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Daily News - 26 September 2000
Clocks to be set back an hour
President Hipólito Mejía has issued Decree 820-00 by which starting Sunday, 29 October at midnight clocks in the DR will be set back an hour. This means, the time in the DR will be the same as that in the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The measure was requested by the National Council of Business (CONEP) and had the support of several other organizations. The DR will have savings on fuel purchases, electricity consumption, improved airline service (especially with the Puerto Rico and the Eastern Seaboard of the US). The measure is also considered beneficial to the health of those living in the DR.
First natural gas plant to be built near Boca Chica beach
President Hipólito Mejía was in Andrés, Boca Chica yesterday to be present at the start of the construction of the first natural gas plant to be built in the DR. AES Corporation will build the plant that will have an electrical capacity of 300 megawatts using a combined cycle. The company is investing US$330 million.
Sara Slusser, vice president of the building company, told the Listín Diario newspaper that the plant will be the largest and most modern in the country. "AES Andrés is a revolutionary project for the DR as it introduces natural gas. Natural gas is cleaner, more efficient and more economic than diesel. The present fuel crisis makes the benefits of natural gas even more apparent," she pointed out during the event. The power plant is located on 25 hectares, five kilometers south of the Port of Andrés, Boca Chica and 3.5 kilometers east of the Las Americas International Airport.
An estimated 400 workers will be employed to build the plant. Once the plant is operational, by summer 2002, 500 permanent jobs will be created.
A first phase will operate on gas producing 170 megawatts; a second phase will generate 130 megawatts, using steam. The company also announced plans to build a natural gas pipeline.
AES owns two diesel-operated plants in Santo Domingo, and has the concession to provide electricity to approximately 400,000 users in the eastern portion of the DR.
In addition to its operations in the DR, AES currently owns or has an interest in one hundred and five power facilities totaling over 32,000 megawatts in the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Panama, Mexico, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh the Netherlands, Hungary, Kazakhstan, China and the United Kingdom. AES also distributes electricity to nearly 14 million customers. For more information on the company, see http://www.aesc.com
Go ahead for major trans-shipment port
News reports say that President Hipólito Mejía during his visit to the Boca Chica area gave the go ahead to start to businessmen Samuel Conde, Jaak Rannik, Manuel Enrique Taveras, promoters of the Zona Franca Multimodal Caucedo in nearby Punta Caucedo. The Zona Franca Multimodal Caucedo is a major trans-shipment terminal and port that seeks to compete with the Port of Panama. The Fernández government had authorized the construction in February 1998, with Decree 29-98.
The new industrial port complex will go up on an 800,000 square meter lot in Punta Caucedo, west of the Las Americas International Airport.
The new industrial sector is envisioned to complement Dominican free zone operations. Major manufacturing processes, such as vehicle assembly, are contemplated for this new industrial park. The Caucedo venture is known as a multimodal port because it offers manufacturers the option of transporting goods by air, sea or land. The US$150 million project includes the construction of a major port facility with the latest technology to be used for trans-shipment of goods.
The Caucedo Development Corporation has announced an agreement with CSX World Terminals to jointly operate the Zona Franca Multimodal Caucedo S.A.
The promoters of the project seek to take advantage of the strategic geographic location of the port that has privileged access to the Caribbean, Central America and South American ports.
The new terminal will have an area of 1.1 kilometer (0.68 mile) along the coast, with deep waters that permit the entrance of large ships.
It will have a 123 hectares (5 acres) storage area for containers, and modern cranes for loading and unloading operations.
The project could be in operation in 2003.
Board to supervise Puerto Plata skylift operations
President Hipólito Mejía created a board that will be in charge of the administration, control, management, maintenance, and security of the Puerto Plata skylift. Decree 810-00 establishes that the board members are:
The Minister of Tourism, a representative of the Asociación de Hoteles de Playa Dorada, a representative of the Asociación de Hoteles de Sosua y Cabarete, the governor and senator of Puerto Plata province, and the Catholic bishop. Other members are Fernando Ortega, Fernando Cueto and Waldo Musa.
Government-built airport costs seven times more than private airport
Engineer Martin Concepción Múñoz, vice president of the Union Panamericana de Asociaciones de Ingenieros and former president of the Colegio Dominicano de Ingenieros y Arquitectos in an interview with El Siglo newspaper pointed to serious overpricing in the construction of the Nueva Isabela International Airport at El Higuero, in northern Santo Domingo.
The airport was built by private contractors under the Ministry of Public Works supervision during the past Fernández administration. It was built to replace the Herrera International Airport that is located in a central area of the city of Santo Domingo.
The new Minister of Public Works Miguel Vargas Maldonado has said that the Dominican government had invested RD$600 million in the airport, and that another RD$500 million were needed to complete the project. Engineer Vargas has said that the government will not be investing more in the new airport and seeks a private operator to complete the project.
Engineer Concepción alerted that the state would lose millions by passing the airport to the private sector. He pointed out the incongruities in the pricing of the Isabela airport. He said that a private group has built a bigger airport in Licey Al Medio (Santiago area), and that this has only cost RD$110 million.
He said the Santiago airport has a terminal that is 8,000 square meters big, while the Isabela terminal is 5,000 square meters. Santiago investors spent RD$56 million to build their terminal, while the Higuero terminal cost RD$300 million, he said.
"That a larger airport, with a longer runway than that at El Higuero cost seven times less should call our attention," said Concepción. "I consider this is a matter of concern and an in-depth investigation should be called to determine where the RD$700 million invested in that airport went," he said.
Traffic detours starting today
Those driving in Santo Domingo need to be aware that the Ministry of Public Works will be closing the tunnels under the 27 de Febrero Boulevard and the Máximo Gómez/J. F. Kennedy overpass tonight. The tunnels will be closed as of Tuesday, at 10 pm through Friday, at 5 am for repairs and maintenance works. The government is recommending commuters to use the San Martin and Pedro Livio Cedeño, and the Ortega y Gasset and Tiradentes streets as alternate routes.
Drug bust at Santo Domingo airport
The Department of Drug Control arrested two Colombians, a Dutch citizen and a Venezuelan at the Las Americas International Airport yesterday. They had attempted to import significant amounts of heroine and cocaine, according to the department.
The Colombians arrived on a Copa flight from Cali, Colombia via Panama. As of yesterday they had expelled 670 grams of heroine of an estimated two kilos of heroine in bags they had swallowed. The Dutch citizen was arrested after arriving on an Aeropostal flight from Caracas, Venezuela. He had two packages of cocaine hidden in the soles of his shoes. He also had 54 bags in his underwear, for a total kilo and 25.5 grams of drugs.
The Venezuelan had 60 bags of heroine adhered to his body and more inside his stomach. The drug authorities recovered a 1 kilo and 300 grams.
PLD party urges members to ignore requests of Corruption Department head
The political committee of the PLD said it is instructing former government officers to ignore the requests of Dr. Jesus Feliz, assistant of the Attorney General and in charge of the Corruption Prevention Department of the government that they visit that office for questioning. In a paid advertisement in local newspapers, the PLD says that Dr. Felix does not have legal authority to order former government officers to visit his department. The PLD political committee recommends that the corruption department document the cases and then send these to the judiciary, using the appropriate channels. The PLD says that the actions of the department head so far have been intended to taint the reputation of the Fernández government.
Three assailants steal pension of former President
Three unknown armed assailants assaulted the assistant of former President Salvador Jorge Blanco and made away with RD$60,000 of the later's just-cashed pension check. The robbery took place shortly after noon at the entrance to the former President's law offices at the intersection of avenues 27 de Febrero and Tiradentes. Milano Antonio Ortíz, a former military who serves as assistant to the former statesman had just cashed the check at the Banco de Reservas branch in Naco neighborhood and apparently was followed to the basement of the building where the law office is located. The officer, who was not armed, did not offer resistance to the thieves. He said a third person in a vehicle in front of the building awaited the two.
Hotel supply growth outpaces demand for DR vacations
Frank Rainieri, president of the Grupo Punta Cana, attributed the lull in hotel occupancy to the fast pace of construction of new hotel rooms in the DR. Other factors that are affecting hotel occupancy are the fuel price hikes and their effects on airline fares, the devaluation of the Euro, and the changes in market mix of hotel guests staying at Dominican hotels.
In an interview with the Listín Diario he explained that the rooms supply in the area increased 15% last year. There are more than 17,000 hotel rooms in Punta Cana. The area is slated to offer 30,000 rooms by 2010. At present there are more than 50,000 hotel rooms in the DR.
The mix of tourists to the DR has changed. He said that in the specific case of Punta Cana, the market mix was 80% Europeans that would stay on average 15 days. Today, there is a significant increase in US travelers, which usually do not stay more than a week. He said that Punta Cana received 4,600 US travelers in 1996; 6,800 in 1997; 28,000 in 1998; 65,000 in 1999; and the outlook is for 125,000 for 2000 and that for 2001 is 200,000 US travelers.
Central Bank statistics show that the following breakdown of travel to the DR:
Punta Cana 35.5%
Puerto Plata 31%
Santo Domingo 30%
La Romana and Santiago 2.5%
Rainieri urged that the government build a four-lane highway from Punta Cana International Airport to the northern new tourism areas of Macao and Higuero Alto tourist areas. Three hotels are going up in Higuero Alto, including one 400-room hotel that will open this winter.
Only six fishermen known to survive tragedy at sea
Contrary to the more optimistic news reports of yesterday, it now appears that it is not true that a British tanker rescued 14 fishermen on board the sunken Cristal fishing boat. The ship sunk six miles off the coast of Isla Tortuga. Only six of 33 on board have made it back to the DR, after they swam to Haitian territory. The survivors are not optimistic about the luck of their fellow fishermen. They say that when the ship sunk, most on board were sleeping below. The Navy has not given a report on the outcome of rescue efforts. For more on the tragedy, see http://www.dr1.com/daily/news092500.shtml
Hurricane Isaac & Tropical Storm Joyce
Hurricane Isaac is very unlikely to affect the Caribbean, as it is on a track that would bring it far from the islands. Furthermore, Tropical Storm Joyce that is developing off Africa could affect the Caribbean, although it is on a track that would bring it south of the Dominican Republic. For more information, and to follow other developments in the area, see http://www.dr1.com/daily/hurricane.shtml
Meridian is choice for marketing Santo Domingo 2003 Pan Am Games
Dr. José Joaquín Puello, president of the organizing committee of the Santo Domingo Pan American Games said that Meridian Management would be in charge of marketing for the event. The company successfully marketed the Sydney Olympics. Dr. Puello told journalists of the Diálogo con los Periodistas program produced by Franklin Mirabal that he expects the DR to attract several of the leading sponsors of the Olympics. He said that Meridian executives would come in January to begin working on preparing a master plan for the event.
Dominican participation in the Olympics
Felix Sánchez (400 meters/hurdles) finished seventh in his quarterfinal heat, and failed to make it to the semifinals of the 400 meters/hurdles. He clocked in at 49.69. Sánchez was the DR's only real chance at a medal in the Olympics. The games can be seen in Santo Domingo on Channel 7 from 10-12 noon, 2-5 pm and 10-12 pm (Spanish), and on Telecable Nacional's NBC Channel (74).
For games coverage, see www.cnnsi.com and www.olympics.com

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