Archive for September, 2018
Unibe University is developing the Green Roof Lab project that proposes the use of rooftops as an environmental sustainable adaptation mechanism for the mitigation of effects of climate change, flooding rains and prolonged drought in the Dominican Republic. The green roofs can replicate a natural environmental and increase water-holding capacity, stabilize micro environments that reduce temperatures. In an urban environment, green roofs have been known to be a sustainable solution to abate urban water runoff quantity, by essentially recycling rainwater, and reducing the heated island effect.
The local green roof initiative was begun in 2012, as part of the National Fund for Innovation and Scientific and Technological Development (Fondocyt) and the efforts of the Unibe University. The project has installed a series of slabs covered by crops that require minimum human intervention. The effects of the green roof technologies on temperature, runoff and other variables are being measured. Engineering and architecture students are participating in the program, as explained by environmental expert Ana Sofia Ovalle, professor at Unibe, who also works as technical advisor at the GIZ German Development Agency in Santo Domingo.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Sep 28, 2018
Speaking during the hearing of then 16-year old teenager Emely Peguero murder case, the 20-year old admitted to his participation in an abortion that turned into involuntary homicide, but at the same time acquitted his mother. He said he and Emely were scared of how the father of Emely would take the pregnancy.
Prosecutors seek a 30-year sentence for Marlon, and a 20-year sentence for complicity for his mother, Marlin Martínez.
What is known is that Peguero went missing on 19 August 2017 in her hometown of Cenoví in Duarte province. Her body was found on 31 August in a suitcase alongside the La Guama road in Cayetano Germosén, Espaillat province. The abortion and murder from a blow, as ascertained in the autopsy, would be committed at the home of Marlon and his mother Marlin Martínez.
The next hearing is scheduled for 4 October 2018.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Sep 28, 2018
A National District judge Jose Alejandro Vargas ordered three months preventive custody to communicator Pablo Ross at Najayo Men’s Jail in San Cristobal. Ross Gómez is accused of sexually molesting his now 16-year old stepdaughter. As reported, when the sexual abuse would begin, the girl was but 12 years old.
Ross was arrested on the afternoon of Thursday, 20 September 2018, and has since been in detention at the Palace of Justice in the Ciudad Nueva, National District.
During the interrogation, his wife has said that he admitted to the abuse of her daughter.
The judge reached his decision after watching the questioning of the girl behind a one-way mirror (Gesell chamber) now available at the Attorney General office. This one-way mirror allows victims of sensitive crimes like interfamily violence, sexual abuse, or sexual assault to give their give their testimony before a court – without the fear, shame, and anxiety of appearing in a courthouse. Also present was the mother of the girl and her biological father.
National District prosecutors say that Ross over a period of four years had sexually abused the teenager. The girl said that Ross insisted that she not tell her mother what was going on. “He was manipulating me because he knew what I had done with my boyfriend,” the girl revealed in the Gesell Chambers interrogation. She said Ross had gotten hold of her cell phone where he found out about her relationship with her boyfriend.
Ross is a well-known communicator and over the last few years has concentrated on political commentary.
A fellow communicator, Milagros Beras, would come forward, and in a “me too” commentary on Friday, 21 September, saying that Ross had sexually harassed her when she was starting her career.
Source: DR1, Elcaribe
Sep 28, 2018
Deputy Carlos Amarante García (Espaillat-PLD), son of former Minister of Interior and Police Carlos Amarante Baret, submitted a bill that would penalize the selling of alcohol on the premises of fuel stations, including their food shops. The bill highlights that drunk driving has caused a high percentage of traffic accidents, resulting in deaths, incapacities and property damage.
The bill establishes that the Ministry of Interior and Police temporarily be empowered to shut down the fuel stations until a final decision is taken by a judge. A specialized alcoholic beverages prosecution service would be created to implement the provisions.
After the passing of the law, fuel stations are given one year to stop the sale of alcoholic beverages from their premises.
http://sil.camaradediputados.gob.do:…umentoId=81480
Source: DR1
A report on people smuggling on the border with Haiti in Diario Libre reveals that for RD$20,000, an undocumented alien can become a Dominican national. The investigative report looked into the lucrative business of influence peddling to secure irregular documentation. “We documented a case of a single man who sought to declare several children, who were all offspring of foreign mothers,” observed Britiga Sabino, in charge of late birth declarations at the JCE. The newspaper reported the case of a Dominican from Pedernales, on the border with Haiti, who is the natural father of two children but in papers has had eight children. He admitted to receiving from RD$8,000 to RD$20,000 for each to different Haitian mothers.
The newspaper reports that fake documentation is being used and that many times low payments or none are received and people just do a favor to a neighbor.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Sep 28, 2018
Early on Sunday morning, there were three earthquakes, including one measuring 5. 2 on the Richter scale on the northwest line from Santiago to Montecristi. They were felt in the Cibao area, and the northwest creating panic and awakening many people.
The National Seismological Center (CNS) at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) reported that the first measured 4.3, at 1:35am with its epicenter in Guayubín that is on the road from Santiago to Montecristi, past Esperanza. The second was a 5.1 at 1:45 in the morning in Villa Vásquez, also in Montecristi.
The third was a 4.3 at 3:23 in the morning also in Guayubín, according to the Dominican earthquake center.
The shakes would continue, with a replica at 3:23am with intensity of 4.1. Others would happen in the area but with intensities that are hard to be felt.
The Center of Emergency Operations (COE) reported that the shake was felt best in Montecristi, Valverde (Mao), Monseñor Nouel (Bonao), La Vega, Santiago and Puerto Plata. It caused minor cracks in hospital, schools and homes in the area.
The authorities have so far reported damage to the municipal hospital of Villa Vasquez, and ten schools while no injuries to people or deaths were reported. The damaged schools are the Juan de Jesús Reyes high school and the schools of Graciela Reyes Tineo, El Motocros, Juan de Jesús Reyes, Pericles Bienvenido Diana, Paul Harris and Juan Isidro Pérez all in the same area.
In the municipal district of Jicomé the primary school was damaged and in the municipal district of El Palo the Damajagua primary school was damaged and in the municipal district of Cana Chapetón, there was damages to the public high school.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Sep 28, 2018
UPDATE: Ministry of Education orders quick repair of schools affected by earthquake
Education Minister, architect Andres Navarro was in the northwest on Monday to review damages suffered by public schools in the area after a 5.2 Richter scale earthquake was felt. It is reported that public schools in Valverde, Santiago, Montecristi were affected by the earthquake.
Navarro ordered the immediate repair and conditioning of the affected schools to guarantee the safety of the students. She assured that the swift repairs would be done to prevent the disruption of classes.
The Ministry of Education said that six schools suffered structural damages, with severe damage suffered at the Escuela Publica Buen Hombre in Montecristi. Others affected are the Liceo Luis José Antoine, in Guayubín; Escuela Básica in Villa Elisa; Escuela Multigrado Innovada, in Agua de Palma, the three public schools in San Fernando de Montecristi; the Graciela Reyes Tineo primary school in Valverde, and the Escuela Básica Ginamagoa Arriba, in Santiago.
El Dia featured an editorial where it calls for better supervision of school construction by the Ministry of Education.
Source: Hoy
Twenty years ago last Saturday, 22 September 2018, the Dominican Republic, especially the East and South, was devastated by Hurricane Georges. Reporters of Diario Libre interviewed several people about their recollections of this hurricane that killed nearly 300 people and caused severe damage to the country’s economy, farming and the nation’s infrastructure including bridges, houses, schools, streets and avenues.
Paola Sanchez, was 13 years old and living in the town of Tamayo, in Bahoruco province in the Deep South. This area was practically buried by the mud carried in the runoff of the rains and took months to get back on its feet. Paola told the reporters that “where ever there was a roof, there were people.”
She went on to say: “We knew a hurricane was coming, but we were very poorly informed. We didn’t expect that the impact would be that strong. I was frightened when it got so dark and it was only two in the afternoon when it began to rain. I remember that the rain never stopped. About 10 the next morning, the rumors were that the dam above the town was overflowing and they were going to have to open the floodgates to relieve the pressure and nobody knew if this was real. But when a lot of people came running from up the river we realized that they were really going to open those floodgates and it happened so fast that when the water began to flow and I crossed the street from my house to a building called La Torre, which is four stories tall, the water almost took me away as I crossed the street.
“I was the only one in my house across the street because they didn’t want to leave my grandmother alone and she said she wasn’t going to leave her house. And when I went upstairs and just a question of minutes the town began to be flooded at a speed that no one could believe. My grandmother was taken out of the house in a chair that they put on a table, and when they couldn’t continue in this way because the water was reaching her, they went into the backyard where they were building a bathroom, as small concrete surface with a small roof and there were like 15 persons including my grandmother, my father and my uncles on top that roof. This little building was the only safe roof that they could reach quickly.
“It never stopped raining. They were there for hours, we’re talking about like from 6 o’clock in the afternoon. All night they were there getting wet in the rain. From the fourth floor of the building across the street I could see the entire town, there were no tall constructions, I was in the tallest one. There were people in the trees. In the park there is a bandstand and there were people on top of it and on top of any roof that was made of concrete.”
In other areas, such as La Romana, the Casa de Campo Hotel many villas lost roofs, and the destruction in San Pedro de Macoris was huge.
Source: DR1, DiartioLibre
Sep 28, 2018
Truckers from the National Federation of Dominican Transportation (Fenatrado) said truckers would continue to take the detour around the tollbooths on the Santo Domingo Beltway between the Autopista Duarte and the 6 November Highway. Ricardo de los Santos, the Fenatrado president, criticized as too expensive the tolls truckers have to pay on the beltway. He criticized the “backward thinking” of the government. De los Santos said: “In the big cities around the world, beltways are built to relieve traffic in busy city centers. But here they are built to raise money for the government. We have asked the Ministry of Public Works to review and lower the cost of the tolls on these roads. Regrettably accidents are going to continue happening,” he said. He told reporters Fenatrado truckers would continue to use the detours.
A trucker recently killed two students when passing through a small town when taking the detour. Diario Libre published the photo of the detour that is 7.5 kms long, while the beltway distance is only 3.5 km long and takes 17 minutes less than going by way of the detour. The use of the beltway costs the trucks RD$358.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Sep 28, 2018
SANTO DOMINGO.- The 5.1-magnitude earthquake that was felt early Sunday morning in the north and northwest of the Dominican Republic, and which had its epicenter 12.9 kilometers from Villa Vásquez, in Montecristi (northwest), caused damage to a hospital and ten schools in the area, reported the Emergency Operations Center (COE).
The earthquake, preceded by a tremor of 4.3 degrees on the open Richter scale, and followed by twelve replicas of between 2.5 and 4.1 degrees, caused cracks at the Municipal Hospital of Villa Vásquez, as well as 10 schools of Montecristi and Valverde province, also in the northwest, according to the COE.
The earthquake occurred at 1.45 local time (5.45 GMT) and was felt mainly in the provinces of Montecristi, Valverde, as well as in Bonao, La Vega, Santiago and Puerto Plata.
The report indicates that as soon as the movement occurred, the COE activated its operations, planning and communication divisions and the first response institutions were instructed to proceed with the evaluation of the infrastructures in the impacted area, to identify probable damages and establish the needs.
Source: Detras del Rumor
Sep 24, 2018
A wedding is one of the most important celebrations in the life of any couple in love. I want this holiday to be perfect, leaving a lot of bright and unforgettable memories. Many newlyweds today prefer to hold a wedding ceremony in exotic countries. The best option is a wedding ceremony in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican is often called a paradise. This is an ideal place for lovers who want to enjoy romance, peace and quiet, as much as possible to give each other. And this dream can become a reality. Many agencies are engaged in organizing wedding ceremonies on the various islands of the Dominican Republic.
The choice and wishes for the organization depends on the wishes of the customers. You can order a wedding in retro style, in pirate style. Very popular are the classical ceremonies on the background of white beaches, the blue Caribbean Sea, beautiful landscapes.
Choosing a place for the ceremony
This is one of the most important decisions. The modern Dominican Republic is represented by a huge number of individual islands and beaches. You can find untouched places, where the beauty of nature is breathtaking.
Most often the newlyweds choose the following places for the wedding:
- the Macau beach;
- private beach “Cabeza De Toro”;
- the island of Saona;
- beach complex “Cap-Cana”.
After the ceremony, lovers can go on a sailing yacht tour of the Caribbean Sea or the ocean. Sufficiently popular among lovers are various sightseeing routes. For example, this is the republica.pro is ready to organize and conduct individual excursions at the highest level. They are designed taking into account the wishes and requests of tourists who want to get acquainted with local attractions. Visit the most beautiful places of the Dominican Republic, it is better to get acquainted with local color, traditions and customs.
If you already have experience of visiting the country, then you can plan an entertainment program yourself. Less experienced travelers should fully trust the tour operators in the Dominican Republic. They will take on the solution of all organizational issues, which will eliminate many problems. The rest will be perfect, leaving a lot of bright and unforgettable memories in your memory.
Publisher: Republica Pro
