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There is so much going on Beyond Casa every week that we have decided to resume the “This Week in the Dominican Republic” column to keep you well informed with a weekly digest of the most relevant national headlines.
This week Haiti denied rumors that Dominican products were being banned entry to the neighboring country, we got word that Dominican National Parks are now better monitored thanks to drones, 2 new power plants will be built, and fingerprint scanners will now be part of the tools that the Dominican government will use to fight crime.
Haiti states that the supposed ban of Dominican products into the country is just a rumor
The controversial problems between Dominican Republic and Haiti have recently increased due to the recent repatriation of undocumented immigrants. This week, it spread the rumor that the Haitian government forbade the passage of several products that the Dominican Republic exported to Haitian territory as a backlash from the repatriation of its citizens. Haiti denied these accusations stating that the products that were banned are fruits and vegetables that were announced back in March because of the fruit fly plague.
The Minister of the Environment announces Drones will be used to monitor Dominican National Parks
These drones, donated by Petro Caribe, feature high-resolution digital cameras with panoramic view and reach an altitude of more than 2 kms with a range of 20 kms at speeds of 60km/ph and, according to the Environment Manager, this new equipment will place the institution in the forefront of surveillance over national parks, and added that the first drones are going to be used at Los Haitises National Park.
The Senate approves loan for the construction of power plants based on coal
The Senate ratified a loan of US$656.8 million for the construction of two coal-fired power plants in the thermal power generation facilities in Punta Catalina. According to El Caribe newspaper, the loan was between the Dominican government and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) from Brazil. The project is run by the Dominican Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE).
Fingerprint scanners will be used to fight crime
The National Police in collaboration with the US Embassy has installed a modern Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) to record the citizens fingerprints as part of the national biometric database. The system aims to help authorities in the fight against crime and prevent identity theft. A total of 16 scanners of this type are to be installed and the first ones are already operating at the National Police headquarters of Santo Domingo, San Cristóbal and right here in La Romana.
Photo credit @drfromsky on Instagram