DR News
Public school uniforms are for sale in major stores nationwide and had been sold in some public schools. The Ministry of Education had committed to provide two uniforms free to each student in public school. The uniforms are for public school children, with private schools having their own individualized uniforms.
The irregular sale at the public schools was known after Listin Diario reporter Karen Vasquez gathered evidence on her cell phone of the sale of the polo shirts for RD$500 each in the Pantoja public high school. Upon ascertaining that the reporter had videoed interviews confirming the sale at the school that would ruin her career, the director, Daris Feliz forcefully took the reporter’s smart phone after alleging the journalist had no right to make the videos at the school. She threatened to sue the journalist. Feliz had said on tape that the sale was authorized and was happening at the request of several parents. Feliz returned the smart phone only after she provided her password and the videos were wiped.
Parents in Santo Domingo public school district 15 had denounced the sale. The Ministry would announce the suspension of the director of the Pantoja public high school, for impeding the Listin Diario from doing her job and taking her smart phone. Francisco Disla, of the school district 15, apologized to the reporter for the incident, as reported in Listin Diario.
The Minister said: “It is important that every Dominican family that has children enrolled the public schools know that these uniforms are 100% free. It is important to note that everything that is delivered to students in public schools is free.”
Navarro said that he has authorized some schools to allow their students to attend wearing the old khaki pants with blue cotton shirt during the two months until the full order of new khaki pants and polo shirts in five colors are delivered.
“We have an unforeseen situation, which is that we have not been able to get the suppliers to deliver all of the uniforms before the start of the school year,” Navarro admitted. He argued that 50% was locally produced, due to a matter of installed capacity for production and the rest had to be imported.
He said the colors are being assigned to the five school districts. Students in Cibao Central will use the red wine color; those in the Cibao Norte, yellow gold; those in the South region, turquoise blue; those of the East, green polo shirts; and those in Greater Santo Domingo royal blue. He praised the quality of the polo shirts that are manufactured in 50% cotton and 50% polyester.
Public school reopens in the Dominican Republic on Monday, 20 August 2018.
Source: DR1, Elnacional
Aug 18, 2018
PUERTO PLATA. – A ship with 4,890 tourists on board, which was scheduled to dock at the Amber Cove tourist port of Maimon, had to change course and continue to New York, due to the dense smoke that has been covering the area for more than a week, between the hotel complex of Cofresí and the Bay of Maimon.
This is the Carnival Horizon cruise, coming from San Tomas, which in addition to the tourists also carries 1,200 crew members, whose captain spotted the toxic smoke cloud that since last week dismisses the open-air Maggiolo landfill, at the entrance of the city, reason for which the authority of the ship, decided to change its trajectory towards the city of the skyscrapers.
Last week, the Horizon docked at the port Amber Cove, amid the unpleasant smoke that currently invades that tourist terminal, which causes great difficulty to breathe in the area of the dock, as well as inside the ship itself.
“The tourists who arrived last week at Horizon complained to the Carnival company, because of the bad smell and the irritation caused by the smoke inside Amber Cove, that’s why the captain did not dare to enter port today, out of respect to the clients on the ship, ” revealed a terminal employee.
Carnival Horizon is the newest of Carnival Cruise Line cruises. It is the second of the ships of the Vista class of Carnival, and was delivered by its constructor, Fincantieri, on March 28, 2018.
As a result of the unbearable fog that affects all the activities in the Bay of Maimon, several of the employees of the shops of Amber Cove, have had to visit the different health centers of Puerto Plata, to be treated for respiratory problems and allergies .
Since last Friday, August 3, when the landfill of Puerto Plata was burned down again, a strong smoke blankets the zone of the west of this city. From that day, brigades of workers and heavy machinery from the municipality of Puerto Plata, have been working day and night in the extinction of the fire inside the dump, until now they haven’t been able to extinguish it completely.
A source within the local council revealed that although the flames have decreased significantly, the fire is still dormant, which combined with the light drizzle that falls today on the northern part of the island, causes the smoke to intensify.
The same source trusts that this week the fire will be put down completely, due to the fact that in the next hours the work will be intensified with the integration of more equipment and more personnel, coming from other state institutions.
Source: NotiPlata
Aug 14, 2018
Born in Bologna, Italy of an Italian father and Dominican mother (Zaida Arias of La Romana province), 12-year old Micaela Marcelloni Arias became the first Dominican artistic roller skater to win a medal in a Central American & Caribbean Games for the Dominican Republic. She was also the youngest of more than 5,000 competitors in the regional games that closed earlier this month with 107 medals for the Dominican Republic, including the bronze won by Marcelloni.
Listin Diario tells the family had contacted the Dominican sports authorities to encourage these to register young Micaela as a competitor in the sport. Her parents had introduced her to the sport at the early age of five years and she had showed good prowess. Take note that Italy is regarded as the best in artistic skating in the world.
In 2016, Micaela’s trainer, Stefania Priori contacted the local sports authorities to discuss the possibility of her pupil competing for the Dominican Republic. The coach would send several videos of her participating, convincing the local authorities to give the child a chance.
As reported in Listin Diario, the parents nor coach kept the plan for her to compete for the Dominican Republic to themselves until it was a given so that the child would not become anxious. Prior to her participation in the Barranquilla, Colombia regional games, Marcelloni had competed in the German Cup, where she won silver in her category. In Barranquilla 2018, Marcelloni placed third, behind Johana Apolinar of Colombia and Carolina Zermeño of Mexico.
Austo Arias Peralta, president of the Dominican Artistic Skiing Federation said that the next major events are the World Championship and the Pan Am Games in Peru in 2019. There were three other members on the Dominican artistic roller skating team.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Aug 14, 2018
The captain of a boat with 46 Dominicans that was detained during the second week of July with 14 tons of fish and lobster captured illegally to the south of the Bahamas, has been convicted to spend 18 months in prison. The Bahamas Defense Force informed that Radhames Hernández, was one of the 46 Dominicans who appeared in court this week to answer to several charges including illegal fishing and capture of protected species during the banned period.
The fishermen were ordered to pay a fine totaling US$53,000 and one of them had to pay an additional US$100,000 as this was the second time he has been convicted of illegal fishing in Bahamian waters.
Hernández was also found guilty of possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 18 months in jail for that. The authorities said that the Dominicans first said they were innocent of the charges but later changed their pleas to guilty. Once the fines have been paid and jail sentences completed they will all be deported.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Aug 14, 2018
Talks are advanced for the purchase of the small, yet efficient Banco del Progreso. The bank is the local representative for American Express. Reportedly, it would merge with the big Scotiabank. Talks had been ongoing since 2015.
The reports are that it is a US$320 million operation. It would turn Scotiabank into the fourth largest bank in the Dominican Republic, behind the governmental Banco de Reservas, Banco Popular Dominicano and the merged BHD-Leon.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Aug 14, 2018
The Migration Agency (DGM) has called on those foreigners enrolled in the National Foreigners’ Status Legalization Plan (PNRE) to renew or change their migration category or status. DGM noted that the current period ends on 26 August 2018 and that the foreigners who have not obtained their updated residency permits can go to their local office and check to see if they are on the list at the Migration Agency website.
To renew the card, a visit in person is required to present the corresponding PNRE card or passport with a sticker, legalized birth certificate and permanent address in the Dominican Republic as well as a contact number. The applicants also have to take four photographs. The extension of the validity of the PNRE cards has been granted mostly to benefit Haitians who have not been able to secure the documentation from the Haitian government that are needed to complete the status regularization process. The Haitian government on innumerable occasions as committed to produce the documentation, but has not come through.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
Aug 14, 2018
In the first half of this year, the Taxation Agency (DGII) has collected RD$1.08 billion in revenues via tourist card purchases, as airlines comply with a new government regulation. The new charge that mostly affects foreigners and Dominicans living abroad was introduced by Decree 430-17 on 14 December 2017 and requires airlines to charge all purchasing airline tickets abroad the tourist taxes, regardless whether the persons are Dominican or foreign visitors.
While Dominicans can reclaim the US$10 charge at the Taxation Agency office or via Internet, the process takes 10 days, and in reality very few are presenting claims, creating a windfall in foreign exchange for the government.
It has not been established how much has been refunded nor how much of the money collected is from Dominicans. A report from the DGII shows that in April 2018, RD$169.3 million was collected; in May RD$119.1 million and in June RD$195 million.
Many Dominicans have complained about the charge and saying that the reimbursement process, which requires Internet access, is cumbersome. Others say the measure discriminates against Dominicans who live overseas, that are more likely to purchase their airline tickets online or abroad.
Marcos Cadet, DGII spokesman, called on the Dominicans who have paid for the tourist card to seek a reimbursement. He claims the process is simple enough.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Aug 14, 2018
El Nacional newspaper said yesterday that the assignments of all of high ranking military officers will have to be changed this coming Thursday, having had served two years in their posts, according to the Organic Law of the Armed the Forces. This law, Law 139-13, states in Article 33 that officers will remain it in their duties for a maximum of two years. The law also instructs the president to appoint a chief of staff of the Armed Forces as well as commanding generals of the different branches and the Inspector General of the Armed Forces, and these will be chosen among the generals and admirals currently in command positions as long as they have complied with the law with regards to time served in order to be considered for these top positions.
The Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Ruben Paulino Sem, was appointed on 16 August 2016 and his term will end on Thursday, that commemorates the 155th anniversary of the War of Restoration.
The current commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force will all be relieved of their commands. Curiously enough, the head of the National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD) will also be replaced, as will be the commanding officer of the Presidential Guard.
Source: Dr1, Elnacional
Aug 14, 2018
Some really good news for Dominican wildlife. There is news coming out of Puerto Plata that technicians from the Ministry of Environment have found a population of Solenodontes, a Dominican native mammal that is in extreme danger of extinction, in the area of the 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua in Puerto Plata province.
The administrator of the Natural Monument of Damajagua, Robert Luis Gomez Santana, said that researchers from the ministry were able to identify the group of Solenodontes.
The full report will be made public tomorrow at 11am from the visitor center in this protected area.
The Solenodontes is the only native mammal on the island of Hispaniola and is apparently almost a throwback to the age of the dinosaurs. It is nocturnal and feeds mostly on insects and is rarely seen by humans. A distant cousin of the species survives in Cuba. At the present time, according to the International Union for Nature Conservation, Solenodontes are in danger of extinction. The research that led to discovering this group of mammals in Damajagua was led by a José Mateo Feliz, who is the director of Biodiversity at the Ministry of the Environment.
Source: DR1, Eldia
Aug 14, 2018
