DR News
The Consejo Dominicano de Pesca y Acuicultura (Codopesca) and other local and international bodies reported on the seasonal calendar for the consumption of fish and seafood. Thirteen of the species are planned from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2019. Consumption and capture of the black urchin is banned through 30 June 2022. Shark and stingray are in permanent capture ban.
Other aquatic varieties subject to seasonal bans are conch, several species of lobster, crabs and eels.
The executive director of Codopesca, Milton Ginebra, said that the bans are established in order to allow for the reproduction of the species. He urged that fishermen, vendors and consumers respect the ban. Ginebra reminded the public that the law establishes fines from 10 to 200 minimum wages and sending to justice of those who incur in violations.
He spoke during an activity organized as part of the Caribbean marine biodiversity conservation program developed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Nature Conservancy among other entities.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Nov 10, 2018
Tilo Frister has been appointed as a chef in the restaurant of Casa Valeria located in Dr. Rosen str. # 28. Tilo is a well-known personality in Sosúa, formerly, he was a manager of the restaurants ‘Orchidee’ and ‘Don Andres’.
Together with Marco and Jacqueline from ‘Parada Tipica el Choco’ restaurant, every Friday night they organize a party with live muisic in the City Restaurant. Yeuri Omar performed last Friday night with a diverse program from rock and roll to bachata and merengues.
Of course, Tilo prepares his famous dishes that used to be on the menu of the restaurant ‘Orchidee’. So his loyal customers can once again go to Tilo as before. The well-known daily menu has been also restored. So we can say that we are glad to see Tilo back in town and that some traditions in Sosúa are preserved.
Source: Sosua News
Nov 10, 2018
David Ortiz is gearing up to host his 11th annual Celebrity Golf Classic, from 29 November through 2 December 2018 at the Casa de Campo Resort and Villas in La Romana. Among the many stars who’ve already promised to make an appearance: sporty VIPs Jackie Bradley Jr., Jim Rice, Ray Allen and Tim Wakefield; reality TV stars, such as former “Bachelor” alum Ben Higgins and “Dancing with the Stars” professional Sharna Burgess; and celebs from the entertainment world like rapper Ja Rule, as well as Tina and Richard Lawson, aka Beyonce’s mother and her actor hubby.
Proceeds from the four-day social event will support a serious cause: David Ortiz Children’s Fund. The nonprofit, founded in 2007, works with hospitals like CEDIMAT and Massachusetts General to provide lifesaving heart surgeries for children in the Dominican Republic and New England. To date, the golf outing has raised US$5 million for the foundation, treating more than 750 children.
More information about reserving packages during the long weekend of luxury can be found at the David Ortiz Children’s Fund site where there are a range of options starting at US$6,500.
Source: DR1, davidortizchildrensfund
Nov 8, 2018
On Thursday, 1 November, the body of a 29-year old mother of four from Sosua was found murdered in Cabarete, Puerto Plata Province. She had been reported missing the previous Monday and was last seen having a drink with a foreigner in Sosua. The victim, Zaida Yonaly Rosario Paniagua, lived in Charamicos and was last seen with United States citizen, 36-year old Oluseye Adesegun, in a nightclub in El Batey Sosua.
Video evidence shows the Adesegun carried the woman out of the Alicia Beach Hotel in Sosua, accompanied by a member of the hotel staff. Both were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (DICRIM) of the National Police. The body was later discovered in the bushes in the Jardin Deportivo sector of Cabarete and was then sent to the Institute of Forensic Science for autopsy.
Initial comments from the state medical examiner indicate the victim was beaten and strangled.
The Public Prosecution service is asking for one year in preventive custody, as well as access to the vehicle in which it is thought the victim was taken to Cabarete.
The suspect supposedly is a former soldier of the US Army and has served in Iraq.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Nov 8, 2018
On Friday, 2 November 2018, many public school teachers went on strike complaining they had not been paid so far this school year. The Dominican Association of Contracted Teachers (Adomaco) complained that some of their members had been working on a contract basis for several years with no social security benefits or Christmas bonuses.
There are around 8,000 teachers who work on a contract basis being paid RD$20,000 per month for the extended school day and RD$10,000 for just half a day. According to some of these teachers, they have been threatened with dismissal by the district authorities if they do not go to work, even though they have not been paid.
The president elect of the Dominican Association of Teachers (ADP), Xiomara Guante criticized the delays in payments and the practice of the Ministry of Education (Minerd) hiring teachers on a contract basis to save money as their salaries are less than half of those who have a fixed position. She also criticized the fact they do not have medical insurance so if and when they are sick they are fired. In addition many are never paid or paid late. All of these irregularities are affecting students, and she called for the Ministry to solve this, what she called abusive situation.
Education MinisterAndrés Navarro, refused to respond saying “we will discuss this at another time”.
Source: DR1, Hoy
Nov 8, 2018
Investigative TV reporter Alicia Ortega says that Dominican Chamber of Deputies legislators have spent almost RD$300 million in airline tickets and travel expenses in less than six years. Dominican taxpayers have foot the bill for these expenses that included more than 1,500 trips abroad.
The authorized trips included attending courses on how to win an election, to neonatology and artificial intelligence conferences. Other authorized trips have been to attend gala dinners, technology fair in Las Vegas, festivals, medical checkups and meetings with Dominicans abroad.
Source: DR1
Nov 8, 2018
When President Danilo Medina and the Dominican government mission was beginning his first official visit to China, the Chinese naval hospital ship, Peace Ark (Daishan Dao), Beijing’s 584-foot long goodwill ambassador, was docking in Santo Domingo at the Don Diego Terminal of Sansouci Port.
The Peace Ark is also described as “a well outfitted symbol of Beijing’s growing “soft power.” The ship primarily offers conventional medicine services, but there is a clinic on board for traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture, massage and cupping therapy.
As reported, the hospital ship is offering free medical services to upwards of 4,000 persons from 1-7 November 2018. The ship has capacity to service around 600 persons a day in 21 medical specialties with 57 doctors, 27 nurses and 36 pharmacists on board, in addition to other medical technicians.
OMSA provided free transportation to the hospital ship from five public hospitals — Marcelino Velez Santana, Salvador B Gautier, Ney Arias Lora, and Dario Contreras.
The ship visit is coordinated with the Ministry of Public Health, the Dominican Armada and the Dominican Port Authority.
The stopover in Santo Domingo is part of the ship’s Harmony Mission 2018 that began in June 2018 and has planned stops in Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Papúa Nueva Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Granada, Dominica, Antigua y Barbuda, Yibuti, Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh, Cuba, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Nov 8, 2018
On occasion of the visit of President Danilo Medina and a cabinet delegation to China, the Ministry of Foreign Relations has published the list of 19 memorandums of understanding and agreements the Dominican mission to the People’s Republic of China signed in Beijing during the first official visit. Details on the arrangements have not been released to the press.
The agreements cover cooperation in infrastructure construction, finance, commerce, immigration, agriculture, education, tourism, aviation, sports, among others. They were signed on 2 November 2018 in the presence of Dominican and Chinese Presidents, Danilo Medina and Xi Jinping, after their formal talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, reportedly on issues of the bilateral and global agenda.
They are the named:
Memorandum of Cooperation in the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives. In an interview with Xinhuanet, President Medina stated: “The Dominican Republic, which is situated in the heart of Central America and the Caribbean, boasts one of the region’s most well-connected port networks, as well as a highly trained work force in production, transport and logistics. I believe we are a natural ally for joining the Belt and Road Initiative as a regional center for trade between China and the rest of the Americas.”
Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic and the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
Memorandum of Understanding between the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China in Strengthening Cooperation in Infrastructure.
Memorandum of Understanding to Strengthen Cooperation in Economic and Commercial Areas between the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.
Memorandum of Understanding in Mechanism of Cooperation between the Export-Import Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance of the Dominican Republic. The Export-Import Bank of China is a state-funded and state-owned policy bank with the status of an independent legal entity. It is a bank directly under the leadership of the State Council and dedicated to supporting China’s foreign trade, investment and international economic cooperation. With the Chinese government’s credit support, the Bank plays a crucial role in promoting steady economic growth and structural adjustment, supporting foreign trade, and implementing the “going global” strategy of the Chinese government.
Agreement of Cultural Cooperation between the Government of the Dominican Republic and the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
Memorandum of Understanding in Strategic Cooperation between the Ministry of Finance of the Dominican Republic and the China Development Bank. CDB is the world’s largest development finance institution, and the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation, long-term lending and bond issuance. CDB provides medium- to long-term financing facilities that serve China’s major long-term economic and social development strategies.
Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for the Development of Human Resources between the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic and the People’s Republic of China International Development Cooperation Agency. The agency is responsible for strategic guidelines and policies on foreign aid; coordinating and making suggestions on major related issues; reforming the foreign aid system; and making plans and overseeing their implementation. The move is to give full play to foreign aid as a key means of major-country diplomacy, enhance strategic planning and coordination of foreign aid, and better serve the country’s overall diplomatic layout and the Belt and Road Initiative.
Educational Plan between the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China for the years 2018-2023.
Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, in the Area of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. The ministry is responsible for the study and implementation of strategies, plans and policies on agriculture, rural areas and rural people, according to the plan on institutional restructuring of the State Council, or the cabinet. It also regulates crop farming, husbandry, fishery, agricultural mechanization and quality of farm produces.
Protocol of the Phytosanitary Requirements for the Export of Tobacco Leaves for Cigars from the Dominican Republic to the People’s Republic of China, between the Ministries of Agriculture of both countries. Cigars, together with rum and cacao, were mentioned as possible export products to the Chinese market.
Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic on the facilitation of group travel of Chinese tourists to the Dominican Republic. Frank Rainieri, of Puntacana Group, who was part of the mission to China, said the country would go after the Chinese middle class traveler.
Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Foreign Affairs of China and the Institute of Higher Education Specialized in Diplomatic and Consular Training (INESDyC).
Agreement between the Government of the Dominican Republic and the Government of the People’s Republic of China Concerning Civilian Aviation Transport Services.
Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in Baseball Matters between the Government of the Dominican Republic and the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
Memorandum of Understanding of Sports Cooperation, between the General Sports Administration of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic.
Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the Joint Commission on Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation.
Agreement on the Mutual Exemption of Visas for Diplomatic Passport Holders, Official Passports, Services Passports and Public Affairs Passports.
Also mentioned is the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Administrative Ministry of the President and the Center for Research on Public Safety of the University of Tsingua.
Medina also has stated the country, previous to the mission to China, had signed a Political Consultation Agreement “focused on working together at multilateral forums”.
In addition to these, earlier the government admitted to signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of a mega port and power installations in Manzanillo, in the north coast of the country, and a political consultations agreement.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Nov 8, 2018
The Airports Agency (Departamento Aeroportuario) has begun an investigation into an increase of 17% in the charge in dollars for passenger services imposed by Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI (Aerodom), according to Marino Collante, director of the agency. The increase was applied to cargo coming through the airport that now costs US$38.20 per passenger, which is US$5.60 more than the previous US$32.60.
Several airline executives said that they were concerned as the increase would have to be passed onto the passengers and the Dominican Republic already was one of the most expensive countries in terms of airport charges on the continent.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Oct 30, 2018
The Cibao region was affected on Monday, 29 October 2018, by a regional strike, that the Police say was marked by vandalism at its start to intimidate businesses and people. The methods used resulted in the call to strike being a failure, as observed by Diario Libre in an editorial on 30 October.
The Police announced there was one person dead and more than 40 arrests. The 24-hour strike was called by several organizations headed by the Collective of Popular Organizations, Social, Union, Transport, Community and Professional Organizations (Falpo) supposedly to protest against the high cost of fuel and basic products, electricity cuts, lack of water, poor state of the roads and other issues.
Members of the military and police were placed in strategic points in the 14 provinces making up the Cibao including throughout Santiago to ensure safety. Nevertheless, one person was killed in the early hours of the morning, a Haitian citizen, who was shot by the police while he was burning tires in Los Tocones. The media reported that in Santiago there were few vehicles on the road and many businesses were closed due to the 24-hour strike.
Some shops and banks remained open but there were few clients as most workers and students could not get to work or school due to the scarce public transport. Omsa bus service was running throughout the strike with 50 units in service. The minibus terminal for transport connecting Santiago to the Northwest, La Vega, San Francisco de Macoris and beyond in the Cibao were all closed.
The media reported there were demonstrations and garbage thrown into the streets in Alto de Yaguita de Pastor, Alto de Elías, Loma de la Tayota in the southwest of Santiago and also in Ciruelitos, in the north of the city. In Monseñor Nouel province transport was blocked from entering the municipality of Maimon with burning tires on the roads.
In Puerto Plata, due to the 24-hour strike, there was no public transport at all and the roads were empty. Dozens of workers were stranded waiting for their transport to work but there were only private vehicles on the road, in addition to a large quantity of military with rifles and police officers with shotguns in strategic locations. The schools were however open although many parents opted not to send their children to school. Tires were burning on the Montellano-Sosua road in Los Charamicos but they were taken away by police agents.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Oct 30, 2018
