Archive for May, 2020
General director of Dominican Airports XXI Century (Aerodom), Mónika Infante, assured that in the first quarter air traffic has fallen, airports in Latin America and the Caribbean have lost around US $ 700 million and some 430,000 employees have been laid off their work as a consequence of the covid-19 pandemic.
“The airports in the region are maintained with totally depressed traffic, although cargo operations are maintained, revenues have been suppressed for this period,” said Infante during her participation in the “Let’s talk about tourism” program, broadcast on YouTube and produced by Miguel Calzada León.
He assured that of the six airports in the country, there are two that are fully closed, two that are maintained for authorized operations, which are the one in Samaná and Puerto Plata, and two in Santo Domingo that operate at full capacity, but with little traffic.
He affirmed that a bigger picture will be difficult to predict, since there will be several months without income for the airports, however the fixed expenses remain.
“But we are confident that all this will happen and we will be able to return to normal when the authorities authorize it and the borders are opened under the new rules, traffic will return to the same levels as last year,” he added.
Infante said that in the first stage, airports will be taking measures to protect both passengers and employees.
She stressed that the measures for reopening have been strengthened, such as the use of masks for passengers and employees, distance in the lines, more hygiene in security checks.
In addition, the luggage will be subjected to a special cleaning and the screening of passengers to enter the plane will be done in a more organized way.
Infante pointed out that Las Américas International Airport and La Isabela International Airport, which continue to operate, and will be the first to reactivate, due to its mixed traffic.
“The airlines that are ready to start operating as soon as the measures are lifted by the authorities, to have a traffic that will grow gradually, until normalizing. Several airlines, especially those in the United States, have flights scheduled for the beginning of June and are selling them through their platforms, “he specified.
She argued that airports that are more dependent on tourism will require a little more time to reactivate and normalize, since they depend on the work of selling the destination and the packages of the tour operators.
“In the case of the airports of Puerto Plata and Samaná they will be reactivated closer to the end of the year or beginning of 2021, although they will be available for whatever is required,” she said.
Role of the authorities
The CEO of Aerodom explained that the Dominican authorities, especially the General Directorate of Migration and the Ministry of Public Health, play a fundamental role in preventing the spread of the virus when tourists arrive.
“Regarding the measures that will be taken when a passenger enters the country, if they are going to do a temperature check or are going to be isolated somewhere for some type of examination, which is foreign to the role of the operator airport ”, he explained.
Shee stated that the authorities are in charge of taking measures with people who present symptoms and methods used to identify those infected.
Infante pointed out that Aerodom will guarantee the spaces so that the authorities can do their task. In addition, the institution will be in charge of cleaning the facilities and the information that passengers need in a terminal to act with safety.
She assured that it is important to see the measures taken by international airports to be able to apply them in the Dominican Republic.
Source: El Dinero
May 24, 2020
PUERTO PLATA.-The construction company Ingeniería Estrella, contractor of the Gregorio Luperón tourist highway that connects Santiago-Puerto Plata, quickly restarted the reconstruction and asphalting works of the road, which had been required by more than 30 communities for more than 20 years.
After more than a year of work being paralyzed, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) last month ordered to restart the reconstruction of the highway.
Heavy equipment of the company is observed working in the section of the municipal district Yásica Arriba to Gran Parada of this province Puerto Plata, in the completion of the concrete gutters.
While, other brigades place a second asphalt layer from Yásica to the section of the Pedro García municipal district, belonging to the Santiago province.
One of the engineers told Elatlántico.do that the tourist highway must be completed before August 16, as promised by President Danilo Medina during his speech on February 27 in his accountability to the National Assembly.
The union of drivers of Yásica-Santiago and Yásica Puerto Plata welcomed the restart of work, and hopes to have a safe road and excellent condition in its 60 kilometers in the shortest possible time.
Likewise, the Committee for the Pro Construction of the Tourist Highway, cheered by community leaders Norberto Martínez and Roberto Domíguez. They were satisfied because now the “work goes fast.”
Others who belong to the committee are the mayors of the municipal districts of Yásica Arriba and Pedro García, Fabio Marte and Jeudit Rodríguez; the president of the Yásica Drivers Union, José Oscar Rojas; Union of Drivers from Pedro García to Santiago, presidents of neighborhood councils, merchants, ranchers.
Also the director of Elatlantico.do, journalist Juan Enrique Tavárez, a native of Yásica, who in the disappeared newspaper 7dias.com.do gave good coverage to the claims, as well as managed publications in other media for the Government to begin the reconstruction of the attractive path.
It is recalled that since the end of 2016, the communities located on the road that runs along the Northern Cordillera started days of peaceful protests demanding that their claims be addressed.
The fight included visits to the National Congress of delegations, business, union and community of Puerto Plata, to the governments of Santiago and Puerto Plata, as well as to the media.
Among the communities that are on the route of the Gregorio Luperón tourist highway and that will be benefited are La Cumbre de Juan Veras, Palo Quemado, La Cumbre, El Llano, Pedro García, Lajas, Arenoso, Tinajita, Yaroa, Sonador, El 30, Gurabito de Yaroa, Yaroa Abajo, La Piragua.
Equally Yásica Up, Yásica Down, Los Mellizo, Yasiquita, La Quintina, El Mango, El Capaz, Tubagua, El 20, Palo Blanco, Arroyo de Leche, La U, El Capaz, Camú, among others.
Since the Yásica-Santiago sections were paved, dozens of handcraft businesses, fruit and dairy vendors, and dairy products, the grocery stores have been relieved, because their sales have increased with a greater flow of traffic.
Thousands of citizens prefer to travel on the Gregorio Luperón tourist road due to the fresh air, nice scenery along the way.
Source: diariopuertoplateno
May 24, 2020
The National Council of Education, headed by Minister Antonio Peña Mirabal, approved that the 2019-2020 school year will end on the date established by the school calendar that is 19 June, with the passing of students with grades of 70% in high school and 65% in elementary. Classes in the Dominican Republic ended on 12 March when the schools were conditioned as voting places for the 15 March municipal election. Nevertheless, they never reopened and classes instead resuming only online after the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic.
The National Council of Education determined during the Wednesday, 20 May 2020 meeting, that the new school year will begin on Monday, 24 August 2020. Students that did have passing grades will have the opportunity to attend remedial classes from 1 to 19 August. Students that do not meet teacher requirements may need to undertake additional lessons at the start of the next school year. All these dates are subject to changes due to the evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic in the Dominican Republic.
The National Council of Education decided students would be required to take the Standardized National Tests, now during the first week of September 2020. They had been scheduled for 12-19 July. . The tests are a requirement for students to register in universities. The Minister said that arrangements would be made to not affect student enrollment.
The Ministry says that a technical commission will evaluate all measures.
Source: DR1, Ministry of Education
May 24, 2020
Thousands in the Dominican Republic are complaining about the increases in electricity bills during the Covid-19 quarantine. The former director of the Consumer Protection Agency (Proconsumidor), Altagracia Paulino, characterized the bills as “abusive.” She said that the Superintendency of Electricity (Protecom) and the Dominican government need to review the formula used to measure electricity consumption in homes and businesses in March and April.
She said many closed businesses are finding themselves with high electricity bills. The complaints are primarily from customers of the government utilities Eedesur, Edenorte and Ede Este.
Paulino is now the director of the National Observatory for Consumer Protection (ONPECO). She said that affected users should not pay the excessive invoices issued by the power distribution companies (EDEs). She said the increases are unjustified and violate Art. 68 of the Constitution. Art. 68 guarantees citizens’ rights through defense and protection mechanisms. She also said that citizens can also fight their cases based on Law 21-18 on states of exception and Law 358-05 on consumer rights. She said that Electricity Law 125-01 prohibits charging for power not served or not consumed.
Read more in Spanish:
Onpeco
Source: DR1, Onpeco
May 24, 2020
“Rafaela” directed by Tito Rodríguez and starring Judith Rodríguez won the Primera Mirada award during the Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama), the Dominican Film Agency (DGCine) announced on Wednesday, 20 May 2020. The award is US$10,000. The second prize went to “La Selva,” a Cuban film, that will receive US$5,000.
Young Dominican film director Tatiana Fernández Geara also won first place in the Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama) during their “Su Mirada” competition with her film “Vals de Santo Domingo.”
The Panama International Film Festival, (IFF Panama) is the most important film festival in Panama. It had originally been scheduled for 26 March to 1 April but was postponed due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
Read more in Spanish: DGCine
Source: DR1, DGCine
May 24, 2020
Starbucks had free coffee for firefighters, and health workers. The company was in pre-opening phase when impacted by Covid-19. Jose Luis Gomez Burns, general manager of Starbucks RD says: “Today it is all about people. In these difficult times, with our backing, we want to share a touch of normalcy with the frontline workers that work long hours providing care to those in need.”
Gomez said the company is monitoring the decisions taken by the authorities as they wait to open the first store located in Downtown Santo Domingo on Av. Núñez de Cáceres and Av. Rómulo Betancourt.
Source: DR!, DiarioLibre
May 24, 2020
PUERTO PLATA.- After almost two months of inactivity, the union of bus drivers of the public transport of Puerto Plata and Santiago (Javilla Tours) reported that from Wednesday (May 20th) they will restart the services of shipments and delivery of goods.
According to the president of the entity, Radhamés Taveras, shipping services will be carried out along its usual route Puerto Plata-Imbert-Santiago and vice versa, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
But with regard to passenger service, Taveras criticized the central government who has only ordered the reopening of public transport in the capital, while other companies in the sector continue being shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that the government authorities contradict themselves. They want to provide for the micro, small and medium-sized companies to gradually reopen their doors as of this Wednesday, while in the rest of the country public transport will continue to be inoperative, and he asked himself “who will transport those employees? “.
“Many employees residing in other towns in the province of Puerto Plata, who must start their work in companies located in the municipality of San Felipe de Puerto Plata, or in Sosúa, will not be able to come to work due to lack of transportation,” said the president of Javilla Tours.
Source: Puerto Plata Digital
May 20, 2020
The president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Julio Cesar Castaños Guzman, said Monday that the institution received has been notified by the National Budget Office that RD$1.8 billion is available to organize the extraordinary congressional and presidential elections on 5 July 2020, as reported by N Digital. This is well below the amount of cash available to organize the political primaries, the aborted 16 February municipal election, and the 15 March extraordinary municipal electio
Julio César Castaños Guzmán says: “They are going to give us one part in May and another in June.” He says the money will cover all the actions taken to guarantee voter and electoral worker safety.
On 17 May 2020, President Danilo Medina said in his coronavirus update to the nation that the government is committed to doing everything possible to guarantee the vote of the Dominicans so that they can assume the new authorities on 16 August 2020.
Source: DR1, N Digital
May 20, 2020
The Spanish version for the “Temptation Island” reality show will be filmed in the Dominican Republic. Variety magazine reports that the second season is lined up for July 2020, and the casting has been completed.
Nevertheless, Benijay Group is gearing up to test and quarantine cast and crew and taking strict safety guides for productions in the US, Spain, Germany, Holland and Finland.
Temptation Island was launched in Spain an averaged 2.7 million viewers throughout its 10-episode run.
Temptation Island (La Isla de las Tentaciones) is about love, faithfulness and the resilience of relations. It follows couples at a turning points in their lives as they decide whether to commit or go their separate ways. The couples travel to an island, where they join 20 eligible men and women. There, they live the single life, in a test that will answer difficult questions about their relationship.
The English version dates back to 2001 and has continue to air on USA Network and Fox. It is based on the Dutch TV program “Blind Vertrouwen) created by Endermol and adapted by several countries in different languages.
The Dominican Republic is a popular location for the filming of reality shows with sets constructed in Samana and La Romana province. In recent years Survivor and Exatlon (Mexico) have been filmed here.
Read more:
USA Network
Source: DR1, USA Network
May 20, 2020
Scotiabank and Banco de Progreso announce that their branches will be closed from 28 May to 2 June to complete the merge between the two banks. Service will continue for credit and debit cards, automated bank tellers, and telemarketing service. The closing is scheduled for 1pm on 28 May with a reopening on 2 June.
The company announces that as of 28 May the online service and the APP Progreso will not be available, while from 31 May to 2 June, Scotia en Linea and Scotia Caribe App will not be available.
Read more in Spanish:
Scotiabank
Source: DR1
May 20, 2020
