, 12.12.08
Daddy Yankee brings his tour to the Dominican Republic
Daddy Yankee is one of the most respected and influential reggaeton artists
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO. - Daddy Yankee will bring his sheer energy to Palacio de los Deportes in Santo Domingo, on a concert that mixes salsa, dancehall and hip hop into a unique style that distinguishes the Puerto Rican performer.
The show, as part of The Big Boss World Tour 2008
, is scheduled for Thursday,18 December, and will include many of his songs that have remained solid in the club scene and are already considered reggaeton classics, with topics that go from love to socially-saturated comments on the everyday Puerto Rican and latino culture.
With over 15 years of upward growth in the entertainment industry and the Latin music panorama, Daddy Yankee has developed to be one of the most respected and influential reggaeton artists.
Dominican Today, 15.12.08
Purchases and sales up in Dominican Republic
After the receiving of the 13th salary
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO.- The purchase and sales offers exploded in Dominican Republic after people received the 13th salary, the « regalia pascual ».
The Dominican economy underwent a rise these last days after the Government and the private sector gave the traditional privilege of the end of year.
The various types of establishments of the country underwent a great movement of people of all ages and all social classes.
This dynamism is observed since the first hours of the morning till late in the night.
For the wages of the employees of the public sector, the Government intended 4 billion 500 million pesos, while with regard to the private one, one spent a big sum too.
With the great quantity of people circulating during December, the authorities reinforced the patrols with motorized and walking police officers. Members of the Armed forces were added to these patrols.
Santo Domingo Live, 16.12. 08
Trip price on the Santo Domingo Subway
No more than 25 pesos
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO.- The trip price in the Subway of Santo Domingo, whose services will start soon, will not exceed 25 pesos, informed the director of the Office for the Reorganization of Transport (OPRET), Diandino Peña.
He said that to go from Villa Mella to La Feria, even while stopping at all stations, will last ten minutes.
The civil servant specified that they are still working on details for the opening of the Subway to the public, and that a final test will take place before the Christmas Day.
He said that for the inauguration and the startup of the Subway in a final way « there remained some details to be improved and some situations to be refined »
; but that next Thursday, the exact date to which the Subway will be opened to the public will be officially announced.
Santo Domingo Live, 17.12.08
Markets and « colmadones » get more hours
Extended hours during the Christmas holiday season
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO.- The ubiquitous neighborhood markets and the infamous « colmadones » can stay open and sell alcoholic beverages during the same extended hours that were granted to discos and other entertainment centers beginning on 22 December and lasting until 1 January, according to a report from the Ministry of the Interior and of the Police.
The authorization was ordered under the condition that these places control the volume of their music equipment and apply the needed security measures to avoid altercations, and they must allow easy traffic movement in the area where they are located.
The measure comes in answer to the agreements reached by the owners of markets and « colmadones » during a meeting with the authorities of the ministry last 4 December.
The permit for extended hours during the Christmas holiday season only included bars and discos at first, and this brought about a complaint from the owners of markets and « colmadones » that said that such restrictions would affect their earnings.
In the face of the protests and the pressure from the owners of markets and « colmadones », the Minister, Franklin Almeyda met with them and had them agree to the conditions needed to operate in the extended times for this period.
Diario libre, el 18.12.08
Dominican capital’s Metro rolls Monday
Passengers will have free service
BREAKING NEWS : SANTO DOMINGO.- The Transport Reform Office (Opret) yesterday said the Santo Domingo Metro’s temporary operation will begin Monday, its second test run, after a partial opening in April.
Passengers will have free service available starting Monday, December 22, to January 6, said Opret director Diandino Peña. He said that during this period 10 trains with modern cars will be available in the Metro’s 16 stations, each with a capacity for 650 passengers.
The schedules for most days will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., December 24 and 31 will work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., whereas December 25 and January 1 will be 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The official said after this stage concludes the entire system will be revised and evaluated as to its response capacity, regarding the expected strong demand of passengers.
Peña, who made the announcement accompanied by the engineers of the Madrid, subway, Manuel Vásquez, Miguel Ángel Sánchez and Rafael Serran, oadded that the Metro’s projected commercial opening will be before the end of January, after the 9 remaining trains of the rapid transport system are incorporated.
Dominican Today, 19.12.08
Dominican Republic boasts its Metro
Everything is ready and under strict control
BREAKING NEWS : Santo Domingo. - Dominican Today personnel were taken on a tour of the complete Santo Domingo Metro line including the strolling hub next to the Maximo Gomez station.
With about 30 cars in service, the Metro will transport persons from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. beginning today. Ten trains with the capacity to carry 650 people each will be moving between the 16 stations during this period.
According to Leonel Carrasco, director of communications of the Office for the Reorganization of Transportation (OPRET), everything is ready and under strict control.
The route will include all 16 stations of the first line that goes from Villa Mella to the Fair, at Centro de los Heroes.
Dominican Today, 22.12.08
Metro a big hit
This holiday season is filled with the excitement of the Santo Domingo Metro
BREAKING NEWS : Santo Domingo. -Yesterday was the Metro’s unofficial inauguration with the government allowing passengers to ride the Metro for free throughout the holiday season.
Hoy reports that taking a ride on the SD has become somewhat of a family outing with families happily riding the train and enjoying the novelty of the Metro system.
Though there has been much debate about the cost and need of the Metro it was the furthest thing from passenger’s minds.
Transport Reorganization Office (OPRET) director Diandino Pena and sub director Leonel Carrasco also rode the Metro during the first free night.
A ride from Villa Mella to Centro de los Heroes, which takes around an hour by car, now takes 20 minutes.
DR1, 23.12.08
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