Archive for October, 2018
The Gallup-Hoy poll carried out 16-21 September 2018, with 1,200 persons polled nation-wide, reveals that 62% of eligible voters say that insecurity in the country is high. Another 16% said security is somewhat of a problem, while 20% feel safe.
The perception of the lack of security was highest among those older than 55 years, and those living in the Greater Santo Domingo and in the north of the country. The poll analysts say the insecurity perception is now felt in rural areas where in the past, residents had not felt particularly threatened by crime.
Compared to last year, 57.6% of those polled said crime was on the rise, and only 10% said it had declined. For 29.3% the situation has remained the same.
Crime and delinquency has been identified as the main problem affecting Dominicans, with 66% giving it the top ranking on the list of problems. This is followed by inflation, the high cost of living, lack of jobs.
The same poll revealed 80% of Dominicans consider actions by the government to confront crime, drug trafficking, administrative corruption and migration have not been effective in its six years.
The Gallup-Hoy poll has a plus or minus margin of error of 2.8%.
Source: DR1, Hoy
Oct 5, 2018
One of those implicated in the fraud committed at Banco Peravia, who reached an agreement with National District prosecutors, has admitted that the bank issued irregular checks to commit fraud, some signed by him, but it was not for themselves but for the executives of the bank.
Pausides Donato Morales, one of the court witnesses, where the case is being tried involving fraud of more than RD$1.4 billion, admitted that he recruited clients for the bank and was the beneficiary of a RD$4 million loan.
Under questioning by National District prosecutor, Rosalba Ramos Castillo, Donato Morales said that he began working for the bank in 2013, following an invitation by José Luis Santoro, one of the main owners.
In the six hearings held so far at the trial only 12 of the prosecution witnesses have been heard out of a total of 179.
According to lawyer Zacarías Payano, who is handling the defense of the accused Yesenia Serret, explained that of those witnesses who had appeared so far, they had all said that those responsible for the irregularities committed at Banco Peravia were José Luis Santoro and Gabriel Jiménez Aray.
Diario Libre reported that none of the 10 originally accused by prosecutors for the Banco Peravia fraud case are in jail.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Oct 5, 2018
Economist Miguel Ceara Hatton warned that the country’s credit could be shut down given the accelerated indebtedness undertaken by the government. He highlighted that borrowing in capital markets is on the rise, and the proportion of interest in the tax revenues is rising, or at least not dropping. He said the country is on a collision route if the indebtedness is not stopped.
“Part of the interest is being paid with new debt, which is almost a Ponzi or a pyramid scheme,” he said. “It is a challenge because the high probability of credit crisis occurring,” he said, during an interview with journalists Addis Burgos and Pablo McKinney of Enfoque Matinal, on CDN TV Channel.
The Medina administration has the record of debt-taking of the governments of Joaquín Balaguer, Antonio Guzmán, Salvador Jorge Blanco, Leonel Fernández.
Source: DR1, Elcaribe
Oct 5, 2018
Authorities of the Ministry of Culture have submitted a request to UNESCO to declare La Isabela as World Heritage. Just past Puerto Plata, next to the town of Luperón, you can still find the remains of the La Isabela settlement.
La Isabela is the first ‘city’ founded by Columbus in the new world. The settlement can therefore be seen as the first city built by Europeans in the new world. Columbus named the new settlement after the Spanish Queen Isabela: ‘La Isabela’. In the 1950s dictator Trujillo ordered that the remains of La Isabela should be restored and made suitable for exhibition. Unfortunately these orders were misunderstood and most of the remains of this first European city in the New World were swept into the sea with a big bulldozer.
If La Isabela is recognized as World Heritage, then the Dominican Republic can count on financial support from UNESCO to restore the heritage in good condition and to keep it that way.
Source: Sosua News
Oct 5, 2018
Spanish telecommunications services provider Eurona has been awarded a license to provide a satellite-based voice and broadband service throughout the Dominican Republic. Eurona said the license awarded by Indotel allows it to install, operate and maintain fixed voice and internet services via satellite for 20 years. Under the terms of the concession, Eurona must launch services within 12 months and will also offer free access to its network via the country’s National Emergency and Security System 911 and backing the government’s “Digital Republic” Wi-Fi initiative.
Source: Telecompaper
Oct 3, 2018
A small businesswoman complained via her social media accounts that the judge at the Labor Court in La Vega handed down a sentence that would force her to pay RD$1,667,995.37 to an employee who earned RD$8,000 per month, and who had worked at the company for just three months and 25 days.
Yeidry Reyes Luciano says that judge Odri Reyes Nuñez disallowed the evidence deposited in the court, including bank deposits, Social Security pay stubs and proof that her employee, Salangy Gertrudis Cruz Gomez worked for her and received a salary of RD$8,000 per month and not the RD$40,000 contained in the complaint filed by lawyers José Miguel Tejada Almonte and Juan Tejada Almonte.
The employee’s defense claimed the firing was unjustified and that furthermore the employee was not paid the proper severance fees nor her vacations.
Nonpayment of this huge fine would imply judicial embargoes on her accounts and her company. Reyes Luciano, very indignant, called upon everyone who had a similar experience or had been sued by these lawyers to get into contact with her.
The case is important because it could set a legal precedent.
https://www.diariolibre.com/noticias…ble-HI10902764
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Oct 3, 2018
According to data included in an Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) report, on average, 72% of inmates in the Dominican Republic jails between 1999 and 2017 had not been tried and convicted but being held in custody on remand. This is significantly higher than the regional average of 44% for the same time period. Out of the 24 countries in the region, the Dominican Republic shared third place with Bolivia with the highest percentages being Paraguay with 78% and Haiti with 79%.
The report says that despite penal reform that is meant to speed up trials, the data suggests that the chronic delays in court proceedings are still increasing. According to the Attorney General’s office as of 31 August 2018, of the 26,286 persons in jail some 60.3% were in preventive custody and the rest had been convicted.
The IDB report, “Better Spending for Better Lives” (Mejor Gasto para Mejores Vidas) highlights three reasons for the overwhelming number of preventive custody decision: either there was sufficient evidence that the accused could cause harm or damage to the community, was a flight risk or would interfere with the investigation. However, the report suggests that many judges in Latin America apply more subjective reasons for remanding custody suspects, rather than using the clear criteria outlined above.
The report also examined the amount of money each country is spending on the police, prisons and he justice system and points out that while nations such as Argentina and Jamaica spend more on the police, Brazil and he Dominican Republic spend more on the Judicial system.
The report concludes that the region should prioritize limited jail space and the imposition of long sentences should be reserved for the serious criminals and that alternative sanctions for the non violent criminals should be considered. If the prison population continued to increase at the current rate of 8% a year, by 2030 there would be nearly 3.4 million in jail in the region, which would cost at least US$3.4 million more than in 2014.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Oct 3, 2018
Following a series of reports published in the Diario Libre regarding human trafficking to and from Haiti, the Haitian government announced a commission would be sent to Santo Domingo to investigate the allegations of a mafia at the consulate. Likewise, the Haitian government announced a temporary suspension of the issuing of passports at the consulate.
Embassy personnel confirmed that an investigation is ongoing after Diario Libre published a four part series of irregularities in people and document flow and the existence of a mafia that trafficked Dominicans to Chile by passing these off as Haitians and for which fake birth certificates and passports were created. The Diario Libre report, “From Hispaniola to Chile: the Mafia of Another American Dream,” showed evidence that pointed to the possible involvement of Haitian diplomats and officials within this network.
The series on Unpunished Traffic also revealed how the trafficking of Haitians continues along the border, often times with the complicity of Dominican immigration and military officials. The series documented serious irregularities among these border agents, including collecting “tolls” to the immigrants. Neither the Ministry of Defense nor the Migration Agency in the Dominican Republic have been available to comment on the finding by the investigative reporters.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Oct 3, 2018
The Dominican Army has begun Operation “Border Fence” as it seeks to reinforce certain critical areas considered vulnerable along the Dominican-Haitian border. The Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Ruben Dario Paulino Sem, said that some 360 soldiers, nearly a battalion, from the Dominican Air Force, Armada, and Army are taking part in the operation. He said the new force is complemented by additional agents sent by the Migration and Customs Agency, and the National Environmental Protection Agency (Senpa), among others.
Army commander, Major General Estanislao Gonell, currently on duty to supervise the border, vulnerable areas are being reinforced with new force.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Oct 3, 2018
