Archive for May, 2021
Autopista del Ámbar will start before the end of 2021, it will link Puerto Plata and Santiago in 30 minutes
PUERTO PLATA.- The new highway project of the Ámbar Highway, whose linear route will link Puerto Plata and Santiago in 30 minutes, will be started before the end of the current year 2021. This was stated yesterday by the executive director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DGAPP), Sigmund Freund.
Freund, when making a detailed explanation of the project, said that the Amber Highway will invigorate the entire area of the northern region of the country, not only promoting the development of tourism but also trade and the transport of merchandise. He pointed out that the megaproject has an estimated investment of US $ 400 million, its structuring processes are carried out in accordance with the provisions of Law 47-20 on Public-Private Partnerships, and that all documents must be submitted to the approval of the National Council of Partnerships Public-Private (CNAPP). He recalled that the Amber Highway was declared of public interest by the Government last April since it reduces the transit times on the route from Santiago to Puerto Plata to less than thirty (30) minutes. This road will be connecting the port and the new cruise port that is being built in Puerto Plata with the entire country and especially with Santiago and Santo Domingo, and therein lies the importance of this work for the connectivity and development of the northern region. It was learned that progress is being made in structuring the specifications, the draft of the public-private alliance contract, and other documents necessary to carry out the competitive bidder selection process for the construction of the Ámbar Highway.
Source: Puerto Plata Digital
May 30, 2021
Filming Lost City of D in Samana
The shooting of scenes for Paramount Pictures’ “The Lost City of D” has begun at Dominican locations in Samaná and Pinewood Studios-Lantica Media in Juan Dolio, San Pedro de Macoris.
The film cast is Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, Channing Tatum, Patti Harrison, Da Vine Joy Randolph, and Daniel Radcliff. The plot is about a reclusive romance novelist (Sandra Bullock) on a book tour with her cover model (Channing Tatum) and how the author gets swept up in a kidnapping attempt that lands them both in a cutthroat jungle adventure. Brothers Aaron and Adam Nee are the directors of the action, romance, and adventure films.
This new film continues to evidence the popularity of the natural settings locations of the Dominican Republic for American films. Other US films that have been shot here recently are: “Old,” by M. Night Shyamalan, “Shotgun Wedding,” by Jason Moore, or “Arthur The King,” by Simon Cellan Jones.
“The fact that the country was selected to shoot the film says a lot about the growth of the film industry and the positioning of the Dominican Republic as an important film destination in the region,” Maria Avellaneda of Lantica Media told Listin Diario. She said the photography shooting would last for around ten weeks.
Source: DR1, ListinDiario
May 30, 2021
Conatra gives its drivers until the end of the month to get vaccinated
The National Confederation of Transport Organizations (Conatra), a leading public transport private company, says that as of 1 June 2021, drivers need to show a vaccination card to be authorized to work.
The measure is adopted due to the surge in Covid-19 infections in recent days.
Mario Diaz, the spokesperson for the transport company, said that Conatra as of the second week of June will be asking passengers using the interurban transport routes of Conatra to present a vaccination card.
“We adopt these measures with great responsibility and against our will because we have to respect the norms, we have to help the government with this serious problem and we have to protect the Dominican population, especially the users of the passenger transportation service in our country”, exclaimed Diaz.
After making the announcement, Diaz also asked the transport workers of the other unions to get vaccinated and to vaccinate all their families.
Source: DR1, El Caribe
May 30, 2021
PCR now required for travelers coming from Brazil, UK and South Africa
The Ministry of Public Health reports that Covid-19 variants are behind the new spike in the coronavirus locally.
Two important variants of Covid-19 are circulating in the Dominican Republic. These are the highly transmissible B.1.1.7, from Great Britain, and the P.1 from Brazil.
The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) reports there are 19 provinces of the Dominican Republic with coronavirus variants. The report issued by MSP indicates the variants are present in several border cities. Haiti at present is suffering through a major spike in the spread of Covid-19, after maintaining a very low infection rate since the start of the pandemic.
The new variants are more infectious and tend to affect young people as well as old ones. Furthermore, the aggressiveness of the new variants has led to an increase in hospitalizations. Many who catch the new strain of the virus go from showing no symptoms to requiring intensive care in a hospital in less than 48 hours.
The Civil Aviation Board (JAC) issued a resolution over the weekend whereby travelers coming from the United Kingdom, (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) need to present a PCR test carried out in the past 72 hours of the arrival. The resolution is to be reviewed every five days as of 29 May 2021.
Likewise, travelers coming from Brazil and South Africa are also required to present a PCR test upon arrival. For Brazil and South Africa, the requirement is in effect for 30 days, as of the same 29 May date, and can be extended.
Source: DR1, N Digital
May 30, 2021
Air France announces frequencies to Punta Cana
Air France announces more flights from Paris to meet the summer demand, subject to government approval.
Air France has planned the return of its flights to the Caribbean resort capital, Punta Cana, on the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. The frequencies could reach seven operations per week of a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with a capacity for 468 passengers.
Air France will continue to fly three times a week to Santo Domingo’s Las Americas International Airport. The flights include a stopover in Punta Cana.
The additional flights to the Dominican Republic come when Air France optimistically plans for summer travel to the Caribbean and Mexico. The flights are fully refundable.
Source: DR1, AirFrance
May 30, 2021
Vandalism at Las Americas International affects 15 flights
The blackout that left the runway at Las Americas International Airport without lights on Sunday, 23 May in the evening, affected 15 flights.
The blackout forced three flights to stay in the air until they could land, two in San Juan Puerto Rico and a third in Punta Cana, which was confirmed as sabotage.
The failure in the lights occurred at 7:10 pm on the evening of Sunday 23 May 2021, triggering security alarms to activate various protocols on the ground. Flights UA 204 IAD, of United Airlines and Iberia IB650 were diverted to Punta Cana International Airport. Sky High from St. Kitts and Nevis, was instructed to land in La Romana International. Jet Blue flight B6 609 was diverted to the Cibao International Airport in Santiago.
Several Jet Blue flights had to return to their departure terminals, number B6 2037, flew back to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and B6 2809, returned to New York, flight B6 2730, to Boston. Air France flight AF733 bound for Paris never took off.
It was also reported that six other flights were rescheduled to and from different cities in the United States and Europe, including two American Airlines flights, two JetBlue flights, one Spirit flight, and one Air Europa flight.
Various state and government security agencies are investigating what is said to have been sabotaged by the electrical distribution networks. Initially, the failure was thought to have been caused by a short circuit, as announced by the Airport Security Corps (Cesar). But Vice President Raquel Peña promptly reported the airport had been affected by vandalism.
A note from Las Americas International Airport gives the following explanation for the incident in which the runway lights and taxiways were temporarily out of service:
- On Sunday night, 23 May, an act of vandalism occurred, with the intentional cutting of the electrical cables of the circuit that feeds the runway lighting system of the AILA-JFPG (SDQ) airport, momentarily interrupting the lighting service on the runway.
- The Dominican aviation system has a robust protocol for events such as this, which was activated immediately and it was possible to reestablish airport operations, guaranteeing at all times operational and passenger safety.
- The event is being investigated by the competent authorities, who are working to determine the intellectual and material authors of this serious event. The persons will be brought to justice so that they receive the full weight of the law.
- The quick action and good coordination between all civil and military authorities allowed the reestablishment of all air services at the AILA-JFPG in record time. At present, all air operations at the airport are being carried out normally.
- All affected passengers were attended in time by the airlines. Today, Monday, those who could not be transferred on Sunday night due to the event are being transferred.
- Additional information, if available, will be shared with the press as soon as it becomes available.
Source: DR1, Diarioibre
May 25, 2021
Happy ending to Puerto Plata skylift rescue
Around 200 persons participated in the rescue of the 32 persons that were stranded in the Puerto Plata north and south-bound cable cars. By Sunday evening, the first 16 persons were rescued using an emergency car, but the second car had to wait for early morning to be safely rescued. No one was physically injured.
The cable car pulley system went awry when operating at full capacity on Sunday at around 2 pm. Thirty vacationers and two cable car operators were stuck on board.
The first rescued were sixteen of one car that arriving at the base station. The special emergency car brought these down six by six in the evening. But the second car was too high up, at approximately 350 meters, and too slanted for the rescue.
As reported in N Digital, two rescue specialists from the Santo Domingo Metro (Cesmet) were the heroes of the second car. The rescuers fitted hiking harnesses on the vacationers and lowered these to land one by one in an operation that began at 3 am and extended into the sunrise shortly after 6:30 am. Several young children were on board. The vacationers had already received water, snacks, and blankets to pass the chilly night.
Civil Defense, firemen, Armed Forces, National Police officials, Committee for Emergency Operations (COE) officials together with the Santo Domingo Metro Specialized Security Corps (Cesmet) worked intensely in the rescue.
As reported, when the cable car stalled, persons on board called 911 to alert them of the situation.
This is the most serious failure the cable cars have experienced since they began operation in Puerto Plata in 1975.
At the time, President Luis Abinader was in Ecuador, but followed the incidents through his tweets, encouraging those caught in the cars to have the patience that they would be rescued as soon as possible. Administrative Minister of the Presidency Jose Ignacio Paliza, a former Puerto Plata senator, traveled to his hometown to oversee the rescue operation.
Alex Merete, interim director of the skylift, said the cable car could be back in operation in a week’s time. The cable car transports on average 1,000 vacationers to the top of the Isabel de Torres Mountain and its lush botanical garden.
Diario Libre reports that on board the stranded cars were six Puerto Rican tourists and the rest were Dominican vacationers. There was a cable car operator in each of the cars.
The Puerto Plata skylift mechanical failure coincided with the crash of a cable car in Italy, where 14 died.
Source: DR1, N Digital
May 25, 2021
Schools authorized to reopen on 25 May 2021
Education Minister Roberto Fulcar confirmed the government authorization for semi in-person learning starting Tuesday, 25 May 2021 nationwide. The return to classes is voluntary, gradual and will be carried out in a controlled manner and with the families’ consent.
The Ministry of Education issued a press release. The minister says that students of elementary and the last year of technical and arts high schools are authorized to return to classes on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Education says that public schools in the National District, the province of Santo Domingo, and San Cristóbal are not authorized to return to in-person learning given the spike in Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks.
In the same press release, Fulcar says that private schools are authorized to open in the National District and Santo Domingo and San Cristobal provinces because their student population is much less.
The Ministry of Education is also requesting that teachers at the private schools have carried out PCR tests 48 hours before the start of classes.
Source: DR1, Acento
May 25, 2021
Last updated January 23, 2026 at 4:16 pm