Daily News

Daily News - Friday, 25 May 2012 (Archived Daily News)




White Marlin Tournament starts 30 May
(Image courtesy of automarina.com.do)

President Fernandez inaugurates schools and a chapel

President Leonel Fernandez, accompanied by Education Minister Josefina Pimentel, inaugurated two schools and a Catholic chapel in Los Girasoles, Pantoja and Villa Linda, in the municipality of Los Alcarrizos, built at a cost of over RD$93 million, yesterday, Thursday 24 May.

Pimentel said that the 105 new schools that had been inaugurated during the Fernandez administration had provided much-needed space and equipment for the development of the teaching and learning process.

The governor of Santo Domingo province, Idelfonso Vasquez, thanked them for the works and said that they only been started five months ago and had been finished a month ahead of schedule.

He said that the school would improve the quality of life of the residents in the area, especially the poorest families.

The Sacred Chapel of the Family of Nazareth, built at a cost of RD$4.5 million was blessed by Father Eduardo Carrion, who thanked the government for such an important building, which he said would help with the religious development of children and adolescents in the communities of Villa Linda and Pantoja

Senator Cristina Lizardo, the Minister for Sport, Felipe Payano, the director of the Presidential Commission for Provincial Support and Development, engineer Cesar Fernandez and other government officials also attended the ceremonies.

During the inaugural, President Leonel Fernandez thanked the Dominican people for having re-elected PLD. He stressed the personal and political qualities of president-elect Danilo Medina and said that his election victory was due to the good handling of the economy by the government over the last four years, a factor which, he said, has been confirmed by several international organizations.

PUCMM rector urges Danilo Medina to choose staff wisely

Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, rector of the PUCMM University said he hoped that president-elect Danilo Medina would appoint government employees who will serve the country and not to help themselves to power.

He said that he knew Medina and was confident that he would be careful to appoint honest people who worked for those values.

In his opinion the country has the challenge that the winners and losers of the elections had to work together in unison, and that the main challenges included unemployment, the cost of living, drug trafficking, crime, education and health.

Nunez Collado said he was pleased to see that the PRD presidential candidate, Hipolito Mejia was ready to talk with the president-elect for the good of the country as the country needed dialogue and to reach a consensus in order to solve the main problems people were concerned about, as reported in Listin Diario.

Census data shows more men than women

The final results of the 9th National Population and Housing Census 2010, were presented yesterday, Thursday 24 May by the National Statistics Office (ONE).

According to the data, the Dominican Republic has a total population of 9,445,281. The total breaks down to 4,739,038 men and 4,706,243 women. The urban population is 7,023,949 and the rural population is 2,421,332.

ONE director Pablo Tactuk delivered over the basic census data to Temistocles Montas, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Development.

The Economist on challenges for Danilo Medina

According to The Economist, as opposed to the rest of the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic has seen steady growth over the last few years and Dominicans duly rewarded the ruling PLD by giving them a victory in the recent presidential elections.

In its coverage of the presidential election win by ruling party candidate Danilo Medina, leading British publication The Economist focuses on the challenges of rising crime, widespread political patronage and wasteful spending for the winner of the presidential election. Medina takes office on 16 August, after winning 51% of the vote against 47% for former President Hipolito Medina.

The report highlights, economic prosperity and stability overall legacy of Medina's predecessor, President Leonel Fernandez.

Nevertheless, The Economist says that Medina risks having to govern in his predecessor's shadow. It mentions political patronage, wasteful spending and constitutional dictatorship that are said to characterized the Fernandez administration. It makes the point that Fernandez's wife, Margarita Cedeno, will be the new Vice President, and Fernandez himself will be eligible to run for a fourth term in 2016. "Many of the country's problems pre-dated Mr Fernandez, and were even worse before him. Even so, if Mr Medina wants to make his own mark, he could start by trying to clean up public life," concludes the report on the next Dominican President.

www.economist.com/node/21555944?fsrc=nlw%7Cwwp%7C5-24-2012%7C1900000%7C38788448%7C

The DR ranked in bottom third for trade

The Dominican Republic was ranked 87th of 132 countries assessed for the biennial Global Enabling Trade Index 2012. This compared to its 73rd position in 2010.

Countries ranked below the DR in Latin America and the Caribbean were Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Guyana and Haiti.

The survey ranked the countries on a range of factors. Singapore is first followed by Hong Kong. The World Economic Forum makes the point that size is not a determinant for a good ranking. It says that Denmark and Sweden, with their small, open economies, entered the top 10.

The World Economic Forum highlights how traditional notions of trade are becoming outdated, with global value chains measurements, policies and cooperation.

The report ranked nations' trade openness. It found that traditional notions of trade are increasingly outdated as global value chains require new measurements, policies and cooperation. The report also finds that security, quality and trade can be mutually reinforcing through supply chain integrity efforts, but a knowledge gap in identifying buyers remains an important barrier.

The report focuses on important obstacles to exporting and importing in each country and the strong links between import and export.

"Reports like the Enabling Trade Index should stimulate greater trade flows around the world," said Scott Davis, Chairman and CEO of UPS. "The Index takes a comprehensive approach toward encouraging governments to make needed changes to their trade and customs measures. We need more countries focusing on ways to facilitate trade in the way that Singapore and other leading economies have. The business community also has a role to play in leveraging the new opportunities created."

At the core of the report is the Enabling Trade Index, which measures institutions, policies and services facilitating the free flow of goods over borders and to destination. It breaks the enablers into four issue areas: market access, border administration, transport and communications infrastructure, and business environment. The Index uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum with its network of partner research institutes and business organizations in the countries included in the report.

Read the report at www.weforum.org/getr

DR drinks a lot

A study of drinking patterns in Latin America by the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Costa Rica shows that Dominican men are only second to Venezuelans when it comes to alcohol consumption.

Alcohol Consumption Patterns in Latin America revealed there are differences in consumption. Carlos Sojo, chief researcher, said the study found that Mexico and the Central America countries are below average in terms of people who will consume at least one drink during the year (five out of ten people) whereas in South America and the Caribbean it rises to six out of ten. El Salvador had the most abstemious population with 38.9% and the Dominican Republic had the second lowest with only 5.6%, only beaten by Colombia with 4.2%.

The research showed that the average consumption of pure alcohol was 5.5 liters a year, which was low compared to 13 liters in Europe, 9.8 in Canada and 9.4 in the United States. In the region, the country with the highest rate of consumption was Venezuela with 8.9 liters per person per year, followed by the Dominican Republic with 8 liters per person.

Sojo commented that the consumption of alcohol was more prevalent among men, who drink, on average, four times more than women.

For the report, nine studies were conducted in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Peru, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil between 2009 and 2012.

The study reveals that the Dominican Republic is the country with the highest rate of men at long-term high risk for consumption (14.4%). Among women, the countries with the highest rate of population at high risk in the long term are the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, with rates of 5.4% and 7.7% respectively. The report can be downloaded from:

www.flacso.or.cr/fileadmin/documentos/Carpeta_2011/Publicaciones_2012/PaperEPCAv5-EN.pdf

Human Papiloma virus at dangerous levels

In an interview on the Cuentas Claras radio program, the president of the Dominican Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr, Ruddy Rafael Guerrero said that recent studies have shown that 25% of women who attend gynecological consultations have the Human Papiloma virus (HPV), which is incurable and potentially carcinogenic. Most were adolescents who have started having sexual relations early.

Guerrero said that the problem is more serious as many of the men and women infected were completely unaware. However, many others were having examinations before getting married or starting intimate relations to avoid becoming infected.

He said that infected women who are pregnant would have to deliver by C-section so that the newborn would not be contaminated during the birth.

He said that the HPV virus is the main cause of cervical cancer in women, and is usually detected in women who go for a Pap smear. In men it was detected when they were treated for surgical removal of warts from their private parts.

He advised the public to be faithful to their partners, use condoms and carry out frequent checks of their intimate parts.

Cyber war at the JCE

In the hours before and during the elections there was a behind-the-scenes cybernetic war that forced the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to maximize the use of anti-hacking technology to ensure that there was no manipulation of the data, according to a report in Listin Diario.

A source told the newspaper that many acts of manipulation and sabotage were discovered amongst the scanners during an inspection process. These machines are used when the election results (actas) are scanned at each of the polling stations around the country.

JCE president Roberto Rosario was made aware of the situation, although they were unable to detect who was behind the sabotage. According to the sources, Rosario said that the information should be kept in strictest confidence and even the members of the computer center were not told.

One of the specialists working closely with the scanners told Listin Diario that reprogramming one or a few of these machines could lead to the collapse of data transmission. Therefore, five teams of trustworthy technicians went throughout the country reprogramming the scanners, so that they would be harder to sabotage.

State intelligence sources consulted by Listin Diario said that they had overheard a telephone conversation by someone saying that the codes had been changed so they could no longer read the scanner information.

On election day itself, a team specializing in cybernetic counter-insurgency was on the lookout for potential hackers and to repel any such action. They did identify some hackers, who according to the sources were mainly located in Mexico.

The JCE had a back-up system in the United Kingdom in case their whole system crashed, and according to the sources there was a battle day and night against the hackers and in the end the JCE was able to prevent what could have been a total collapse.

So far, no one is in police custody.

National Police reject Amnesty International Report

National Police spokesman, General Maximo Baez Aybar, has rejected a report by Amnesty International that states that 289 people had lost their lives at the hands of the police. In a statement yesterday, Thursday 24 May, he said that the document contained old information, and had been bandied about various times.

Listin Diario quotes the spokesman as saying that Major General Jose Armando Polanco Gomez, the head of the National Police, wished to preserve the respect of the citizens and the Constitution in order to ensure that order prevailed, and that the National Police were committed to providing society with a quality service.

He emphasized that they did not tolerate mistakes or violations from any of their members and anyone who violated these statutes would have action taken against them.

DNCD members expelled

The National Drug Control Department (DNCD) has expelled a colonel and two lieutenants who were caught protecting a group of alleged drug traffickers.

In a press conference, the DNCD said that the dismissed officers, who were stationed in San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana, had been discovered on the coast near San Rafael de Yuma with the gang members who were receiving a cocaine shipment.

The men are Colonel Manuel Isaac Jose Polanco, First Lieutenant Maximo Ramirez Eustaquio and Second Lieutenant Elvin Fulgencio Calderon. Those arrested for receiving the drugs were named as Carlos Eusebio Abreu, Juan Ramon Alberto Guerrero, Luis Manuel Polanco and Neiro Olivo Garcia Garcia.

The DNCD also announced they have also dismissed Colonel Cesar Martinez Lora who worked as an inspector for the DNCD in Higuey until recently. He was dismissed after being found in possession of drugs that had been confiscated with the intention of selling them.

The DNCD warned its members they if they carry out these types of actions, they will receive the same punishment as their fellow workers, as reported in El Caribe.

United States criticizes Human Rights in the DR

The 2011 Report of Human Rights Practices published by the US Department of State yesterday, Thursday 24 May, claims that there are extra judicial executions, maltreatment and other abuses of suspects and a lack of respect of the law in the Dominican Republic.

The report said that there is still violence and discrimination against women, with domestic abuse, rapes and murders.

It also highlighted the serious discrimination against Haitian immigrants and their descendants, especially what it describes as the retrograde step of the new immigration laws that leave people who have lived here for generations stateless.

The US also condemned corruption, arbitrary arrests, prison conditions and the persecution of human rights groups, as reported in Listin Diario.

Prisoners to get visitors on Mother's Day

The director general of prisons, Mario Acosta, has instructed the traditional jails to allow prisoners to see their partners and their children, regardless of age, and other direct family members this Sunday, 27 May, which is Mother's Day in the Dominican Republic.

All children must show their birth certificates identifying them as the children of the prisoner.

Last Sunday, 20 May, visits to inmates were suspended so that their relatives could vote in the Presidential elections, as reported in El Dia.

Amnesty International criticizes treatment of Dominicans in Puerto Rico

Listin Diario quotes Osvaldo Burgos from Amnesty International as saying that the authorities in Puerto Rico have not improved the human rights situation during 2011.

As well as highlighting police brutality, he said that there was discrimination against the Dominican immigrant community, which consisted of around 200,000 people.

He mentioned the community of Toa Baja, in the north of the island, where Dominicans make up most of the population and which lacks constant supplies of water and electricity.

Miguel Nunez art for Arte Cafe

Centro Cuesta Nacional announces that this year's art-in-coffee collection will feature the work of Miguel Nunez. This year the tableware collection goes on sale on Saturday, 26 May at the Centro Cuesta Nacional stores. It shows typical and very colorful Dominican rural and small town scenes. The collection includes a set with two coffee cups and saucers, four dessert plates, two decorative plates, a square decorative plate, four small plates, and a coffee pot, new this year. Arte de Cafe is a collector's item and a popular gift option. Other artists whose work has been featured in the collection include Dionisio Blanco (2003), Guillo Perez (2004), Candido Bido (2005), Yoryi Morel (2006), Juan Plutarco Andujar (2007), Elsa Nunez (2008), Tete Marella (2009), Jorge Severino (2010), and Amaya Salazar (2011).

One man's garbage is another man's treasure

Innovative art entrepreneur Mildred Canahuate announces what she calls the "bazaar of corotos," or sale of a mish-mash of one-time items people are putting up for sale. She says the idea is to provide a space for people and collectors to market their valued pieces. The sort-of-flea market sale will take place Friday to Sunday, 25-26 May from 11am to 7pm at the Arawak Art Gallery at Calle Rafael Augusto Sanchez 53, Piantini, in Santo Domingo. Tel. 809 565-3614

Drag racing at the Autodromo Mobil1

Friday, 25 May is the day to watch drag racing at the Autodromo Mobil1 at Las Americas Expressway. Sport Compact Car, TopSportman, ? chassis, 4 cylinders, V8, and more categories.

www.autodromomobil1.com

White Marlin Tournament starts 30 May

It's the season to catch those big white fish. Some 40 yachting teams from the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, mainly Puerto Rico, will be in Punta Cana to compete in the 47th Annual White Marlin Fishing Tournament organized by the Santo Domingo Yacht Club at its Punta Cana location. The tournament opens on the 30th May and continues through Saturday, 2 June. The first day of competition is 7:30am on Thursday, 31 May.

Speed car racing at the Autodromo Mobil1

Gran Prix Michelin is planned for Sunday, 3 June as of 10am at the Autodromo Mobil1. Adrenaline and speed come together for the car speed racing and motorcycle-racing at the Autodromo Mobil1 off Las Americas Expressway in Santo Domingo.

www.autodromomobil1.com

For more on upcoming events, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar

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