JUNE 2008

1st Dominican airline flies to U.S. territory

After 15-year ban

Santo Domingo .- Pan American World Airways (PAWA Dominicana) conducted on Monday the first commercial flight by a Dominican airline to U.S. territory, after that country slapped a 15 year ban on local carriers.

Its chairman Juan Carlos Hernandez said PAWA has four scheduled flights to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico from Punta Cana and Las Americas airports on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, departing at 9 a.m. and returning at 3:30 p.m.

He said at a cost of US $18 million, the PAWA’s first flights will be in a Jet Stream 31 with a capacity for 19 passengers and later two DC-9s with seating for 100 people will be added, to fly to Miami, San Juan, Caracas, Curacao, Aruba and Havana.

Hernandez noted that despite global aviation’s difficult situation, PAWA may develop an efficient and profitable.

Dominican Today, 03.06.08

The University sets up an action plan for the hurricane season

Risks and Catastrophes management

The Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, trough its unit of Risks and Catastrophes management, set up its action plan for the hurricane season which has just started, which includes the organization of the support teams for those of the National Commission of Emergencies which intervene in the event of catastrophes.

Mercedes Feliciano, director the Unit Risks and Catastrophes management of the UASD, informed that this academy will revise and systematize the gained experience on last year at the time of the passage of the tropical storms Noel and Olga, and she said that since then, teams of psychological, health, and engineering support were already formed.

She informed that the UASD works to the creation of the Students’ Voluntaries for the Risk and Catastrophes management, groups formed by students of various faculties, which will be trained and integrated to the Dominican Red Cross, through a convention of collaboration between the two organizations.

The UASD also activated its Institutional Plan of Contingence in the event of Hurricanes and Tropical storms, which defines in a coordinated way the actions that must carry out every university faculty, in order to avoid the damage and the losses that a hurricane or a storm could cause to the university.

The university is prepared to mitigate the damage in the event of a presence of one of these phenomena in its physical installations and to provide a coordinated support to the organizations authorized by the Emergency Operations Center (COE), underlined Feliciano.

El Nuevo Diario, 04.06.08

Dominican Accounts Chamber goes berserk

« Uncovered irregularities »

SANTO DOMINGO.- The judges of the Accounts Chamber yesterday accused its president of hiding « uncovered irregularities » in Government agencies, including the Subsidy Program for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and of using his time in lies, intrigues, rumors, to destroy, indispose and discord, newspaper Hoy says.

They also challenged Andres Terrero to name the members of the entity who, in his view, have ganged up against ethics and warned him that, failing to do so they’ll take him to court on charges of libel.

The accusations and challenge are in a letter sent to Terrero May 23 by the entity’s vice president and the other members, copy of which Hoy obtained.

In the missive, judges Henry Mejía, Jose Gregorio, Julio de Beras, Alcides Decena, Jose Maceo, Freddy Almonte and Luis Yépez question Terrero’s presidency in the Account Chamber and his attempt to discredit them and that institution, which the signers say he has tried to do. The hour has come, after his lamentable speech (in the Cathedral) to place the dots over the i-s, to take the masks off the faces such as yours and to call « a spade a spade ».

They challenge Terrero to explain why he sent the audit on the LPG Subsidy Program with a letter to the Corruption Prevention Department (DPCA), and on the following day replace it (the letter), with a value judgment in the sense that there were no irregularities implicating any criminal responsibility” of those audited in the case, without the knowledge off the Chamber’s other members.

The said Terrero hid a bank account with international funds for a project unknown to the other members for more than one year and accuse him of splitting the amounts of some purchase invoices so the Chamber’s Procurement Office wouldn’t notice them, and of signing contracts with third parties behind their backs

Other irregularities

The judges also accuse Terrero of having secret meetings with those audited and of appointing a person who’s paid “surreptitiously” to teach them to play golf, something which the said haven’t accepted. They affirm t due to Terrero’s mismanagement the entity has a monthly deficit of hundreds of thousands of pesos.

Dominican Today, 06.06.08

Dominican Ferry to have own port

At the Sans Souci tourist port

Santo Domingo.– Ferry del Caribe will have its own terminal at the Sans Souci tourist port, said Ernesto Gonzalez, president of the company.

Gonzalez thanked President Leonel Fernandez for providing an area for the ferry through decree 193-07.

The construction could begin in August and has an estimated cost of US $10 million. The Ferry, in operation for 20 years, sails between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Today, 09.06.08

Dominican Government gets another development proposal

« High average development » in 25 years

SANTO DOMINGO.- Dominican Republic could reach « high average development » in 25 years if it improves the transparency in government agencies, expands the labor market access, definitively corrects the energy industry’s imbalances and turns the agro industry into one of the economic activity’s basic pillars.

The statement is part of the Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Commission (Cepal) document Dominican Republic in 2030: towards a cohesioned nation which its executive secretary Jose Luis Machinea gave to vice president Rafael Alburquerque in the National Palace yesterday.

The Government already assumes the document’s proposals as raw material for the National Development Strategy which will be submitted to Congress in October.

In the ceremony, Machinea said Dominican Republic’s dream of being part of the group of developed countries is possible and Dominicans can triple their spending power from a bit more than the 7,000 per inhabitant now to 21,200 dollars by 2030. This requires not only an average 7.2 percent annual economic growth, he said, but also to understand that social cohesion isn’t only a goal, but a means to reach the development of countries.

To improve governance, the study recommends a plural participation of interests in the designation of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), to give the National Magistrate Council the power to designate the Prosecutor General so the post can be more independent, to reinforce vigilance Accounts Chamber’s capacity and bolster the State’s power to award contracts.

Before business and civil society leaders, the Cepal executive secretary said he’s convinced that if the country implements more effective mechanisms which favor transparency, probity and the rendering of accounts, the results for Dominican democracy would have to be more satisfactory towards 2030.”

The study describes Dominican Republic’s sustainable farm growth modest and volatile in the last 15 years and proposes a recovery and modernization based on timely financing and technological improvements, and coordinated official actions for the development of agro-industrial productive chains.

It also proposes a strategy to improve industry’s framework and its competitive capacity and warns that the duality between the free zone companies and the national industry must be eliminated.

In the last few years entities such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Inter-American Development Bank have made similar proposals to reach development.

Dominican Today, 10.06.08

Dominican President blames unregulated U.S. banks for oil jumps

32nd Period of the CEPAL

SANTO DOMINGO. - President Leonel Fernandez said today the increase in oil prices will bring about political imbalance and difficulties for the continent’s countries to pay the foreign debt and also the fuel bill and blamed those jumps in on the lack of regulations over the United States investment banks.

The chief executive, in a speech to open the 32nd Period of the Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Commission (Cepal), said there’s’ no explanation for the price of oil to climb 11 dollars in one day, as it did Friday in the world markets.

He asked the Latin America countries to reflect on what’s happening with the price of oil. We’re in one of the most turbulent periods in history due the economic slowdown in the United States and the European Union and that’s an economic recession that has multiple effects in Latin America.

He said the volatility of oil prices has become a threat against governance and political stability and has brought about other problems in countries as diverse as Belgium and Spain.

For the chief executive the problem isn’t only the sluggish economy, but also the energy crisis, considered the most acute in history, a situation he said the international financial system hasn’t acted on to regulate and correct.

Fernandez called insufficient the 1.2 billion dollars the World Bank provided to help the developing countries most affected by the rise in oil, and that more aid is required from international organisms, to improve the mechanisms to pay loans and receive the funds.

Present in the activity, held in the Hilton hotel, were Cepal executive secretary Jose Luis Machinea, and senior government officials.

Dominican Today, 11.06.08

The Secretary of the CEPAL says to be convinced that DR will face its problems

The recovery of the Dominican Republic was extraordinary

The executive secretary of the Economic Commission for the Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), Jose Luís Machinea, said to be convinced that the Dominican Republic will face the difficulties as it already proved it at the time of preceding difficult situations.

In his opinion, the recovery of the Dominican Republic was extraordinary, thanks to the management of president Fernández.

Machinea spoke in the National Palace in a ceremony during which President Leonel Fernández decorated him with the Merit Order of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella. The executive secretary of the CEPAL thanked the Dominican government for the distinction and ratified his compromise to continue to work with the same principles and values with which he worked during all his life.

He indicated that the Dominican Republic underwent during the 20 last years the growth which was one of the largest of the area.

This is why this short-term growth and this recovery make us being very optimistic regarding the future of the DominicanaRepublic he underlined.

During the ceremony, President Fernández was accompanied by the secretary of the Economy, Planification and Development, Juan Temístocles Montas, who underlined the personal and professional achievements of the general secretary of the CEPAL, who in his opinion deserves important positions within multilateral organizations of the area including his country.

In the same way, he emphasized his professional capacity in macro-economic, monetary and financial businesses.

Montás said that he felt deeply happy that the Dominican government grants the distinction to Doctor Jose Luís Machinea, which, as he affirmed, reflected the high idea that have the authorities of the country of his professional trajectory, his brilliant task as executive director of the CEPAL and the obvious demonstration of his consideration and his solidarity towards the Dominican people.

Machinea was nominated as general secretary of the CEPAL on October 30, 2003 by the general secretary of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. His current position was reconfirmed on February 9, 2007 by the present secretary of UNO, Ban Ki-moon.

Al Momento, 12.06.08

Dominican President, senior officials look for ways to face crises

Integral Development Plan

SANTO DOMINGO.- For almost six hours president Leonel Fernandez yesterday met with the Government’s economic and energy area officials to analyze and discuss measures to take in the coming days, aimed at confront the energy problem and the situation brought on by the constant rises in oil prices.

The Head of State scheduled separate meetings Friday morning with the farming, industry and commerce sectors and the Energy Commission.

Thursday’s marathon session concluded at 4:20 a.m., an activity in which Fernandez began a cycle of meetings with Government, aimed at drafting an Integral Development Plan, to confront the diverse aspects related to the world’s food and fuel price crises.

Reporters who cover the National Palace unsuccessfully tried to talk with some officials who took part in the meeting, but all said they were instructed not to comment on the topics discussed, and that the Presidency’s Press Office would issue a statement.

The press release states that when the work sessions conclude a diagnosis will be developed, which will serve to adopt the pertinent measures aimed at confronting the country’s challenges from the crises.

In yesterday’s meeting Economic Cabinet ministers and officials and technicians from the different energy and electricity agencies attended, among others.

Dominican Today, 13.06.08

New flight inaugurated

Bogota- Santo Domingo

SANTO DOMINGO. - The Colombian airline company Avianca inaugurated its new Bogota-Saint-Domingo road, which will operate three times per week and which will provide its service to the business travelers, tourists and to those who go to their family and who needed this liaison, said the managing director of Avianca for the Dominican Republic, Mónica Maria Velásquez.

The Dominican ambassador in Colombia, Julio Ortega Tous, pointed out that these weekly frequencies will be extremely useful for the business, tourism and it is a great step towards the consolidation of the bilateral relation , he indicated.

The aircraft, a A-319 Airbus with capacity of 120 passengers (12 in executive class and 108 in economy class), belongs to the new fleet of Avianca, company which flies to 750 destinations in the world.

Al Momento, 15.06.08

Dominican Accounts judges crawl into deeper hole

Audits can cause many of the country’s « respected altars » to fall

SANTO DOMINGO.- Accounts Chamber (CC) judge Jose Altagracia Maceo told lawmakers Tuesday that its audits can cause many of the country’s « respected altars » to fall, during the questioning in the Congressional probe, where a senior Deputy affirmed « more pus emanated ».

Ramon Rogelio Genao, spokesman of the opposition PRSC party’s deputies, said from the irregularities allegedly committed, it’s difficult to explain how 400 million pesos were spent on just 10 audits. That shows the little rational use of taxpayers’ money.

Yesterday CC president Andres Terrero admitted that the 70 percent of his personnel are deficient and lack the training to conduct audits, and affirmed that some results weren’t disclosed to prevent accusations of proceeding against a specific party amid the recent electoral campaign.

The questions began at 3 p.m. yesterday and concluded at 10:30 p.m., where Terrero, Henry Mejía and Juan A. Ruiz all reiterated they’ll not resign from their posts, alleging that the lack of communication had sparked their differences.

Meanwhile the PRD party’s deputies spokesman Christian Paredes said the differences between the CC’s members « bloomed again » during yesterday’s interrogation by the Lower Chamber Commission, which is expected to conclude its probe within 15 days.

Dominican Today, 17.06.08

Santo Domingo, the safest city in Latin America

According to the Mercer investigation

MIAMI. - Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, is the safest city of Latin America, as revealed by the Mercer inquiry results, investigation made on the people security.

In the mentioned study it is established that the town of Santo Domingo is followed by Panama and Monterrey.

The city with the higher insecurity rate is Bogotá, capital of Colombia.

This study was undertaken by taking 215 cities of the world as reference, informed Lilian Bobea, specialist in the citizens’ security questions and author of several articles and books on the subject.

Among these 215 cities, Santo Domingo is at the place 91 among the safest and at the 1st place for Latin America.

Democratic Safety Plans and decided actions of the Dominican governement to fight the delinquency transformed Santo Domingo into the most peaceful city of Latin America, according to the analysts.

Panama is at place 96 and Monterrey at 99.

In comparison, Bogotá, is at place 107, is the most dangerous city of the area.

On an intermediate level we find Manaos (103), Santiago de Chile (110), Montevideo (115), San Jose (125), Brasilia (131), Lima and Quito (132) and Buenos Aires (134). The five safest cities of the world are Luxembourg, Bern, Helsinki, Zurich and Vienna. The five more dangerous are Baghdad, Kinshasa, Karachi, Nairobi and Bangui.

The 2008 Mercer classification of people safety was carried out between September and November 2007, and it includes criteria like internal stability; criminality and administration of justice and includes 215 cities which are classified in accordance with the New York index which is 100.

Al Momento, 18.06.08

Chamber of Accounts under fire

Hard questioning by a legislative commission

As the Chamber of Accounts members came under hard questioning by a legislative commission, some rather serious situations came to light. According to El Nuevo Diario, the revelations could lead to the dismissal of members of the state auditing body.

The crisis came to a head when seven of the auditors accused the chief magistrate of mismanagement.

According to one report, the secretary of the Chamber is deaf, and would send his son to take minutes at their meetings.

Another case in point was the fact that the chamber members were planning to increase their salaries to RD $550,000 per month (up from RD $400,000), which added to their existing perks would have brought their monthly income to RD $850,000.

The Chamber of Accounts was also intending to request a RD $10 million loan to finance their pensions when they finish their term of office. According to the newspaper, Andres Terrero, the chief magistrate of the auditors, had an RD $8 million fund that he could use at his discretion.

The deputies are interviewing the auditors in groups of three, and their declarations will be finished after today’s session. So far, most of the members interviewed by the Chamber of Deputies’ commission have openly admitted that they are subject to a great deal of political pressure when they have to audit any of the government offices.

DR1, 18.06.08

Chaos in public transport

Prices up

SANTO DOMINGO. – The chaos reigned today in public transport in the Capital and in other points of the country since the Metropolitan Authority of Transport (AMET) started to stop all the buses and vehicles whose drivers increased the price of the course.

In answer, the president of the National Federation of Transport la Nueva Opción, Juan Hubieres, announced that with his associates they decided to paralyse their units and to place them on the right sides of the ways in sign of protest.

The director of the public relations of AMET, José Jáquez, announced that the seized vehicles are those whose drivers increased the price of the service.

Thousands of passengers had to face this problem to join their work place, being given the difficulties to go up aboard vehicle.

Hubieres said that he was decided to paralyse the units of FENATRANO to prevent that AMET does not seize them.

In spite of this AMET operation the buses and the collective taxis continue to increase the price of transport.

The situation is identical on the interurban roads.

Diario Libre, by Bienvenido Scharboy, 20.06.08

Situation of the Accounts Chamber

The Commission of the Delegates will deliver its report tomorrow

SANTO DOMINGO. - The commission of the deputies who are investigating on the cases of the judges of the Chamber of Accounts is joined together from early this morning and its president Rafael Molina Lluberes promised that tomorrow, they will deliver the final report to the president of the House of Commons.

He said that today three commissions went; one to the public ministry of Santiago, another to the Department of Prevention of Administrative Corruption (DPCA) and another will continue the research to the seat of the Accounts Chamber, where they will collect the necessary data in order to support the final report.

The commission of the legislators said that there will be a full report on the situation of the Chamber of Accounts which will serve of support to the Senate of the Republic for possible substitutions of its members.

On his side, the deputy Radhamés Castro, Member of the Commission and president of a sub-commission said to Listín Diario that he is conscious of the fact that not all the judges of the Accounts Chamber have the same responsibility in the irregularities which can be detected. He says that some judges could be washed of any suspicions and continue to exert their functions within the organization.

Castro said that research revealed that it was not sure that the president of this organization, Andres Terrero, has really managed an bank account of eight million pesos.

The commission of the deputies is together from 8:00 a.m.of this Monday and its president affirms that they will be in permanent session until all the data is collected and studied in order to be able to give the final report tomorrow.

El Listín Diario, by Viviano de León, 23.06.08

Dominican President, senior IMF official to meet, talk crisis

To analyze the effect of the world’s oil and food crisis on the Dominican economy

SANTO DOMINGO.- President Leonel Fernandez will meet with International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistant director Murilo Portugal today to analyze three topics: the effect of the world’s oil and food crisis on the Dominican economy; the status of the tax agreements, and the supervision of the international banking organizations.

Murilo last night said the Dominican authorities’ performance has been good, with positive results, and despite the world economic situation the impact on the country is still slight.

The Government’s Economic Team will also attend the meeting-luncheon in the National Palace at noon.

Banks superintendent Rafael Camilo yesterday said « it’s a meeting of protocol » and neither about the signature of a new agreement with the IMF nor with its intervention in the drafting of the measures aimed at confronting the energy and food crisis. The design of the measures will be an exclusive task of the Dominican authorities and will put its sights on the tax-revenue area of the public administration.

Interviewed in the National Palace, Camilo needed said any tax revenue measure that’s taken has to do with improving the administration, with a reform not to increase taxes or rates, etcetera.

Now the tax measure must be essentially on spending the official said, adding that some dispositions were already adopted on the monetary side, among them the reduction of the money circulating, which has brought about an increase in the interest rate.

Dominican Today, 24.06.08

Two Dominican Accounts judges set a precedent

They resign

SANTO DOMINGO.- Accounts Chamber judges Juan A. Lora and Jose A. Maceo yesterday submitted their resignation to Senate Reinaldo Pared, in separate letters to his office. It’s the first time in Dominican history that appointed senior officials resign under the threat of impeachment.

Lora also made his resignation public in a press conference in the Chamber offices, while Pared announced Maceo’s Thursday afternoon. The Senate president said Lora and Maceo are excluded from the planned impeachment proceedings.

The resignations took place just a few hours afther the Chamber of Deputies approved the impeachment against the members of the Accounts Chamber, on charges of misconduct in the posts.

In their letters, the two judges acknowledge the growing demand of civil society for them to step down.

Dominican Today, 27.06.08

Illumination of the Las Américas Highway

For a greater safety

SANTO DOMINGO EAST. –The Company of Electricity of East (EDE Este) recently restored the public lighting of the Las Américas highway in order to contribute to the safety of the citizens, the prevention of the accidents and the road safety.

EDE Este said that the illumination of this important highway is a sample of the commitment undertaken by the company to improve the quality of life of its customers through a better public lighting.

It acts of the section between the Juan Carlos Bridge and the toll of Boca Chica, which has a range of roughly 24 kilometers length.

This time, EDE Este put into practice a new method by using an aluminum driver on guide cable, with the aim to avoid the stealing of this material by vandals who had in the past dismounted this lighting in its totality.

EDE Este invested approximately seven million pesos in the installation of 29 thousand meters of cables and put 855 lights in function.

The company reminds that already three times, this lighting was dismounted completely, during the period of massive thefts of cables and transformers in the country. EDE Este will maintain this way enlightened and will take care of its lighting but required the support of the Communities which are close to the highway to prevent that delinquents do not affect this installation.

It also requested the collaboration of theTown hall of Santo Domingo East, the Armed forces and the National police force to maintain an effective surveillance to prevent the stealing of this lighting and to avoid the dammages on this important network of public illumination.

El Viajero Digital, 30.06.08