The horse and carriage, a centuries-old tradition in Santiago has disappeared, following the confiscation by the city hall of the 18 carriages and the execution of eight of the horses that proved positive for the Infectious Equine Anemia disease (AIE).
The drivers of the carriages have now announced that they are prepared to take Mayor Abel Martínez, to court, saying his administration unjustifiably euthanized their horses. Fernando Ramírez, official spokesman of City Hall told the Diario Libre reporter that any citizen who feels they were negatively impacted by the actions of the municipal authorities should take all measures necessary to rectify the situation. Ramirez announced that they were ready to face any lawsuit.
The city spokesman said that the municipality had followed Law 248-12 on the protection of animals and that the horses that were victims of their owners as well, as they had not been cared for properly.
Máximo Paulino, Santiago Almonte, Hidalgo Pichardo and Carlos Antonio Castro said that in total 40 carriages had stopped working over the last month, following the confiscation of the horses in the area of the Santiago Restoration Monument, and that municipality wanted to introduce tricycles instead. The men said the tourists preferred the horse-drawn carriages.
Santiago Almonte, owner of one of the executed horses, said that there was no reason to kill his horse, El Amarillo, as he was healthy as well as the other seven which were killed.
Meanwhile, Doctor Marilyn Lois Liranzo, head of the animal protection unit at the Attorney General’s Office said that three veterinary surgeons from the Livestock Department had euthanized the horses following the analysis that confirmed the existence of Equine Infectious Anemia. They were killed at a farm in Laguna Salada in Valverde province and the remaining horses are still in quarantine.
On 3 May 2018, science fiction star, 39-year old Zoe Saldaña, became the first Dominican to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on 3 May 2018.
Daughter of a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother, Zoe Saldaña was born in New Jersey, but moved to live in Santo Domingo when her father died in an accident when she was just 10 years old. She lived in Santo Domingo for seven years. She studied dance at the Ecos Espacio de Danza academy and fell in love with performance. Her training in dance was inspiration for her to seek a career in theater when her family returned to the US when she was 17.
At the age of 21, Saldana got her big break when she was offered the starring role as a teenage ballerina in “Center Stage” in 2000. She would later gain roles in The Terminal with Tom Hanks, Star Trek, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar, Avengers: Infinity War.
She attended the ceremony with her Italian husband Marco Perego and their three sons, twins Bowie and Cy, three, and Zen, 14 months.
Her star is the 2,637th one since the Walk Of Fame began in 1961. Her star is located at 6920 Hollywood Boulevard.
The Dominican vehicle fleet in both the public and private sectors is rapidly aging. It is estimated that there are 4,097,338 vehicles registered in the country, of which 48.5% are an average of 18 years old. The most recent report from the Tax Agency (DGII) indicates that there are 1,987,299 four wheeled vehicles, which were manufactured before the year 2000, most of which are in Greater Santo Domingo and Santiago, the two largest cities.
Of the 865,186 cars, around 63% (or 542,743) were manufactured last century and in the case of buses 54,504 are 18 years old or more that is 56.5% of the total number of buses, and 59.8%, some 250,118 cargo trucks also have an average of 18 years since manufacture.
According to the president of the National Association of Vehicle Distribution Agencies (ANADIVE), Marlon Bonnelly, the problem lies not in the age of the vehicle but in the lack of a rigorous inspection program that would guarantee less contamination and more safety on the roads.
Luis Alba, expert in vehicular transit, feels that the country lacks policies of prevention and planning, and that it has not taken into account the importance of renewing the vehicle fleet, nor ensuring that the vehicles on the road are in a suitable condition.
There are eight cases being heard in Dominican courts for sexual abuse involving Roman Catholic Church clergy. These follow after the notorious cases of the papal nuncio Jozef Wesolowski, who died in The Vatican shortly before his case for sexual abuse of minors was to be heard. Wesolowski had served as nuncio in the Dominican Republic from 2008 to when he abruptly returned to the Vatican in 2013 after investigative journalists had gathered evidence that showed his abuses of minors. In Poland, fellow Polish priest, Wojciech Gil, would be tried and sentenced to seven years in jail for committing 10 crimes, eight of which related to the sexual abuse of boys under the age of 15, while serving at a Santiago province church during the same time Wesolowski was nuncio.
Now Jesuit priest Antonio Lluberes published an article in the magazine “Raices” where he reveals that the sexual scandals are at all the levels of the church, among the hierarchy and laymen, secular and religious church servers. He said the image of the church is affected, causing “a segment of the population to notice and delight in the cases, instead of in the sacrifice of most of the priests.”
In its feature on the Raices story, Diario Libre mentions among the most notorious cases that are being heard in court of sexual abuses by priests: Elvin Taveras Durán, accused of the death of Fernely Carrión, whom he would have sexually violated. And that of Miguel Florizan Ulloa, accused of sexually abusing a schoolboy, who was ordered to be available for appearance in court and to stay away from his past students at the Colegio Agustiano in La Vega.
Priest Antonio Lluberes says that society and the church have had a connection, a peaceful relationship and mutual cooperation, from its origins to the present day, although at times there have been estrangements. “I could safely say that the church has displayed remarkable cooperation in shaping national identity and the formation of the Dominican nation,” he said.
But he observes the image of the vocation to become a priest has eroded in recent years. He writes that the Catholic faith is being questioned on grounds of ethical issues, namely sexual ethics, social and economic ethics. He said the expansion of other religious cults demands a more Christian behavior of the Catholic priests in society.
He believes that “sooner or later, there will be the need for a constitutional and concordat reform.” “We must be prepared not only to defend, but to propose,” he writes.
Former governor of the Central Bank, Pedro Silverio Alvarez, speculates in his comments in Diario Libre this week, that the Dominican government, by signing with the People’s Republic of China, opens up opportunities for increased trade, financial and cultural exchanges. “Particularly, it is possible that the Dominican government will have access to a new source of financing through the Chinese government that has been very receptive to the financial needs of friendly governments. Such as in the case of Venezuela that over the last decade has received US$50 billion in Chinese financing,” he writes.
Nevertheless, he says the challenge is another. Alvarez says in principle the signing with China is good. “But all will depend on how prepared the country is to take on the challenges that this means, both institutionally and economically,” he writes. From the institutional point of view, Chinese investors tend to be morally more lax in their relations with public officials and, therefore, more prone to bribes, he highlights. He stresses: “If they find fertile land the planting will be copious.”
The Dominican Republic already has a trade deficit with China of around US$2 billion. Alvarez makes the point that from an economic point of view, the low diversification of Dominican exports, in terms of volumes, poses an asymmetry between both economies that can only be addressed with public policies that promote more exportable products and services. Otherwise, he said we could be throwing a hook for another to catch the fish, highlights the former Central Bank manager.
There are 3 reasons why a criminal steals a vehicle, first to sell it by pieces, second to dock, steal and then leave it abandoned and third can be to sell it and take out the profit, it is one of the crimes that most affects the economy of any person or family.
In this excellent report by the extraordinary reporter representing the city heart Lic. Adis Burgos makes clear the different methods used by criminals to steal vehicles regardless of brand or model.
Investing in a gps system also known as, gps tracker, gps for cars, gps for trucks in the Dominican Republic has become a necessity due to the high increase in the theft of motor vehicles. ProGPS has a platform for monitoring and control of assets using gps that provides peace of mind to users. Learn more at www.progps.com.do / plans.
This type of GPS vehicle tracking solutions or GPS satellite tracking have increased in the last 5 years.
Using a gps system gives peace of mind to people to keep their vehicle monitored from anywhere.
ProGPS understands that GPS satellite tracking is a growing technology and for this reason we remain at the forefront, conducting site studies to keep our GPS platform updated according to the requirements of our clients, which represents our greatest pride.
In ProGPS we are a great family, we have created a community concerned about citizen security and the most influential factors that have to do with technology and the lack of control of society. We have developed a plan of talks given in communities in a preventive and free way with different topics of interest.
The Ministry of Industry & Commerce and Small Business (MICM), Police and bamboo-related sectors stand to lose big with the severing of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Several projects were under way with Taiwan cooperation.
Taiwan was financing a US$4 million program for small business. The agreement had been signed by the Ministry of Industry & Commerce and the Fund for Agricultural Development (Feda) and the Embassy of Taiwan in July 2017. The program was being implemented from 2017-2021. Taiwan was contributing US$3 million and the Dominican government US$1 million.
Taiwan also had underway an important project to foster bamboo plantations and industrialization in the country through the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF). A technical mission from Taiwan had visited the recently completed manufacturing center in San Isidro, Bonao (ProBambu). The center was part of efforts to plant, process, design and market bamboo projects.
The National Police under director general Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte also had benefited from police cooperation project to fight transnational crime and improve citizen safety.
The 911 Emergency Program also received major financial boost from Taiwan.
News reports estimated that Taiwan assistance had reached US$169 million, as of August 2017, and helped create 3,000 jobs. The Dominican Republic was the country with the most investment in the Caribbean and Central American region.
An editorial in El Dia observes that the ambassador of Taiwan was told about the ending of relations only one hour before the official announcement. And the notification was made in a city restaurant and not formally by the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
The Association for the Protection of Encuentro Beach and Somos Pueblo, a civic community organization, are leading an appeal to President Danilo Medina to stop actions that are leading to the privatization of the Camino Viejo access to Playa Encuentro on the western side of Cabarete in Puerto Plata on the north coast. For decades, the beach has been a popular meeting point for surfers, kite surfers, wind surfers and beach goers in general.
“We publicly denounce that this natural jewel of our country known as Playa Encuentro has been for years the place of repeated threats of closure by ambitious investors who have gone above Dominican laws supported by influence traffic and abuse of power, prohibiting the public step to this vital artery that contributes enormously to the economy of the tourism sub-pillar and pillar of the self-sustainability of the area,” states the open letter to the President.
In the full page advertisement published in Diario Libre, the association calls for President Medina to intercede with the ministries of Tourism and Environment for the satisfactory resolution of the conflicts for the good of the community, domestic and foreign tourism, sports and the safety and protection of citizens and compliance with Dominican laws.
The signees are requesting that the authorities provide immediate and permanent guarantees for the free access of vehicles to Playa Encuentro by the present Camino Viejo. They also request that the authorities provide safety to the visitors to the Playa Encuentro, ending threats that have put people in danger and affected the wellbeing of the services there offered. They also request that the pertinent authorizes make use of studies that are available so that congress can declare Playa Encentro as a Eco Sports and Touristic Park of the Community of Cabarete and that this be managed by a committee. This would be the spread from the Camino Viejo and the coastal area of 60 square meters.
Assailants robbed four persons, including two recent arrivals and the two persons that had gone to pick them up, at Las Americas International Airport. The robbery took place in the parking area. The victims were identified as Tirso Mota, Alberto Peralta, Elena Miguelina Castillo and Nicole Perez. The robbery took place at around 4pm on Saturday, 29 April 2018. The assailants traveled in a white Toyota Corolla. The authorities have the details of the vehicle. The victims turned in their belongings. The assailants then sped out of the airport, breaking the security barrier.
Aerodom announced the reinforcing of security at the airport with motorized units of the Police now patrolling the parking area. As reported, the assailants had driven around the parking area for around half an hour to identify their would be victims. The parking area is monitored by private security. The case is investigated by the Criminal Investigations Central Division of the Police (Dicrim).
