DR News
On Friday, January 25th, president Juan Oscar Souffront (Yanco) of the Carnival Association of Puerto Plata will announce the carnival program of Puerto Plata at a press conference. On Sunday afternoon, February 3rd, the carnival starts with a parade on the Malecon, Puerto Plata. In the subsequent weekends of 10th, 17th and 24th of February the Carnival celebrations will continue. On Saturday, March 9th, the end of the Carnival season takes place with a final parade at 2:30pm on Malecon, Puerto Plata
Source: Sosua News
Jan 22, 2019
A group of around 40 persons disguised as clowns have begun a protest walk from the Monumento a los Heroes de la Restauración in Santiago to the Basilica Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia in Higuey, a distance of approximately 317 km. The protest march is to call attention to the increasing number of sexual abuses to minors and child abuse.
The “Caminando por una sonrisa” (Walking for a Smile) expects to reach Higuey in time for the 21 January celebrations of the Day of the Lady of Altagracia at the basilica.
Joan Martínez, (Payamín), organizer of the protest march, says: “The message we want to deliver is that we as clowns are not just to make people laugh with joke after joke. Rather, we are also parents and social entities concerned about the degradation of seeing abused children walk the streets, homeless minors who are victims of exploitation,” said Martínez.
Source: DR1, Elcaribe
Jan 22, 2019
Precipitate Gold Corporation announced it is now the owner of all Everton Resources Inc. exploration concessions in the Dominican Republic. This includes Pueblo Grande Project, adjoining Barrick’s and Goldcorp’s world-class Pueblo Viejo gold-silver mine, and the Ponton Project located approximately 30 km east of Pueblo Grande. Precipitate said that Mejico Angeles-Lithgow, formerly president and executive director of the Barrick-Pueblo Viejo mining operation, has joined their advisory team.
The company announced that Pueblo Grande’s immediate exploration priority will be the area directly west of Barrick’s mining pits, where a notable geophysical magnetic high coincides with an equally substantial area of advanced argillic lithocap alteration. This highly prospective lithocap target area measuring approximately 2.5 km by 3 km has seen little systematic exploration and will be the focus of initial phases of work.
Source: https://www.geologyforinvestors.com/…ican-republic/
Jan 22, 2019
The Dominican Republic is featured among the top five countries in Latin America with the best ground road infrastructure. But there is always a wish list of more. Former Minister of Public Works, engineer Pedro Delgado Malagón (1982-1986) shares with readers the locations of missing roads in a report in El Caribe newspaper today.
He says a highway is needed to connect the northern beach destinations with the Cibao. Likewise, new tourism destinations in Azua and Peravia could benefit from better road connections.
He says a doubling in the number of lanes is needed for the roads connecting Puerto Plata to Nagua and to Samana and the construction of a new road connecting Puerto Plata and Montecristi to foster development of tourism potential of that northwestern province.
He would like to see the doubling of the lanes connecting Baní, San Juan de la Maguana and Elías Piña, as well as Baní, Barahona, Oviedo and Pedernales.
He would like to see the fast completion of the Azua bypass and the start of the construction of the bypass of Baní and those of San Juan de la Maguana and Barahona. And he says there is a need for bypasses regarding the cities of San Francisco de Macoris and Higuey.
The Dominican Republic has a road network of 5,400 km of highways, and 12,800 of rural roads.
Source: DR1, Elcaribe
Jan 22, 2019
Digesett agents will be ensuring as of Friday, 17 January 2019 that truckers adhere to driving exclusively in the right lane on avenues and highways. Trucks and cargo vehicles are also now limited to driving at 70kph on highways and at a maximum of 55kph on other roads. The new ruling for Transit Law 63-17 establishes heavy fines for violation of these measures. The spokesman for Digesett, Hillman Pimentel said that the transit body would be using radars to control the speed limits. The cargo vehicles are also mandated to keep a distance of 150 meters from the vehicle in front of them. The fines are equal to two minimum decentralized public sector wages.
Source: DR1, Listindario
Jan 22, 2019
President Danilo Medina was in Puerto Plata on Tuesday, 15 January 2019, for the symbolic start of the remodeling of the Puerto Plata cargo dock and the construction of a cruise ship terminal and docks. The project will also include the construction of a special dock for fishing boats, the dredging of the port area and a series of associated port works.
The remolded Puerto Plata port is being promoted as a “multipurpose national port” and will have capacity to receive three cruise ships simultaneously as well as high capacity cargo ships. The project calls for an investment of around US$125 million. Víctor Gómez Casanova, executive director of the National Port Authority, said that he already has commitment letters from five of the leading cruiselines in the Caribbean that will ensure that in the first year of operations around 650,000 cruise passengers will arrive on multiple ships.
Gómez Casanova explained the contract was won by the same Mexican company that operates the ports of Costamaya, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and in Honduras. The Mexican company, Promociones Turísticas Mahahual won the tender carried out by the government for the port and is working together with the local partner, Consorcio Puerto Plata Port Investments in the construction of the port.
The new cruise ship facility will be marketed as Taino Bay. This would be the second cruise ship facility in Puerto Plata. A first, Amber Cove is successfully operated by Carnival Cruise, is located 20 minutes south of the city in Maimón.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Jan 22, 2019
The most numerous number of foreigners in the country are Haitians. But statistics indicate that the first place in securing legal residencies last year went to Venezuelans.
According to the Migration Agency, in 2018, the country granted 16,709 residencies of which 2,675 went to Venezuelan nationals. In second place were Haitians with 1,922, followed by United States nationals with 1,672 and surprise, Chinese nationals, with 1,485.
According to the National Immigrant Survey (ENI 2017), some 87.2% of the 570,933 foreigners in the country are from Haiti, and up to 2016 they were in first position in the national list of issued residencies, with 2,790 issued whereas Venezuelans were in second place with 749.
According to the Center for the Observation of Migration of Social Development in the Caribbean (OBIMCA) by 2017, the number of Venezuelan residencies issued increased to 1,748 and for Haitians it decreased to 964.
Residencies to all foreigners over the last five years have increased from 4,704 in 2013, to 14,485 in 2017. Those countries whose numbers of residencies have increased include Spain, United States, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Italy.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Jan 22, 2019
Since November 2017, persons with expired driver’s licenses are required to pay not only the cost of renewal, but also a fine that is the cost of renewal multiplied by the number of years the document has been out of date.
Each day, the Driver’s License Office at the National Institute of Terrestrial Transit and Transport (Intrant) receives and services dozens of drivers who have failed to renew their licences. The Intrant says they have seen many cases of people having to pay fines of RD$10,000 and RD$15,000 to renew their license as it has been between 10 and 15 years since they last renewed.
The normal cost of renewal is RD$890. Those letting their licenses expire for three years in addition to the penalty have to sit for an hour long educational talk that adds an additional RD$550 to the renewal cost.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Jan 22, 2019
The Ministry of Energy and Mines has announced it is working with representatives of associations and small mining cooperatives to coordinate actions to improve the exploitation of larimar, the semi-precious stone that is only found in the Dominican Republic.
The first meeting was announced between Energy and Mines Minister Antonio Isa Conde and the associations and cooperatives, following the executive order that instructed the Ministry to regulate the exploitation, permitting, processing and export of larimar and amber. Isa Conde said that they would be exploring how to improve levels of security, improve productivity are improve the working and living conditions of miners as well as how to increase the economic benefits for the communities where the mines are located.
Larimar is only found in a specific area, mainly the mine at Los Checheses-Los Chupaderos, around ten kilometres from Barahona in the southwest of the country. Since 1975, around 500 miners have worked in the mines to extract the mineral. It is estimated that 200 artisans work to transform the stone into jewellery and ornamental pieces.
Source: DR1, Elnuevodiario
Jan 21, 2019
PUERTO PLATA .- In response to the concern about the large cluster of algae that accumulated on the beach of Cabarete, local businessmen with the support of tourism authorities undertook a cleaning operation.
The Association of Entrepreneurs of Cabarete directed by Carlos Atahualpa Paulino began the cleaning work on the beach there.
“When this type of situation occurs, it causes a considerable decrease in the visit of tourists to the beach of Cabarete, so we call on all authorities and interested to join these cleaning work,” said Paulino.
To remove dozens of tons of sargazo seaweed that invaded the beaches of Cabarete, heavy equipment was contracted – a shovel and two trucks volteos, which, together with brigades of the Ministry of Tourism, cleaned the whole environment.
The unexpected arrival of a tidal wave of sargazo seaweed took over the beaches of Cabarete which is adverse to the delight and recreation of thousands of natives and tourists who regularly visit Cabarete, located in the eastern part of Puerto Plata.
Source: DR1, Puerto Plata Digital
Jan 14, 2019
