He worked all his live, paid taxes. Now he's at the mercy of the politicians.
Santo Domingo.- A State which doesn’t know how much it spends in the provinces, unequal education, a democracy snared by cronyism practices a health system that prefers curing diseases instead of prevent them and politics where the “law of the thug reigns” is the picture the United Nations Program for Development (PNUD) paints in its most recent report for Dominican Republic: "Human development, a question of power."
Released last night in the Santo Domingo State University (UASD), the study took as a starting point the conclusions of the National Report on Human Development 2005, whose content reveals that Dominican society’s relatively low development isn’t from the lack of resources.
The investigators verified that the problem is in the existence of an economic style of growth and institutional ordering which creates wealth by reproducing misery, citing among the causes a decentralization process conducted "capriciously" (between 1997 and 2007 total municipal jurisdictions and districts was tripled) and that the State doesn’t know how much it spends in the country’s provinces.
It also derides the political system, which it said has created a society, where "misdeeds don’t receive punishment" and with a political system were “the law of the thug reigns."
The PNUD study adds that "none of the Government ministries can provide a verifiable account of their total spending in territorial terms."
Written by: rafiell, 29 May 2008 7:57 AM
From: United States
Reads just like the the country I live in...what a world!
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Rafi are you in Havana ? Rafi how do you get internet access in cuba?.....I thought only party stooges could use the internet
From: United States
This corrupt direction has never changed from either PRSC to the PRD and now the PLD.
As long as the deeds of Teflon Fernadez and the 40 theives go untethered and untouched then this will always continue.
To make sure his reign of corruption never falters he will put his wife in to continue in his footsteps.
Be aware that when Leonel came to power he had 2 pesos only to rub together. Where did all his millions in his and his wifes bank accounts come from. Now there will be Barrick mining buying favoritism.
Good luck to the population and perhaps some day there will be anarchy to correct this problem when the people say enough is enough.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Another outside trouble maker trying to start a revolution .....just like mr.... DATA and STATISTICS...jimi did your parents beat you when you were a child.....Why are you wishing anarchy on us ?...... because your guy lost the election ?
Written by: juanb, 29 May 2008 9:09 AM
From: Dominican Republic
The opening paragraph of this article is as accurate and concise a description of the conditions in the DR as you will read anywhere. The unchecked increase in government wasteful spending on electricity officials, municipal government offices, and general permissiveness towards the "thugs", must at some point be addressed by the president. He has rightfully won a second, and deserved new term, based on his handling of the unbelievable economic crisis that he inherited and overcame. We here, indeed, people all over the world are now faced with a new severe crisis due to the prices of oil and food, and I for one am confident that Lionel will again steer our ship through stormy waters. However, he must, at the same time address the problems that are unique to the DR, namely, the problems identified in this report.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
juan please give harrington a wack for negativity
Written by: Jander, 29 May 2008 9:20 AM
From: Dominican Republic
Written by: rafiell, 29 May 2008 9:23 AM
From: United States
Juanb,
Well said.
Written by: juanb, 29 May 2008 9:37 AM
From: Dominican Republic
Jander:
Unfortunately those outrageous and undeserved salaries are only the tip of the iceberg.
From: United States
to gouletcolonial,
What you see as negativity is really constructive criticism, because without critics like myself there will be total dictatorship which the DR is on the Brink of with Teflon Fernandez.
Be aware that the presidential powers have not changed since Balaguer was in office.
Right now Teflon Fernadez is trying to change the costitution so that he can run unchecked in the future and should that fail he will put his wife in.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
putting your wife in as you say is common practice throughout the world ie. Argentina etc this would be unfair to legislate against but limiting the number of terms should be mandatory......I dont want to see Lionel either after 2012 or his wife.....as wonderful as she may be
From: United States, Port Washington, LI (New York)
Jimharrington=Josean:
Very sad to see changing Your identity......................
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
as I have said on many occasions Josean in spite of his sometime obnoxiousness ....was sometimes intelligent and witty......these qualities are well concealed by the impostor Harrington
From: United States, Washington
Well, the UNDP report sounds much like the articles and comments that many of us have been providing for a while now. I think that this can be an impetus to mobilize people into an alternative political movement to move away from the clientelistic, cronyism, and delegative nature of the DOminican Political system
Critism and the debates of ideas are a way to move things forward. We should welcome the UNDP report as one point, which may or may not represent the whole truth, but it should start a dialogue that will hopefully push the DR to becoming a "representative democracy"
Gente, but to do this, we need to turn our backs on the traditional parties which refuse to change their anacronistic ways. In my Post-election interviews I've encountered people and party activists from the three trad. parties who attest to the clientelistic ways the election was conducted. So if the PLD, PRD, PRSC don't want to change, WE should look elsewhere
I propose we look to the MIUCA...
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Baldy your position is very appealing and what you say about our political parties is mostly true to varying degrees ...however extreme caution should be used in our quest for more transparency in government so as not to" throw out the baby with the bath water " the power structure of corruption must be weeded out though
From: United States, Washington
Sorry, one more thing. So we have the following institutions saying that clientelism is prominent in the DR:
- The Media (e.g. Nuria)
- JCE (The Nominillas)
- OAS (Use of state resources in election & Nepotism)
- UNDP
- Academics (e.g. Jonathan Hartlyn, Rosario Espinal, ME- I know, shameless self-promotion)
- The Church (Catholic & Evangelical)
- The Major Opposition parties (who also practice clientelism)
- Minor Political Movements
- Average Citizens
Organizations who deny the Practices:
- The Major political parties, particularly the PLD (not to pick on them too much, b/c the other two major parties are just as bad, really!!! they are Hypocrites)
So, given this consensus of clientelism & the admission that clientelism weakens state capacity, reduces the representative nature of democracy, promotes inefficiency and corruption, and maintains the HUGE levels of poverty, underdevelopment, and inequality in the country. What should we do next? Honest question...
Written by: bernies, 29 May 2008 11:31 AM
From: United States, key west fl
bla bla bla. they are all the same just one is doing a better than rest a least trying to put the country on the globol map so other countries know where it is. like the ad on cnn that dominican republic another planet full choices and surprises. have any of you seen the ad.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
we do not want any more tourists coming here with their filthy imperialist money...creating those lousy jobs...and exploiting our bartenders ruining our golf courses and corrupting our honest tour guides and taxi drivers and hotel employees with cash
From: United States
Bernies,
"like the ad on cnn that dominican republic another planet full choices and surprises"
I saw the add a mioce sunset scene with a silohette of the new malecon center and along side the unfinished hotel building for 15 years on the malecon across from Bellas artes.
You have illegal haitians burning garbage there every morning and the goats and horse with the chickens in the background.
Nice advertisment until you see for your self the garbage and the false advertisment.
Why has that unfinished building not been torn down it is a unsafe eyesore waiting for an accident to happen.
Written by: juanb, 29 May 2008 11:53 AM
From: Dominican Republic
Baldoria:
Unfortunately those who are aware of the real problems of the country are few and far between. Sadly our average fellow countryman cares more about the Red Sox than they do about the conditions here, which they feel will never change. Your question as to what to do next must first acknowledge the lack of interest of the average Dominican and figure out a way to include their help in working towards a solution.
Written by: MrDom, 29 May 2008 12:04 PM
From: Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, DN
JimHarrington, you need to come to SD more often..
Before talking without basis, look for information at wikipedia or u might know where.
1- there are many new projects being built in the Malecom such as (Veiramar I (23 floors) Veiramar III (28 floors)) and there is a giant project that soon will be announce, next to Veiramar III (nicer than Malecom Center)). and how about Sans Souci project.... (marina, hotel shopping area and so on)etc
2- The government is embellishing public areas of the malecom (Roberto Salcedo)..
So man please don’t be jealous of our city…
Written by: rafiell, 29 May 2008 12:06 PM
From: United States
Juanb,
again,,,well said
From: United States, Washington
I don't think the avg dominican is uninterested in politics, they just don't feel empowered. That's what the UNDP report points to, in places where people have been empowered - via educaiton campaigns, participatory budgeting, bringing leaders to local meetings (e.g. tertulias & neighborhood association)- in these places (e.g. salcedo, la vega, villa gonzalez) people have gone from being subjects to becoming Contributing CITIZENS. These places are not perfect, but people feel that gov is on another planet. THey get involve, and they run for office, and they challenge their leaders. THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY. Unfortunately, money and power are so centralized (I just heard that the office of the pres. controls 93% of the budget) that these examples of local democracy have limited impact. We need to take pwr away from the pres and give it to the congress, the municipalities, & provinces. Checks and balance
We can't retreat to the convinience of being overwhelmed!
From: United States, Washington
THe Capital is looking VERY beautiful and more organized. You can't take away what LF has done and plans to do. Few things are seldom Black or White. BUt the thing is the arbitrariness of these projects, the lack of transparency and accountability. Who decides what projects are done, how they are done, where they are done, and who builds them? Is there a procurement process that ensures that the best bid (which is not always the cheapest) is selected? Is there any effort to incorporate local knowledge (the people) in designing these projects? Are people even consulted?
Here's a good example of a major flaw in the design of LF's projects: the 27 de febrero's pedestrian mid-way is hardly used. Actually it is not used at all. All that money to build the Kiosks, benches, and what not was for nothing. Maybe if local vendors were incorporated in the design, like they were in el 9 de la duarte, things would have turn out a bit better for the 27 de feb.
Do you see my point?
Written by: bernies, 29 May 2008 1:01 PM
From: United States, key west fl
the 27 of febrero little walk park was being converted it in to a gay trap so you could let your young childrens play around without thinking some of these folks was going to try to get them im their beds as usally happens. that place was builded for the public and it became lost hope for those who wanted to enjoy an afternoon with their kids. just to go there and have your kids what gay couple kissing like it is was to do in public places was a crime for young childrenss.
Written by: bernies, 29 May 2008 1:05 PM
From: United States, key west fl
and i am not a homofobia happen lived in Key West, Miami Beach, WDC and Austin Texas as well as new orleans and new york. I do not have anything against other people sexual preference. It is none of my business. but they need to be more discrected when children are present wouldn't you agree on that.
From: United States, Washington
I think ALL couples should be descrete when there are families around. To single out gay couples is a sign of disccrimination and oppression. But this is not the point of now
What is salient is how the 27 pedestrian-way is an example of a project gone terribly wrong, partly because the public was not consulted in its design. Maybe the millions invested to make the pedestrian-way could have gone to build some other thing that benefit the pubilc better. But without the public's input, the Gov does whatever it thinks is best. SOmetimes, they do do good things (the elevados & tunnels) other times, not really... e.g. the $36K bikes, the $6 mil planes that cost us $9 Mil, and a metro that may be the answer to ALL our problems, but maybe we paid more for it than what we needed to
The point is, without mechanisms to ensure representation, transparency and accountability, we're praying that our leaders are public-minded. That´s a lot of faith to place on anyone
Written by: BASTA, 29 May 2008 6:42 PM
From: Dominican Republic, =Ghetto/Legalize Drugs
JimHarrington - Kudos to you
From: United States
That is the DR to a 'T'.
Dominican authorities wear the badge of corruption like it is something to be proud of.
They measure their stature by being the most transparently corrupt.
Written by: BLANCO, 30 May 2008 12:38 PM
From: Dominican Republic
thank you juanb for your comment on geting the average dominican off baseball and thinking about their future or their childrens ihave been trying for 20 years to no avail
Smaller
Bigger
Close Gallery
Facebook
Digg this
del.icio.us
Technorati
Yahoo
As long as the deeds of Teflon Fernadez and the 40 theives go untethered and untouched then this will always continue.
To make sure his reign of corruption never falters he will put his wife in to continue in his footsteps.
Be aware that when Leonel came to power he had 2 pesos only to rub together. Where did all his millions in his and his wifes bank accounts come from. Now there will be Barrick mining buying favoritism.
Good luck to the population and perhaps some day there will be anarchy to correct this problem when the people say enough is enough.
http://civilrightsblog.org/Dominican%20Republic.html
Well said.
Unfortunately those outrageous and undeserved salaries are only the tip of the iceberg.
What you see as negativity is really constructive criticism, because without critics like myself there will be total dictatorship which the DR is on the Brink of with Teflon Fernandez.
Be aware that the presidential powers have not changed since Balaguer was in office.
Right now Teflon Fernadez is trying to change the costitution so that he can run unchecked in the future and should that fail he will put his wife in.
Very sad to see changing Your identity......................
Critism and the debates of ideas are a way to move things forward. We should welcome the UNDP report as one point, which may or may not represent the whole truth, but it should start a dialogue that will hopefully push the DR to becoming a "representative democracy"
Gente, but to do this, we need to turn our backs on the traditional parties which refuse to change their anacronistic ways. In my Post-election interviews I've encountered people and party activists from the three trad. parties who attest to the clientelistic ways the election was conducted. So if the PLD, PRD, PRSC don't want to change, WE should look elsewhere
I propose we look to the MIUCA...
- The Media (e.g. Nuria)
- JCE (The Nominillas)
- OAS (Use of state resources in election & Nepotism)
- UNDP
- Academics (e.g. Jonathan Hartlyn, Rosario Espinal, ME- I know, shameless self-promotion)
- The Church (Catholic & Evangelical)
- The Major Opposition parties (who also practice clientelism)
- Minor Political Movements
- Average Citizens
Organizations who deny the Practices:
- The Major political parties, particularly the PLD (not to pick on them too much, b/c the other two major parties are just as bad, really!!! they are Hypocrites)
So, given this consensus of clientelism & the admission that clientelism weakens state capacity, reduces the representative nature of democracy, promotes inefficiency and corruption, and maintains the HUGE levels of poverty, underdevelopment, and inequality in the country. What should we do next? Honest question...
"like the ad on cnn that dominican republic another planet full choices and surprises"
I saw the add a mioce sunset scene with a silohette of the new malecon center and along side the unfinished hotel building for 15 years on the malecon across from Bellas artes.
You have illegal haitians burning garbage there every morning and the goats and horse with the chickens in the background.
Nice advertisment until you see for your self the garbage and the false advertisment.
Why has that unfinished building not been torn down it is a unsafe eyesore waiting for an accident to happen.
Unfortunately those who are aware of the real problems of the country are few and far between. Sadly our average fellow countryman cares more about the Red Sox than they do about the conditions here, which they feel will never change. Your question as to what to do next must first acknowledge the lack of interest of the average Dominican and figure out a way to include their help in working towards a solution.
Before talking without basis, look for information at wikipedia or u might know where.
1- there are many new projects being built in the Malecom such as (Veiramar I (23 floors) Veiramar III (28 floors)) and there is a giant project that soon will be announce, next to Veiramar III (nicer than Malecom Center)). and how about Sans Souci project.... (marina, hotel shopping area and so on)etc
2- The government is embellishing public areas of the malecom (Roberto Salcedo)..
So man please don’t be jealous of our city…
again,,,well said
We can't retreat to the convinience of being overwhelmed!
Here's a good example of a major flaw in the design of LF's projects: the 27 de febrero's pedestrian mid-way is hardly used. Actually it is not used at all. All that money to build the Kiosks, benches, and what not was for nothing. Maybe if local vendors were incorporated in the design, like they were in el 9 de la duarte, things would have turn out a bit better for the 27 de feb.
Do you see my point?
What is salient is how the 27 pedestrian-way is an example of a project gone terribly wrong, partly because the public was not consulted in its design. Maybe the millions invested to make the pedestrian-way could have gone to build some other thing that benefit the pubilc better. But without the public's input, the Gov does whatever it thinks is best. SOmetimes, they do do good things (the elevados & tunnels) other times, not really... e.g. the $36K bikes, the $6 mil planes that cost us $9 Mil, and a metro that may be the answer to ALL our problems, but maybe we paid more for it than what we needed to
The point is, without mechanisms to ensure representation, transparency and accountability, we're praying that our leaders are public-minded. That´s a lot of faith to place on anyone
That is the DR to a 'T'.
Dominican authorities wear the badge of corruption like it is something to be proud of.
They measure their stature by being the most transparently corrupt.