News from the Dominican Republic by DR1.COM

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News in the Dominican Republic from DR1.COM

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President Leonel Fernandez inaugurates housing complex		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
President Leonel Fernandez inaugurated a new housing complex in Canca la Piedra in Tamboril near Santiago, followed by a subsidized canteen in Navarrete on Thursday 2 February The Progreso housing complex cost RD$194 million, and the canteen just over RD$13 million of government money. The 256 apartments in 16 two-story buildings were built by the National Housing Institute (INVI) for people who lost their homes after the February 2008 floods in Carlos Diaz in Tamboril. President Fernandez also broke ground for the second stage of the project, consisting of 96 new homes to provide housing for all those affected in Carlos Diaz. The government also proposes to build a school and a church in the same area. INVI director Alma Fernandez said that the government has provided dozens of housing projects to families affected by disasters across the country, with 1,262 in the province of Santiago alone, and that the President will be inaugurating new housing projects in 20 municipalities before 10 May. The mayor of Tamboril, Anyolino Germosen, presented President Fernandez with a plaque in gratitude for the project on behalf of the Carlos Diaz Neighborhood Committee. Chamber of Deputies president Abel Martinez, Interior and Police Minister Jose Ramon Fadul, Minister for Women Alejandrina German, Public Administration Minister Ramon Ventura Camejo and the director of the Business Improvement Trust Fund (FOMPER), Jose Augusto Izquierdo, also attended the inauguration ceremony along with others including State Subsidized Canteens administrator Nicolas Calderon, businessman Manuel Estrella, and Luis Cifres, director of the Office of Supervising Engineers of State Projects. www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2012/2/2/220309/Presidente-Fernandez-inaugura-complejo-habitacional-y-comedor-economico-
The importance of wetlands		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
During a ceremony commemorating National Wetlands Day in the Nigua Ecological Park on Thursday 2 February, the Ministers of the Environment and Tourism stressed the role played by wetland areas in the sustainable development of tourism and for national economies. The theme was "Wetland Tourism: a great experience", and Deputy Minister Daneris Santana emphasized the range of environmental services provided by this water covered area. He also referred to the salvage work carried out by the Environment Ministry so that local communities could now become custodians of these areas while using them for recreational and healthy activities. The Deputy Minister of Tourism talked about the importance of these ecosystems for tourism and ecotourism development at national and international level. The Environment Ministry had reforested the wetlands with olive and mangrove trees, as part of the National Wetland Day celebrations. In addition to Nigua, 32 more wetland sites had been salvaged. www.eldia.com.do/nacionales/2012/2/2/74240/Destacan-importancia-de-los-humedales-para-el-desarrollo-turistico-y-la
The Metro saves money		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
Diandino Pena, the head of the Transport Reorganization Office (Opret) announced that rehearsals would begin today, Friday 3 February, at the Santo Domingo Metro transfer station so that people can get used to switching between both lines. Passengers, together with members of the press will be taken to the station at Kennedy with Maximo Gomez avenues, where they will be shown how to change from one line to another. Pena also stated that the Metro had now been running for three years and had transported 68 million passengers with no serious accidents. He said that it had saved each passenger between 40 and 50 minutes on their journeys, and that if the cost was calculated based on a salary of RD$80 an hour and 68 million passengers, the time saved was worth the equivalent of RD$1.6 billion. He said that the Metro users had saved a lot in fares, whereas before they used to pay between 35 and 40 pesos to travel from Villa Mella to la Feria, the Metro costs 16 pesos less. He said that if the fare saving was multiplied by the number of passengers, the saving in peoples' pockets was RD$1.1 billion. He said that if the people who now use the Metro had been on the road it would have required 900 cars and 40 small buses using RD$1,400 million of fuel, hence one of the greatest successes of the Metro has been to reduce the levels of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. He then stated that the cost-effectiveness of the Metro justified the construction cost. Pena added that the connecting station would have a commercial area with telephone, Internet and other public services and that there would be exits and entrances to the north, south, east and west in addition to clear signage. Work on the second line of the Metro began in November 2008 and the plan is for President Leonel Fernandez to open it this month. www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2012/2/2/220391/El-Metro-ha-transportado-a-68-millones-de-pasajeros-en-tres-anos
Too many municipalities in the Dominican Republic		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
During a radio interview on Thursday 2 February, the executive director of the Dominican Federation of Municipalities (Fedomu), Victor D`Aza, said that the Dominican Republic has more municipalities and municipal districts than it needs. He said that there are 155 municipalities and 231 municipal districts, many of which do not satisfy the requirements of a local government, and despite the advances they have made over the last few years, the public still perceives them as deficient and cannot distinguish between a municipality and a municipal district. He said that a town hall should have a development plan for its area and reminded that the National Development Strategy and the Constitution says that mayors should have a series of departments with the key one being planning and scheduling as well as one which gives free access to public information. He said that in 2011 Fedomu carried out a successful pilot plan called "Fedomu Planning" which involved installing, equipping and staffing planning and scheduling departments in 22 municipalities in the northern Cibao region, comprising the provinces of Puerto Plata, Espaillat and Santiago. He said that Fedomu should sign an agreement with the Dominican Municipal League to work towards ensuring that the town halls are in the right condition to comply with the law. He said that town halls with limited resources and that could not implement the plan on their own, would be helped by Fedomu. www.eldia.com.do/nacionales/2012/2/2/74229/En-Republica-Dominicana-hay-un-exceso-de-municipiosn
Illegal immigration continues		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
According to a study by the Labor Ministry, 'Haitian Immigrants and the Labor Market', despite the existence of the Specialized National Border Security Corps (Cesfront) with 450 agents in Pedernales, Jimani, Elias Pina and Dajabon, and the recent introduction of the new immigration law, criminals still control the illegal entry of Haitians into the country. The study found that despite Cesfront stopping between 45,000 and 55,800 undocumented Haitians at the border every year, six out of ten Haitian workers in the construction sectors in the National District and Santiago have no local government registration documents. The report states that there are relatively organized groups with networks of connections working on both sides of the border, and they charge between RD$1,500 and RD$5,000 per person. The amount varies depending on where they enter the country and their final destination. The mafia excels at looking after the Haitians, renting houses or land and other places to hide the men and women. After keeping them in houses near the border they are then transported at night to their final destination. Another method of entry requires coordination and complicity with the authorities so that the illegal immigrants can pass through the numerous military checkpoints. The researchers discovered that illegal immigration in the west of the country can only be explained by the operations of criminal networks and the amazing amount of money the traffic of Haitians generates. Some construction workers in Santiago and Greater Santo Domingo revealed details of their illegal entry. Nearly 60% said they came through some type of official checkpoint and the rest entered by using more covert methods. The National Statistics Office (ONE) says that in recent years the legal entrance of foreigners at the Elias Pina, Dajabon, Jimani and Pedernales border crossings has continued to decline. From 2007 to 2009, for example, it went from 78,458 to 57,917, a reduction of 26%. However, it changed after the earthquake. In Jimani alone for example, there were 37,889 arrivals between January and April, whereas in the whole of 2009 there were only 30,469. www.elcaribe.com.do/2012/02/03/trafico-humano-frontera www.ministeriodetrabajo.gob.do/index.php/todas-las-noticias/288-ministerio-de-trabajo-pone-a-circular-estudio-inmigrantes-haitianos-en-el-mercado-laboral-dominicano
Improved electricity in the south		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
Edesur announced today, Friday 3 February, that a new substation would come into service from 8 February, which would eliminate low voltage in 38 communities in the provinces of Pedernales and Barahona. At present, residents in Enriquillo, Oviedo and Paraiso have to use voltage controllers and Edesur said these would no longer be necessary. www.elnacional.com.do/nacional/2012/2/2/110201/Nueva-subestacion-mejorara-servicio
Dominican Republic links with Moscow		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
The organizers of the 19th annual exhibition of MITT (Moscow International Travel and Tourism) have announced that the Dominican Republic will be the partner country for Russia's largest and leading travel and tourism exhibition, taking place on 21st March n 24th March 2012. The Russian office of the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism has been taking part in MITT since 2005. Every year since then, as the exhibition grew, and the Russian outbound travel market started to show impressive growth rates, the Dominican Republic has increased its presence. In 2005, the Dominican Republic only had two co-exhibitors, and now more than 15 representatives of hotel chains and tourist companies are expected to take part. Galina Lyssenko, Director of the Russian office of Dominican Republic Tourism Board said that while only 400 tourists from Russia in 2002 came to the Dominican Republic, in 2011, there were almost 121,000. The aim of the Tourism Board is to show all the variety of options available and show that the Dominican Republic was not only a leisure destination. As Russian tourists become more demanding and curious, she said that they can enjoy the country for its cultural tourism, diving, weddings, golf, extreme sports and luxury leisure. www.incentivetravel.co.uk/shows/5416-mitt-welcomes-dominican-republic-as-partner-country
US$200 million in charges for remittances		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
On Thursday 2 February, the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA), the Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN), members of the Inter-American Investment Banks (IDB) and the World Bank Group launched www.enviacentroamerica.org, a free online tool for comparing the costs of sending remittances from the United States to six countries in Central America and the Dominican Republic. The Central American countries are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and the costs are based on sending US$200 and US$500. CEMLA remittance specialist Paloma Monroy said that the initiative would help the Hispanic community to understand better the costs and options available before deciding how and with whom to send the money. He felt that it would lead to more transparency in the market and a reduction in costs. The new website gives details of how much different operators charge in the five main remittance centers in the United States: California, Florida, New York, the District of Columbia and Massachusetts Massimo Cirasino, who heads of the Financial Infrastructure division at the World Bank, said that remittances represented a vital income for millions of families in Central America and the Dominican Republic. He said that this website would provide useful information which should help those who need it. It is estimated that only in the last three months of 2011 the emigrants from the six Central American countries and the Dominican Republic spent more than US$200 million on charges, just to cover the costs of sending money home to their families from the USA. An analysis of the data over this period showed that they paid US$12 on average per US$200 sent to their countries of origin. It showed that only one percentage point decrease in the cost of sending remittances would result in an extra US$150 million in the pockets of the emigrants and their families. In December the most expensive places to send money to were the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica with an average cost of US$14.60 (7.3%) and US$13.60 (6.8%), respectively. The most expensive to send US$200 from, were Miami and New York to the Dominican Republic, with an average cost of US$15.60 (7.8%). In 2010 Central America and the Dominican Republic received more than US$14,876 million in remittances.
Protest in El Millon		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
Dozens of residents in El Millon, a middle class Santo Domingo neighborhood, protested yesterday, Thursday 2 February, demanding the suspension of construction of a five-storey building on Presa de Taveras street. They stood outside the building with placards, chanting: "We don't want corruption". Neighborhood group representative Andrea Valdez said that she had been to the town hall in the National District and to the Public Works and Environment ministries and complained that you could not build over two floors in height in this area. Valdez said that the owners of the new building had defied the rules and the engineers in charge, Nicolas Fermin and Jean Carlos Garcia said that it would be built come rain or shine. She said that there used to be a house in the same spot and at first they thought it was being remodeled but over time it became apparent that it would be a different building. Another local resident, Sonya Perez, said that all they wanted was for the law to be upheld. www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2012/2/2/220308/Residentes-del-sector-El-Millon-protestan-por-construccion-de-edificio
Jordan's family in legal limbo		1/1/0001 12:00 AM
On the anniversary of the death of Jordan Morrison in Punta Cana, his parents, Carrie McGinnis and her husband Dale flew back here to attend the trial of the men accused with his murder. Five men were originally charged, but only two Montreal men, Dmytro Aref Yev and Bouzid Redha, both 21, have been charged with the killing. McGinnis says she knows Bouzid Redha is out on bail, but that Dmytro Aref Yev is still in jail. However, at one point last year, officials at Foreign Affairs Canada had said there were four Canadian citizens who were forbidden to leave the Dominican Republic pending further investigation into Morrison's death McGinnis knows the two men charged didn't plead guilty, but couldn't provide further details because of the difficulty understanding the court proceedings in Spanish. She said that the Canadian Consulate staff sit in the courthouse and take notes, but don't share them with the Barrie family saying that they were impartial and not allowed to assist the family with translation. "We have never, ever really been told anything," McGinnis said of the court proceedings. "Something happens (in court) and we think, 'OK, what just went on here?' But we don't get an explanation." There was confusion at the trial proceedings in December and Yev was not brought to the courthouse for what the Morrisons believed would be the reading of the verdict. At that point, however, the trial was postponed until Feb. 8. Although privacy legislation in Canada prohibits the embassy from releasing detailed information, getting an explanation for past, current and future court dealings is proving to be overwhelming for Jordan's family. "Foreign Affairs called me a week after we got back last time and said don't count on a verdict because it's still in the trial process," McGinnis said. "I don't understand how they're going backwards. "We went for the verdict in December and now they say it's still in the trial (stage)." This is the Barrie family's fourth trip to the Dominican Republic since Jordan's death last year. www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3457416

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