The International Monetary Fund has finished its eighth and final review of the Stand-by arrangement with the DR. As a result, the IMF has approved the disbursal of US$122.3 million, of which $77.05 million are in Special Drawing Rights. The review of the letter of intent was on the agenda after being delayed for "unintentional technical mistakes". Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez Albizu said that the amount to be disbursed by the IMF is the largest that the DR was entitled under the agreement. Valdez said that the IMF agreement was signed on 31 January 2005 for a total of US$695.1 million, or $437.8 million in Special Drawing Rights. The agreement was then extended on 30 January 2007. The letter of intent published by the Central Bank included some dispensations for the private financial sector surplus, as a result of the effects of Tropical Storms Olga and Noel. The letter also included dispensations for not approving modifications to the Monetary and Financing Law. According to Valdez, the IMF also approved dispensations on the application of a single account for the National Treasury.
Farmers taking part in the bi-national market between Haiti and the DR have decided to boycott this coming Monday's market in response to the Haitian authorities' reluctance to lift their ban on Dominican chicken and egg imports. The ban has been in place for two weeks, following an Avian flu scare in the DR, but Puerto Rico and other countries lifted the ban more than a week ago. Adding to concerns, Haitian President Rene Preval announced his intent to continue the ban yesterday, even after a delegation of Dominican officials and business representatives went to Haiti to try to get the decision repealed.
The decision to boycott the market was made on Tuesday during a meeting of sector representatives, including the Dajabon Business Association. Producers agreed to prevent the entry of Haitian products as long as their ban on chicken and egg imports remains in place. Freddy Morillo of the Chicken Sellers Association said that they can't take the situation any longer. He added that producers from Moca and other towns have been invited to join the protest and that producers are willing to stand together in response to the situation. Morillo also commented on the claim that the ban has remained in place because high-ranking officials in Haiti would rather import eggs from other countries.
The PRD is asking President Leonel Fernandez to explain his relationship with Nelson Solano Guzman. A Supreme Court document indicates that Solano had ties to numerous mega-projects in the DR at the time of his extradition to the US on heroin trafficking charges.
During a press conference held at the PRD headquarters, party general secretary Orlando Jorge Mera displayed pictures of Fernandez and Solano together on five separate occasions. Jorge Mera asked the government to explain the reasons for awarding, without tender, public works worth more than US$5 billion to Solano. Among the projects Solano had under his wing before he was extradited are Etanol Dominicana, S.A., an alcohol cogeneration energy plant, 1200 MW thermoelectric plants, the Consuelo sugar mill, a project for the purchase of coal with Colombia and construction of a coal shipping port in Santa Marta, Colombia, the Consorcio Vial Dominicana project for the construction of the San Cristobal-Bani highway, Consorcio Septentrional, S.A., the toll booth management of the La Vega-Santiago-Navarrete, Navarrete-Montecristi-Dajabon, and Navarrete-Puerto Plata-Samana and Navarrete-Cabarete highways, tolls for the Dr. Joaquin Balaguer highway, the Highway 5 from Santiago-Navarrete-Puerto Plata-Cabarete toll, the concession for the Maimon Bay Cruise Ship Terminal and the Sociedad Portuaria del Atlantico.
Attorney General Radhames Jimenez has denied that President Fernandez has any links to Solano. Jimenez said that the DR supported and signed the papers on Solano's extradition, and according to him that is enough to prove there is no connection between the two.
See www.suprema.gov.do/sentscj/sentencias.asp?B1=VR&llave=53923
Dirty politics, underhand tactics and rumor spreading are all part of the political hustle and bustle during an election year, but Dominicans are getting tired of the negativity. As a result, the Catholic Church, the Supreme Court, the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Citizen Participation (PC), the Justice and Institutionalism Foundation (FINJUS) and the Latin American Political Science Faculty (FLACSO) have all expressed criticisms about this campaigning style and are urging for it to cease. Yesterday Supreme Court president Jorge Subero Isa asked the political parties to tone down their language and offer legitimate proposals. Bishop Emeritus Fabio Mamerto Rivas and JCE Judge Mariano Rodriguez also voiced their concerns about the current tone of the elections and said things should change before they deteriorate into violence. Rivas said that if things continued in this way, it would result in violence. Servio Tulio Castanos Guzman of Finjus called on the JCE to take greater control in order to stifle these dirty campaigns.
Lawyers consulted by Listin Diario say that the signs in the parking lots of shopping malls and supermarkets don't release businesses from responsibility when a car is stolen. Lawyer Desiderio Ruiz says that these signs are meaningless because if something happens to a vehicle within the parking lot, the business owners are obliged to pay compensation. Ruiz says that a business, by law, has to provide secure parking for its clients and that the business owner guarantees protection of their vehicles. Pedro Duarte Canaan, dean of the Universidad del Caribe law school says that the signs are a bluff and just a way for the businesses to try and protect themselves from obligation. Canaan says that if your car has been stolen from a parking lot you should file a police report. He added that victims could also claim compensation from the establishment's owner.
On 10 February the Conference on Dominican Affairs (CODA) will be holding its Eighth Annual Conference at Rutgers University. The conference seeks to provide a forum to identify and develop a state agenda designed to unite Dominican Americans behind a common goal. The conference especially addresses issues that affect the Dominican-American community in New Jersey.
CODA President Maria Teresa Feliciano is quoted in Listin Diario as saying that CODA wants to build on what was started in 2000. The conference is expecting more than 500 participants. JCE judge Aura Celeste Fernandez, Dominican Stock Exchange head Darys Estrella, singer and former Santo Domingo mayor Johnny Ventura and Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez have confirmed their participation. The conference is open to the public.
Anyone interested in attending can go to www.thelatinoinstitute.org for more information.
The RD$1.8 billion per capita surplus that the Social Security Treasury collected from the Family Health Plan in its first four months of operation will be used to create a contingency fund to cover the unexpected costs of natural disasters, epidemiological outbreaks or inflationary cost increases in health coverage. The proposal will be presented to the Health and Labor Risk Superintendence (SISALRIL) and the National Social Security Council (CNSS). With the protection the new per capita surplus receives through resolution 147-07 and 149-07, the funds contributed by workers and employees will be enough to guarantee acceptable levels of revenue for the Health Risk Administrators (ARS), doctors and clinic owners, as well as enough revenue to cover the cost of coverage.
A report by the United Nations Environmental Program indicates that the DR is the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) gases in the Caribbean. The DR, with 4.84 million metric tons of CO2 per year, came in third among 18 countries. Trinidad and Cuba beat the DR to the top of the list. The report and the participating entities received support from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and looks to create a more vigorous program to fight global climate change. The DR has a first project for a wind energy farm approved in 2006 with Spanish financing that could reduce 123,916 tons of CO2 per year, using the Mechanism for Clean Development of the Kyoto Protocol.
The report was disclosed during the XVI Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean that took place in Santo Domingo this week. The meeting concluded with a proposal for declaring renewable energy as of highest priority in the region.
Thirteen people were injured yesterday after an elevator plummeted from the seventh floor of the Hilton Hotel, at the Malecon Center in Santo Domingo. The incident occurred at 8:30pm during a re-election event for President Leonel Fernandez. Hoy writes that Fernandez was present at the event and reports that the people who were injured included ten police officers, two members of the Military Helpers Corps and one civilian. The injured officers were taken to the Police Hospital on Independencia Avenue. Police Chief Rafael Guzman visited the injured at the hospital, as did family members. No details have been given about any possible reason for the accident.
Still looking for a place to watch the 42nd Super Bowl. Well, MiTaverna will be hosting a live Super Bowl and BBQ party this Sunday, 3 February starting 5pm. American style bar, Big screen TV's, beer pitchers etc. Location and details in link below.
The Super Bowl will be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, near Phoenix. This year the New England Patriots match the New York Giants. Go and enjoy as the New England Patriots make their bid to become the first team in NFL to go undefeated in a season and the first team to have a record of 19-0!
During half time, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, one of the American rock legends, will perform.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/71311-super-bowl-xlii-sunday-6pm.html
The cold front that is affecting the DR will continue over the weekend. Meteorologist Martin Mata says that temperatures reported by their observation center at the Cibao International Airport showed a record low of 10.1C (50.2F). The previous record was 11.2C (52.16F) on 31 January 1987. Mata attributed the cold to winds from the US. Constanza mountain valley city posted a low of 8C (46.4F). La Romana temperature is expected to fluctuate from 16-27C (60-80F), while that in Santiago will range from 15-27C (59-80F), and Santo Domingo is expected to be warmer with a low of 19 and a high of 27C (66-80F).
Pola supermarket is advertising sales in its meat department.
La Cadena supermarket has sales in its fish and meat departments.
Bravo is advertising sales in its meat and fish departments.
Megacentro is advertising a 4-day aisles sale with major savings from Thursday, 31 January to Sunday, 3 February.
Penny's shoe store is advertising a 'buy one, get the second lower cost one free' at their Plaza Central, Diamond Mall, Bella Vista Mall and Megacentro (Santo Domingo) locations and at Plaza Internacional in Santiago.
On the occasion of Santiago hosting the Caribbean Series that matches the individual league-winning teams from Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, the host city will be presenting a mega show for the inaugural at the Cibao Stadium. El Prodigio, Victor Victor, Diomedes Nunez, Maridalia Hernandez and Amaury Colon will bring a wonderfully varied sample of Dominican music to the event. Producer Chiqui Haddad says that the show will open at 7pm on Saturday, and 240 dancers will be performing. Also taking the stage will be Dominican baseball legends and guest Major League Baseball players. The show will focus on carnival celebrations in Bonao, La Vega and Santiago, as it coincides with this month's carnival.
More than 240 athletes from 28 countries will be competing in the Meteksan Archery World Cup Santo Domingo tournament that opens at the Parque del Este venue and will run from 1-5 April 2008. Barbara Hernandez, president of the Dominican Archery Federation said that confirmation has been received for attendance by archers from five continents.
The event is organized following the FITA rules and the World Cup -EMAU rules for 2008, in both divisions: recurve and compound. See:
www.archeryworldcup.org/default.asp?s_id=0&m_id=836&cnt_id=2017
Leading Latin American and Spanish music stars are increasingly including Santo Domingo on their tour circuit. On the calendar for February, despite the country being immersed in an electoral campaign, are Alejandro Sanz (9 Feb), Francisco Cespedes (14 Feb), Moenia (15 Feb), Gal Costa (16 Feb), Belinda (22 Feb), Don Omar (23 Feb), Sin Bandera (29 Feb), Miguel Bose (8 March) and Myriam Hernandez (4-5 April).
For more details, see the Calendar at www.dr1.com/calendar
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