Archive for July, 2019
PUERTO PLATA.- Four sea turtles that were in captivity inside a pool in a businessman’s house, were released in Playa Grande of the municipality of Luperón.
These animals were rescued from captivity by park rangers and workers attached to the protected area Luperón Bay Wildlife Refuge, which Pablo Rodríguez manages.
After confirming the welfare state of these species that belong to the family of chelonioideos (Chelonioidea), they were released in open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sea turtles are protected by national and international laws because these reptiles are in danger of extinction.
It was specified that the four sea turtles were released in the presence of the provincial director of the Environment in Puerto Plata, Danilo Morrobel, and the president of the City Council of Luperón, Douglas Pichardo.
Source: Puerto Plata Digital
July 27, 2019
More money is now needed to buy some essential food products. According to Antonio Cruz Rojas, executive vice president and secretary-general of the National Board of Shopkeepers and Businesses in the Dominican Republic (Conacerd), several goods are now more costly. Among these is the 125-lb sack of brown sugar, which has increased by RD$300 to RD$2,700, and white sugar, which has risen by RD$250. Garlic is up by RD$40 a pound to RD$150. Factor in an additional 20-25% as these are wholesale prices.
Cruz Rojas said that he thinks that the increases are due to the depreciation of the peso to the US dollar. The peso is now at RD$50.96 to the dollar. Prices for beans, onions, potatoes, rice and spaghetti have all increased as well along with powdered milk, oil, soda, corn, peas, cigarettes and rum.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
July 25, 2019
Authorities in Puerto Plata arrested John David McAfee, his wife and four people that accompanied them, early this week. They were on board the yacht, “The Great Mystery” that docked at the Ocean World Marina in Cofresí. They carried several high caliber weapons and thousands of US dollars. With McAfee was his wife Elizabeth McAfee (Janice), UK citizen Richard Alan Gibson, German Robert Whitfield, Bahamian Oral Thompson, Haitian Vasner and dog Axel. Reports are that they arrived from the Hemingway Marina in Havana, Cuba.
The 73-year old McAfee is best known for developing the McAfee antivirus software in the 1980s and for helping to pioneer instant-messaging in the 1990s. McAfee is a British-US citizen. He has been on the run living in Cuba, Bahamas and Belize. As reported, US federal law enforcement agents were on his trail for tax evasion and other allegations.
McAfee was accused by Belize authorities to be the lead suspect in the murder of his neighbor in Belize, Gregory Faull.
Cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee has said he fears for his life and is on the run after claiming the US government is out to get him. As reported in El Dia, McAfee had threatened in a Tweet in June 2019 that if he is arrested more than 31 terabytes of incriminatory data would be leaked with names and details on acts of corruption of US government related to foreign governments.
In a latter development, Diario Libre reported that McAfee was released. This was confirmed on McAfee’s Twitter account. He said the Dominican authorities treated him well. Puerto Plata prosecutor Osvaldo Bonilla told Diario Libre the case was directly handled by the Attorney General Office in the National District.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
July 25, 2019
The Ministry of Education reports that 73.86% of the 33,069 teachers that took the academic level test required to work in public schools failed. This was the Academic Orientation and Measurement Test (Prueba de Orientación y Medición Académica – POMA). Only 8,643 met the minimum requirements for the jobs.
Those who failed protested outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Education asking for a second chance to pass and qualify for the jobs.
Of 3,379 who sat for the test in Greater Santo Domingo, only 857 passed. In Santiago 822 passed of 2,539 teachers taking the test. In San Pedro de Macorís, 785 of 2,324 applicants passed.
On 24 June 2019, the president of the Dominican Association of Public School Teachers (ADP), Xiomara Guante, denounced that the job contests for teachers were not designed for Dominican education professionals. She asked that the Minister of Education take charge. In five of the regions where the test was applied, 100% of the participants had failed the exam.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
July 25, 2019
The governor of Puerto Rico became the first Puerto Rican governor to resign. He announced on 24 July 2019 his resignation is effective as of 2 August. He responded to the pressure exercised by the media and the local artists who joined the original protestors who demanded the resignation of Roselló.
There had been speculation in local news media that embattled Puerto Rican governor Ricardo Roselló had already traveled to the Dominican Republic the day before.
More than ten days of massive protests have demanded that Rosello step down from government in Puerto Rico.
When FoxTV interviewed Roselló earlier this week, he spoke of his intention to deal with the issues and not resign. On Fox TV Roselló said he apologized for the comments on the chat and said he would not run for a second term. He sought time to work beyond politics to fix the problems and make things better in Puerto Rico.
Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez is expected to be acting governor until the 2020 elections, according to El Nuevo Día newspaper in Puerto Rico. The second in command in government in Puerto Rico is the secretary of state. But he resigned days ago for his possible role in the series of scandals that have Puerto Rico in political chaos.
Protests in Puerto Rico escalated after the release of an around 900-page list of WhatsApp messages (RickyGate). These showed Roselló and his inner circle ridiculing political rivals with violent, homophobic and sexist language and making fun of Hurricane Maria casualties.
Ricardo Roselló is 40 years old and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in chemical engineering. He is the son of former Puerto Rico governor Pedro Roselló.
Source: DR1, Elnuevodia
July 25, 2019
The National Beer Brewery (Cervecería Nacional Dominicana), announced it will recycle all its plastic beverage bottles. Recicla 100+ will recycle bottles used for malt, water, energizing drinks, soft drinks and others produced by the company.
Franklin León, president of the CND, announced that for more than 30 years the company has successfully carried out a similar program with glass bottles that are collected at 550 recycling centers nationwide. These soon will be incorporated into the plastic bottle collection program. Bottles from any company product will be received at the centers. The company estimates some 580 million lbs of plastic waste is generated every year in the Dominican Republic.
The director general for the Caribbean and Central America for AB InBev, owner of the CND, Luciano Carrillo said that the program is part of the overall “Sostenibilidad 100+” company program. He said the company is working so that by 2025 their packaging uses recycled materials.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
July 25, 2019
Malaria cases have increased this year, with 281 cases so far in 2019. This is 115 more than over the same time period last year, for a 68% increase. From those cases identified, there have been two deaths according to official records.
According to the epidemiological report for week 26, there were 10 cases notified, coming from the National District, Santo Domingo West and East, Los Alcarrizos and Santo Domingo North.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
July 25, 2019
The Tax Agency (DGII) says the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) entered into effect as of Wednesday, 17 July 2019. The agreement seeks to improve international tax compliance between the governments of the US and Dominican Republic.
FATCA is the US law intended to bring unreported foreign income and overseas assets under compliance by the US tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The law is primarily implemented through bilateral agreements, such as the one concluded with the Dominican Republic in 2016 and ratified by the Dominican Congress.
The agreement regulates the exchange of information via an automated system of accounts reportable between the United States and the Dominican Republic. Dominican financial institutions need to identify persons and companies from the United States to send pertinent information to the IRS, including the movement of money, accounts, income and other operations. At the same time, the United States should send to the Dominican Republic information about the US accounts held by residents of the Dominican Republic.
The Ministry of Hacienda has delegated in the director-general of the DGII, Magin Díaz, the application of these measures to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal fraud. The DGII says training workshops will be offered to assist the financial institutions in complying with the new measures.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
July 25, 2019
With a year to end his term, President Danilo Medina announced at 9pm on Monday, 22 July 2019 that he would not run for President in 2020. He would not push for constitutional reform to change the transitory clause that impedes him from being the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) candidate in the 2020 general elections. Medina kept the country on edge for months, with his followers repeatedly announcing the National Assembly for Constitution Revision would be convened. It didn’t happen.
While Medina followers dominate in the political and central committees that control the ruling PLD, manage the National Budget and the Supreme Court, it is apparent now that they did not have the votes in the Chamber of Deputies to reverse the ban that would allow him to seek a new term in office. In his ambition to continue in power, Medina met with strong opposition from the president of the PLD party, former President Leonel Fernández.
For over a year, most polls have shown that a majority of Dominicans reject constitutional reform. A July Asisa Research poll shows 77% rejection to constitutional reform. Likewise, opposition has escalated and protest marches are gathering followers.
“When I reach the end of my second term and leave the Presidency, I want to go out on the streets and walk like another citizen,” said Medina. He advocated that the PLD campaign inject new blood into Dominican politics. “I, therefore, trust that we will witness a clean campaign based on proposals and that injects new blood into political life,” said Medina. The President called for business people to trust the economy and maintain stability.
This is the last week of the legislature. An article in Diario Libre makes the point that the intense political activism affected the legislature. Three days before the closing of the legislature, only four bills had been passed, despite a long list of priority bills.
The deadline for the registration of candidates with the Central Electoral Board (JCE) is 22 August 2019.
Source: DR1, Eldia
July 25, 2019
Data published by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) reveals that new HIV cases in the country have decreased compared to previous years. The report also shows a decrease in deaths from AIDS, a slight increase in those currently living with HIV, and an increase in people who have coverage while receiving treatment for the virus.
During 2018, UNAIDS in its reports on the Dominican Republic, highlights that the number of new infections (all ages) fell from an estimated 2,800 people to 2,700 compared to 2017.
With respect to Dominicans currently living with HIV (all ages), the number of people increased over the previous year, by an estimated 69,000 to 70,000.
Deaths annually have maintained a steady decline in statistics since 2004, when the point was at its highest, with an estimated 5,900 people, decreasing progressively to 1,200 in 2018.
A total of 38,952 individuals, including children and adults are receiving treatment. These numbers place the Dominican Republic as one of the countries of Latin America with greater “progress” in the continent.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
July 25, 2019
