Abinader and his reminder about the Petrocaribe debt, denunciation of irregularities in the MIVHED, ACROPROVI's request, government hacking, complaints about food and fuel price increases, SB's infractions in 2021, 2022 tourism projections, announcement of a strike in the Cibao region, and rains in the East suspend JLG's concert.
Abinader and Petrocaribe
SANTO DOMINGO –Past authorities never paid more than $50 per barrel of oil because they had Petrocaribe until 2015, and that's why fuel prices were lower, President Luis Abinader declared yesterday when several media outlets asked him about the fuel price increases.
“If I had a Petrocaribe agreement, fuel would be cheaper,” he said. He pointed out that the agreement allowed the government to pay no more than $50 per barrel, and when the price exceeded that, it was financed at a very low interest rate; however, he added that the price passed on to the public was $70 per barrel, “as if that were the price at which they were buying it.”.
Allegations ofirregularities in the Ministry of Housing
According to the newspaper El Caribe, in order to deprive some contractors of projects whose budgets have varied by almost 700% more than the original amount, the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (Mivhed) would have carried out a series of actions questioned and even judicialized by State contractors.
The budget allocation for the repair of hospitals transferred to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MIVHED) from the Office of State Works Supervising Engineers (OISOE) did not increase by 502.9% as the government institution had reported to El Caribe, but by 694.5% in relation to the original contracted amount, this newspaper was able to confirm through the General Directorate of Public Purchases and Contracts.
In addition, the institution conducted new emergency bidding and awarding processes days before the President of the Republic enacted Law 118-21 regarding the completion of suspended road, school, and hospital construction projects. This law allows for budget increases of more than the 25% stipulated in Law 340-06 on Public Procurement and Contracting, according to the engineers whose contracts were terminated.
The new Law 118-21, enacted on June 1, mandates modifications and updating of prices, not termination of contracts, according to lawyers consulted on the matter.
The Superior Administrative Court (TSA) is in possession of at least three contentious appeals against that ministry for rescission or attempted rescission of contracts whose budgets were increased by the administration of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), as well as dozens of instances against the Office of Supervising Engineers of State Works (OISOE), an entity suppressed before the creation of the aforementioned ministry.
The contractors who were notified of the cancellation of their contractual ties, obtained through a competition following the declaration of emergency for the reconstruction of 56 hospital centers made by the Ministry of Public Health in 2013, contradict the reports from the Ministry of Housing regarding non-compliance, percentage of works in execution and even current amount of the works.
Acoprovi asks the government to apply the ITBIS and tariffs that existed before COVID-19
The president of the Dominican Association of Housing Builders and Developers (Acoprovi) warned of the major challenges facing the sector with inflation, costs, and the potential increases in interest rates following the Central Bank's increases in its monetary policy rate.
Jorge Montalvo recalled that the main stimulus for the sector to have a great year, as was 2021, was the fact that the country had the lowest interest rates in history, due to the monetary measures implemented by that institution to deal with the collapse of the economy in 2020, caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Montalvo said that this historic low generated significant activity in the housing construction sector, but it's time to face reality. He noted that for projects that were already pre-approved, and for people who had already secured financing, the interest rates were often guaranteed for a certain number of years.
Government hacking
The Government Office of Information and Communication Technologies (OGTIC) and the Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (CSIRT-RD), of the National Cybersecurity Center (CNCS), reported that 14 Dominican State websites were hacked this Sunday by the hacker group called "Hunter Bajwa Pakistan Zindabad".
The information was released through a press release without specifying which websites were affected.
Complaints about fuel and food
Listín Diario toured various markets in the nation's capital, where it confirmed the general complaint among citizens who say they don't know what they will do if the cost of living continues to rise disproportionately.
From blaming “Ito Bisonó”, the “Government of Change”, “fuels” and “the external debt”, shoppers, heads of households, single mothers and household providers are looking for someone to blame for their economic hardships, since some even feel that the little sustenance they have to survive is less and less enough each day to cover their fixed expenses.
The Superintendency of Banks charged 232 financial institutions with infractions
Last year, the Superintendency of Banks (SB) issued 232 notifications regarding violations committed by financial intermediation entities, initiated 62 sanctioning processes, and imposed 47 sanctions, according to a report published this weekend by Listín Diario.
Almost all the infractions were minor; 103 corresponded to exchange agents, 74 to multiple banks; 29 to savings and credit banks; 13 to savings and loan associations; 7 to credit corporations; 5 to remittance and exchange agents, for a total of 231 such infractions, according to the agency's statistics.
The country expects 7 million touristsby December 2022
Tourism Minister David Collado reported yesterday that 530,956 non-residents arrived in the country in January of this year, a 129% increase compared to the same month last year, with 82% of those arriving from abroad. More than 7 million tourists are expected this year, 9% more than in 2019 and 7% more than in 2018.
Nine out of ten hotel rooms remained open, and of these, 73% were occupied. Eighty-nine percent of guests were from abroad. Hotel occupancy in the Dominican Republic is now approaching pre-pandemic levels. “The recovery of the hotel industry has been a widespread phenomenon across all regions of the country,” Collado stated.
Strike in the Cibao region on March 14th
The Collective of Social and Popular Organizations of San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte province, held a meeting this Sunday, in which they agreed to participate in a large regional assembly to be held on Sunday the 13th in the city of Santiago, to begin planning a general work stoppage with other organizations, which will be carried out in the 14 provinces of the Cibao region.
The work stoppage would take place on March 14th for 24 hours, to demand solutions from national and local authorities regarding public works, public services, a reduction in fuel prices, the high cost of living, and other societal problems.
Rain causes Juan Luis Guerra concert to be cancelled
The first of four concerts Juan Luis Guerra is scheduled to perform in Punta Cana has been postponed until April 2nd due to heavy rains in the eastern part of the country. Hato Mayor and La Altagracia are under a yellow alert due to a trough; 14 other provinces are under a green alert for possible flash floods in urban and rural areas, overflowing rivers, streams, and ravines, as well as landslides, due to cloud cover and rainfall generated by a trough located south of the country.
Taken from Listín Diario, El Día, El CaribeandDiario Libre.
