NewsWhore
09-06-2007, 05:50 PM
The special commission appointed to study the contract for the construction of a tourism dock in Bayahibe has issued a negative verdict about the company, as reported in Diario Libre. Bayahibe is the main departure port for boats taking tourists on the Saona Island tour.
Before presenting the report, commission president, deputy Eugenio Cedeno Areche (PRD-La Romana) resigned. He said he did so after the proceedings for the questioning of Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez in Congress, "that put me in a prejudicial position to deliver an impartial report." Jimenez is a member of the decisive political committee in the ruling PLD party, and the PLD is majority in Congress.
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez awarded the controversial dock construction contract in 2005 without holding a tender to a recently established company, Embarcaderos Turisticos del Caribe, a company with no previous experience in ports and a registered capital of RD$50,000. According to the contract, the company commits to investing US$2.5 million to build a modern port in Bayahibe.
According to information provided by the Technical Office for Legislature Reviews, Embarcaderos Turisticos del Caribe is a subsidiary of another company, Belmont Investment, S.A. about which the report states legislators have little information, except that it is headed by Francisco Armando Rodriguez Castro. The legislature report states that Rodriguez Castro assumes no role or obligation, even though he heads Embarcaderos in representation of Belmont, neither of which has any commitments with the state.
Nevertheless, the state is obliged to take on multiple responsibilities such as delivering the land where the project will be developed as well as the area for the infrastructure construction; to facilitate permits and authorizations, and to coordinate the social relationship between the company and the communities that may be affected by the port construction. The contract also obliges service provision by the Tourism Police and the Navy in regulating and controlling security and access to the area and prohibiting commercial boat trips from embarking and disembarking.
The legislature report also found that on the board of Embarcaderos Turisticos, Rodriguez Castro will also represent A.R. Inmobiliaria, a real estate company, in the rental, purchase, sale and mortgage of properties.
The contract, signed by the Minister of Tourism on 5 December 2005 in representation of the Dominican state, stipulates the concession for the Bayahibe property would last 20 years.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
Before presenting the report, commission president, deputy Eugenio Cedeno Areche (PRD-La Romana) resigned. He said he did so after the proceedings for the questioning of Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez in Congress, "that put me in a prejudicial position to deliver an impartial report." Jimenez is a member of the decisive political committee in the ruling PLD party, and the PLD is majority in Congress.
Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez awarded the controversial dock construction contract in 2005 without holding a tender to a recently established company, Embarcaderos Turisticos del Caribe, a company with no previous experience in ports and a registered capital of RD$50,000. According to the contract, the company commits to investing US$2.5 million to build a modern port in Bayahibe.
According to information provided by the Technical Office for Legislature Reviews, Embarcaderos Turisticos del Caribe is a subsidiary of another company, Belmont Investment, S.A. about which the report states legislators have little information, except that it is headed by Francisco Armando Rodriguez Castro. The legislature report states that Rodriguez Castro assumes no role or obligation, even though he heads Embarcaderos in representation of Belmont, neither of which has any commitments with the state.
Nevertheless, the state is obliged to take on multiple responsibilities such as delivering the land where the project will be developed as well as the area for the infrastructure construction; to facilitate permits and authorizations, and to coordinate the social relationship between the company and the communities that may be affected by the port construction. The contract also obliges service provision by the Tourism Police and the Navy in regulating and controlling security and access to the area and prohibiting commercial boat trips from embarking and disembarking.
The legislature report also found that on the board of Embarcaderos Turisticos, Rodriguez Castro will also represent A.R. Inmobiliaria, a real estate company, in the rental, purchase, sale and mortgage of properties.
The contract, signed by the Minister of Tourism on 5 December 2005 in representation of the Dominican state, stipulates the concession for the Bayahibe property would last 20 years.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)