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Dominicans against the war Foreign Minister Hugo Tolentino Dipp declared yesterday during the XXI Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Ministerial Council of the Association of Caribbean States that he was against a war if it were to go ahead without UN backing. “The commitments of international organizations to keep the peace should not be violated by the unilateral stand of any state, because only the plural and majority’s voice can rightfully decide in the name of the international community.” The government meanwhile has announced the creation of 10 communities to prepare for the eventuality of war and to tackle possible negative effects such as food and fuel shortages that may result. The Senate of the Republic is set to vote against a possible war. A survey conducted by Listin Diario newspaper revealed that most young Dominicans are opposed to the impending war between the US and Iraq. People questioned expressed their concerns about the direct and indirect effects of war, including the loss of life in the region and the potential economic fallout that would affect oil prices and the local economy. At a seminar on US foreign policy post-2001 at the Hotel Lina in Santo Domingo, former President Leonel Fernandez voiced the opinion that Iraq does not present a military threat to the United States in the current circumstances. However, he went on to say that the outcome of such a war could bring about economic benefits on a global level. |
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Juan Dolio aqueduct President Hipólito Mejía inaugurated the Juan Dolio aqueduct, built at a cost of RD$141 million. The aqueduct is based in Guayacanes and will serve Guayacanes and the Juan Dolio vacation area’s resident population and nearly 5,000 hotel rooms. |
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US$253.7 million in new loans in Congress Hoy newspaper reports that the Senate approved yesterday a loan for US$59.9 million, of a portfolio of US$253.7 million, drafted by President Hipólito Mejía. The loan was okayed without a reading by the senators, nor a review by any commission. The funds would be used to fix pipe leaks affecting the operation of the new aqueduct built for the eastern side of the Province of Santo Domingo. Commercial banks Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. and Bank Hapoalim B.M. would fund the initiative and have set terms for payment at three and a half years. The senators sent the finance commission another loan for US$48.8 million with ABN Amro Bank, N.V., at its Copenhagen branch. This money would be used to expand the aqueduct of Santiago and to improve the sewage water treatment plants. A proposed loan for 140 million euros, which is being promoted by the Spanish government for undisclosed governmental “priority works”, was re-issued to the Senate after Spanish Ambassador Maria Jesus Figa complained about the delay in approving it. This package would be classified as Fondos de Ayuda al Desarrollo (Funds for Developmental Assistance) with terms of up to 30 years. The US$254 million loan package sent by the Executive Branch also includes two loans for US$14 million to finance the purchase of 200 Hyundai buses to be used to transport the visiting athletes of the August 2003 Pan American Games. The Kookmin bank of Korea would fund the bus purchase as per an agreement reached with OMSA and would require payment in four years. |
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Erratum Diario Libre is running an apology for an error in Thursday's edition, which was also carried in these reports. The report that the President's son, Felipe Mejía, had won a prize at the Agricultural Fair for a calf belonging to a farm owned by the President's family was challenged by the President in an angry letter to the newspaper. In fact, it was a state farm called Finca Ysura in Azua that was awarded the prize. The confusion arose from the fact that Mejía's son, who accepted the prize, works there without remuneration. |
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New re-capitalization proposal by Union Fenosa Hoy reports on Finance Minister José Lois Malkum’s announcement that Union Fenosa has made a new proposal to re-capitalize their ailing electricity subsidiary Edenorte. The company wants to capitalize US$60 to US$80 million and is requesting government input of at least US$30 million. A similar previous proposal had been rejected by Edenorte in January. El Caribe mentions that Edenorte has reduced its appeal to the government for support. In December, the company requested governmental contributions of US$200 million. Union Fenosa is the Spanish company that controls two-thirds of power distribution in the Dominican Republic. In a letter to President Mejía dated 19 December, the Union Fenosa complained that it had amassed debts of RD$14.5 billion in its first four years of operation, although the books show that RD$7 billion of this amount is recorded as owing to the mother company and other affiliates. The company asked that the government provide assistance to the tune of US$200 million. Malkum confirmed that talks with the World Bank regarding a US$200-million loan to complete the renegotiations with power companies have advanced. The government will be making the payments to rescind several of the onerous contracts and make terms more bearable to Dominican consumers. Transparency, professionalism, and a vision to work for the common good have been lacking in government throughout the years in negotiations with the private power companies. This has resulted in Dominican power customers — industrial, commercial and residential — paying perhaps the highest rates in the Americas. President Mejía had promised to revise the privatization contracts signed by his predecessor, but his government proceeded instead to increase benefits to the power distributors and generators beyond previous levels, at a high cost to productivity and the taxpayers’ pockets. |
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Dollar reaps more pesos After several days of decline, the dollar continued to hold its own yesterday. Hoy newspaper says that the peso depreciated to RD$22.90 in the marketplace yesterday, representing 45 points loss since Tuesday’s average. The newspaper says that there is concern locally because interest rates are at highs that businesses would not sustain if they also have to pay record highs for US dollar purchases. Meanwhile, the newspaper reports that the government has ordered another RD$100 million to be removed from circulation to reduce the demand for the US dollar. |
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List of anti-corruption cases grows The latest corruption case in the spotlight is that of former PLD officials of the Civil Aviation Board. The claims of impropriety revolve primarily around the management of the Technical Cooperation Project that was convened so that Dominican airplanes could again fly to the US with the removal of Category II. Under Category II, Dominican airlines are banned from flying to the US because the civil aviation authority is deemed by the US Federal Aviation Agency as not adequate to oversee DR air carrier operations. To fly to the US, Dominican carriers need to arrange the flights conducted by a carrier from a country meeting international safety standards. According to the complaint, the Civil Aviation Board opted for an OACI program that reportedly cost the state US$16 million, and rejected a proposal by a US company that guaranteed to restate DR aviation for US$200,000. Jesusita Hernandez, Armando Castillo and Alfredo Rivera Peguero were taken into custody on Thursday. The case was aired at the start of the Mejía government, but was set aside until now. In another case, Angel Lockward of the PRSC will be questioned by a judge today regarding his alleged involvement in the corruption of a subsidy program that was implemented by the Ministry of Industry & Commerce during his tenure as its minister at the start of the Mejia administration. Despite supposedly clear indications of fraud, according to other government officers, the case will be studied by the governmental anti-corruption authorities and state prosecutors. In response to the wave of arrests, former President and PLD leader Leonel Fernández launched a scathing attack on the government's anti-corruption drive, stating that if it the motives were genuine, PRD officials would go to jail on a daily basis. He claimed that pending cases against PLD officials, the most prominent being the PEME affair, were little more than political persecution, and that they increase in vigor in direct relation to the rise of his party's popularity. PUCMM University Rector Monseñor Agripino Nuñez Collado criticized the actions of Attorney General Victor Céspedes Martínez. Nuñez Collado described the recent detentions as human rights violations. As reported in Hoy, Nuñez Collado expressed his concern that we now have an Attorney General who orders incarcerations without previous authorization from any court. The Attorney General in turn defended his decisions, specifically in the PEME case, and rejected the implications that Lockward’s arrest was akin to being “kidnapped”. |
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75% of Dominicans reject Hipólito’s re-election In further analysis of Thursday's Rumbo-Gallup opinion poll, the newspapers focus on the party leadership campaigns. Vice President Milagros Ortíz Bosch is the favorite for PRD presidential candidate, while among PLD voters Leonel Fernández is clearly the first choice. The poll also showed that 75% of the Dominican public are against re-election of the current President, a view shared by almost half (48%) of PRD party members. In reaction to the poll, the President dismissed the apparent unpopularity of his government as transitory, saying, “wait till the horses are let loose” - a reference to the electoral race once the presidential candidates have been selected. |
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PLD March this Saturday This Saturday, 15 March sees the planned PLD protest march (Marcha de la Esperanza). Police Chief Jaime Marte Martínez expressed hope that it would go ahead peacefully. |
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Najayo’s forgotten women Hoy newspaper reports on the Najayo jail's forgotten prisoners. While the principal media’s focus is on politician Angel Lockward's three days in custody without trial, we are reminded of the many anonymous unconvicted prisoners who languish in Dominican prisons and are seemingly forgotten by the authorities. In Najayo there are 60 women who have not yet gone through the legal process, with some having been behind bars for as long as a year. The prison’s governor, Oneida Acevedo, called on the authorities to help tackle the problem. |
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Salami thief gets a break In a sentence that was seen to be at best over-zealous and at worst racist, a judge in the frontier region of Elias Piña condemned Haitian immigrant Luis Nelson Gasso to a 10-year prison term for having stolen two salamis and a radio worth RD$300. The 19-year-old man had his sentence reduced yesterday to one year by the court of appeals. As he has already served over nine months in jail, he should be released in a couple of months’ time. |
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Police reform The proposal to re-incorporate AMET, the traffic authority, into the National Police force is being examined by the Senate, the majority of whose members are opposed to the move. Most senators favor AMET remaining an independent entity, saying that its success in improving the traffic situation has been evident. |
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West Nile virus alert For the first time, antibodies of the West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne disease that affects the central nervous system, have been detected in the Dominican Republic. Although no actual cases have been reported in animals or humans, the Ministry of Public Health (SESPAS) revealed that the antibodies have been found in birds at the Parque Nacional Los Haitises area. Although it was stressed that there is no cause for panic, the ministry spokesman advised the public to take preventive measures and be on alert for symptoms that include fever, headache and muscular pains. The West Nile virus killed 266 people in the United States last year. Elderly people and those with weak immune systems are most vulnerable. |
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