Archive for February, 2019
Cabarete, Puerto Plata kitesurfer, Deury Corniel won trophy and the RD$1 million cash prize for Best Athlete of the Year. The Dominican Olympic Committee, presided by Luisín Mejía, recognized the relevance of his winning gold in the Youth Olympics held in October 2018 in Argentina. Corniel competed in the Sailing Men’s Kiteboarding IKA Twin Tip of the Youth Olympics in Argentina. He attributed his win to “training a lot.” Corniel lives and trains in Cabarete Beach, Puerto Plata.
The awards ceremony this year took place at the Jaragua Renaissance Hotel.
Others winning Best Athlete of the Year were:
Archery: Anny Stefany Jerez
Athletics: Luguelín Santos
Badminton: César Brito
Baseball: Manuel Beltré Rivas
Basketball: Víctor Liz
Bowling: Rolando Antonio Sebelén
Boxing: Rodrigo Marte
Canoeing: Cristian Guerrero
Chess: Jennifer Almánzar
Cycling: Augusto Sánchez Beriguete
Equestrian: Yvonne Losos de Muñiz
Fencing: Rossy Félix
Field tennis: Roberto Cid
Football: Edipo Rodríguez
Golf: Yael Eun Kim
Gymnastics: Audrys Nin Reyes
Handball: Jorge Manzanillo
Hockey: Albania Marte
Judo: Medickson del Orbe
Karate: María Dimitrova
Modern Pentathlon: Brayan Almonte
Racquetball: Merynaely Delgado
Sailing: Deury Corniel
Shooting: Josué Hernández
Skating: Micaela Marcelilom Arias
Skeet: Julio Elizardo Dujarric
Softball: Geancarlos González Díaz
Swimming: Krystal Denise Lara
Taekwondo: Bernardo Pie
Table tennis: Emil Jesús Santos
Triathlon: Camila Romero
Volleyball: Priscilla Rivera
Weightlifting: Crismey Santana
Wrestling: Juan Ramírez
Wushu: Fernando Torres
ParaOlympics: Carlos Manuel Reynoso
Sports Medicine: Víctor Figueroa
The Dominican Olympic Committee also delivered special merit medals to athletes with outstanding performances in international and national competitions. These were delivered by Dominican Olympic medal-winners Félix Sánchez, Félix Manuel Díaz, Gabriel Mercedes, Luisito Pie among others. Those honored were tennis player Víctor Estrella, equestrian athlete Yvonne Losos de Muñiz; swimmer Denzel González; cyclist Ruth Santana; kitesurfer Deury Corniel and judo athlete Antonio Tornal.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Feb 23, 2019
The Executive Branch has enacted Law 16-19 that prohibits the use of the hookah in both public and private enclosed structures. Article 3 of the law prohibits the use of hookah in closed or open structures as well as in passenger transport vehicles.
The law establishes that the owners of such places can be fined between five and 15 minimum salaries if they allow the use of the hookah in their establishments or vehicles.
The law also permits authorities to confiscate and destroy the hookah and its components.
The law was written by Deputy Miladys Núñez (PLD-Duarte) for public health reasons.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Feb 23, 2019
The Santo Domingo Cyber Park and the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) have signed an agreement whereby drones will be used to supervise public works construction. Miguel Coronado for the IDB and Eddy Martinez for the Parque Cibernético de Santo Domingo signed the agreement on 19 February 2019. The agreement seeks to develop technical capacities in small and medium-sized enterprises, and encourage entrepreneurs to take advantage of robotics and communication technologies in infrastructure projects. The drone program will train staff in data capture, data processing and the use of specialized software to process the data captured by the little aircraft.
Eddy Martínez, of the Santo Domingo Cyber Park, said the IDB project would be run simultaneously in the Dominican Republic, Panama and Bolivia, lasting for 36 months at a cost of US$1,709,250, with a US$1,180,900 technical assistance grant provided by the IDB Lab. The remaining US$528,350 will be raised by a public-private partnership.
Martínez says the program seeks to promote the use of technology to increase business productivity, stimulate innovation within companies and at the same time, generate technological capabilities that allow access to new jobs with a greater added value.
On his behalf, Miguel Coronado, representative of the IDB Group revealed that the project is the first to be developed in Latin America. It seeks to change substantially the way in which the supervision of works in the region is carried out, with four primary objectives: the reduction of costs related to supervision, optimizing the analysis and calculation of civil works, minimizing errors during execution and improving the workforce with a higher level of technical ability.
Source: DR1, Acento
Feb 23, 2019
The Ministry of Public Works announced the expansion of the highway linking the northern provinces of Puerto Plata and María Trinidad Sánchez to the east. Vice Minister Ramón Pepín made the announcement as he broke ground for the start of the construction, together with the provincial governor, the Bishop of Puerto Plata, Iván Rivera and Monsignor Julio César Cornielle, among others.
Pepin said that work would be done simultaneously in Sosua and at the eastern end of the highway in Nagua. The project covers 92 kilometers of roadway.
The Ministry of Public Works is also currently working to expand and improve the roads that connect Navarrete and Luperón with Puerto Plata city.
Source: DR1, Elnacional
Feb 23, 2019
Media reports that the eldest son of Haitian President Jovenel Moise and his daughter, are now in the Dominican Republic while violent protests continue in Haiti. The protestors want Moise to resign.
Reportedly, son Joverlein Moise, 27, crossed the border with Jimaní at around 9am on Saturday, 16 February 2019 with his personal security. At the border he received Dominican military protection from the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (Cesfront) as he passed through the military checkpoints in the border area. He was headed for Santo Domingo.
Listin Diario reported that a daughter of President Moise had previously flown to Santo Domingo entering by way of the La Isabela International Airport.
The press reports that after more than a week of violent clashes in most parts of Haiti, President Jovenel Moise called for a dialogue. The violence has claimed at least nine lives. In a message broadcast to the nation, Moise, who has just finished two years of his term, said that he was going to reestablish peace and stability.
At the same time the United States announced that it was withdrawing all “non-essential” personnel and warned US citizens not to travel to Haiti. A US State Department note refers to widespread demonstrations that are violent and unpredictable in Port-au-Prince and other parts of Haiti. Due to these demonstrations, on 14 February the US State Department ordered the exit of all non-essential personnel and their families.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has closed their embassy in the Haitian capital at a time when some 100 Canadian tourists from Quebec are stranded and cannot get out of the country. The Foreign Ministry said in a press communiqué: “We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days in order to guarantee the safety of our diplomats and their families.” Transat, the tour company that is responsible for the tourists from Quebec, said that it was not safe enough to transfer the nearly 100 tourists to the airport in Port Au Prince.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations reported that the Dominican Embassy in Haiti is open. Ambassador Alberto Despradel continues to monitor the situation for the Dominican government. Additional army patrols have been sent to the border.
Listín Diario reports that the Maria Montez International Airport in Barahona has been readied to receive emergency flights from Haiti at any time. Air travel distance to the airport from Port-au-Prince is around 84 miles, around 150 km by road. Border provinces fuel stations have been militarized.
Source: DR1, Loophaiti
Feb 23, 2019
Police reported that at least 49 persons were injured on 17 February 2019 when the driver of a bus serving the San José de las Matas-Santiago route lost control of the bus. He skid on a curve and the bus turned over in Hoya Bellaca, Guajaca. Passengers that were interviewed say the unnamed driver was speeding and did not heed to passenger requests to slow down.
The accident occurred at 6pm. The bus was carrying residents who had been their Sunday in San José de las Matas river recreation centers. The injured were assisted by the Police, the Red Cross and the 911 System and the San José de las Matas firemen and were taken to the José María Cabral y Báez public hospital in Santiago.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Feb 23, 2019
The fire erupted Thursday, 14 February 2019 around 11am at the Puerto Plata city Brugal warehouse located on the Puerto Plata-Cofresí highway. The blaze was under control late on Friday, 15 February 2019. It took more than a day for firemen to control the flames that engulfed several barrels of precious aging rum at the Brugal & Co. warehouse. As reported, two Air Force helicopters were used to drop seawater on the fire. Firefighters and equipment from as far away as Santiago and La Vega were sent to help the Puerto Plata firemen. Nine firemen suffered burns and respiratory problems.
The director of the Center for Emergency Operations (COE), General Juan Manuel Méndez traveled to Puerto Plata to help with the coordination efforts. Civil Defense, the 911 Emergency System, Army, and Traffic Agency (Digesett) were on site to also participate in the efforts and assist with traffic in the affected area.
The president of Casa Brugal, Augusto Ramírez thanked government and community for the support. He told reporters that all of the employees were evacuated safely. He said that losses were going to be in the millions. He said that at the time of the fire, there were some 17,000 barrels of rum on site undergoing the aging process.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Feb 23, 2019
The Central Bank announces that as of Friday, 15 February 2019 new RD$10 coins and new RD$50.00 bills will co-exist with currency already in circulation.
The Central Bank explains that the RD$10 coin, year 2017, will show the inscription “Dominican Pesos” under the national coat of arms, in compliance with the constitutional mandate that indicates that the national monetary unit is the Dominican Peso.
Likewise, the RD$50 bill, 2017 series, will contain the new logo for the Central Bank, accompanied by the value of the denomination in numerical characters, printed in violet lithography. This change is made in compliance with the mandate of the Monetary Board, which authorized the incorporation, beginning in 2017, of the new symbol of institutional visual identity in all denominations of banknotes.
https://www.bancentral.gov.do/a/d/42…lete-de-rd5000
Source: DR1, Bancentral
Feb 17, 2019
The National AIDS/HIV Council (Conavihsida) and ProFamilia non-governmental organization announced the start of a project to install 400 condom-dispensing machines in shopping malls and universities to prevent sexually transmissible diseases, non-planned pregnancies and AIDS/HIV. The program calls for the placement of 15 million quality condoms in those machines for sale at below market prices.
The target market are youths ages 15 to 19 years in the National District, Santo Domingo, Santiago, Duarte, San Juan and Barahona, San Pedro de Macoris and La Altagracia provinces.
The executive director of Conavihsida, Víctor Terrero said that the focus is on prevention. He said: “In the past three months, 53% of the population with university studies has had a high risk relationship. Of those, 62% were women in a first relationship with their boyfriends and 31% with friends. And 50.8% were men in a first relationship with their girlfriends.”
The program will last for three years. Conavihsida will be donating in the first year, 35 condom dispensing machines, 85 in the second year and 150 in the third. Profamilia will purchase 130 of the same machines for incorporating in the program, for the total of 400 machines. The program ahs an estimated cost of US$149,000.
Magaly Caram, executive director of Profamilia, expects the program to have a positive impact on the sexual and reproductive health of university students.
Source: DR1, Acento
Feb 17, 2019
26-year old rapper Cardi B (Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) won her first Grammy Award on Sunday, 10 February 2019 and became the first solo woman to win a Grammy for a rap album. She won the best rap album award for “Invasion of Privacy” during the 61st Grammy Awards. “It was very long nights,” she said about making her album while pregnant with her daughter, Kulture Kiari.
Receiving the award, she thanked artists that had collaborated with her including J Balvin, Kehlani, Bad Bunny and the Migos. Cardi B in 2017 had earned her first two Grammy nominations at the 60th Grammy Awards.
Cardi B was born and raised in The Bronx, New York and her biography says she spent a lot of time with her Dominican grandmother in neighboring Washington Heights. She is the daughter of a Trinidadian mother and Dominican father. She became an Internet celebrity after several of her posts and videos went viral on Vine and Instagram.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Feb 17, 2019
