NewsWhore
07-18-2008, 06:10 PM
Opposition and business leaders have responded to the President's 2008 proposal with skepticism and criticism. As reported in El Caribe, opposition party leaders, PRD secretary general Orlando Jorge Mera and PRSC president and secretary general Quique Antun Batlle and Victor Gomez Casanova Jr., respectively, complained that President Leonel Fernandez's "Integrated Action Plan" was insufficient. Jorge Mera feels that Fernandez fell short with his austerity and spending plan. Batlle also said that Fernandez's words fell short, and he pinpointed that the President failed to explain exactly how these measures would be implemented. Batlle said that last night's speech was in essence the same as the President's speech in 2006, which also fell short of expectations, because none of those measures were ever implemented. He added that this speech proved that Fernandez was out of touch with the realities of the Dominican Republic, and added that the public was expecting more concrete measures.
Guillermo Caram, a former governor of the Central Bank and PRSC party spokesman, said that there were many things from last night that have just been repeated and that are not new. He said the President spoke of a 20% reduction in government spending, but had promised the same thing in 2004. Caram says that when leaders begin to repeat the same things, they lose credibility.
Members of the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD), the Santiago Industrialists and Traders Association (ACIS), the National Rice Producers Federation and other agricultural associations expressed their displeasure with Fernandez's measures, saying they were expecting access to more credit or a reduction of fuel prices as a way of supporting the farming sector. President of the Dominican Federation of Rice Growers Oliverio Espaillat said that the sector needs more access to financing and that farmers need two or three times as many resources than it did in previous years.
Transport union leader Juan Hubieres said that the speech was insufficient, adding that the proposed measures do not get to the core of the problem.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
Guillermo Caram, a former governor of the Central Bank and PRSC party spokesman, said that there were many things from last night that have just been repeated and that are not new. He said the President spoke of a 20% reduction in government spending, but had promised the same thing in 2004. Caram says that when leaders begin to repeat the same things, they lose credibility.
Members of the Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD), the Santiago Industrialists and Traders Association (ACIS), the National Rice Producers Federation and other agricultural associations expressed their displeasure with Fernandez's measures, saying they were expecting access to more credit or a reduction of fuel prices as a way of supporting the farming sector. President of the Dominican Federation of Rice Growers Oliverio Espaillat said that the sector needs more access to financing and that farmers need two or three times as many resources than it did in previous years.
Transport union leader Juan Hubieres said that the speech was insufficient, adding that the proposed measures do not get to the core of the problem.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)