San José
to be a World Class City
Johnny Araya, the Mayor of San José, has declared
his city as a "zone for urban renovation". As
downtown San José is growing up. it is going through
it's growing pains - congested routes blocked by too
many vehicles and street vendors, oversized signs
that hang over unto the streets, lack of sufficient
garbage receptacles, etc.
The Municipality has been working hard the last
couple of years to adopt new measures that would "clean up" the
streets by removing street vendors from the sidewalks, forcing store
owners to remove or replace signs that don't conform to the new
municipal guidelines and keeping the downtown streets safe and
clean.
The urban renovation doesn't come without it's problems as critics
say the Municipality is on the wrong course of action, to street
vendors refusing to remove their stalls.
The object of the Municipality is renew the downtown core into a
world class city centre.
The Araya administration is doing what no other administration has
done before, enforce the "Municipal Code", an instrument that has
been in place for some time, but no political will to enforce it.
The plan is for the next five years to introduce various "rbanistic"
norms , like imposing property use restrictions, and as well as
introducing residential projects to bring people back to live the
city.
Guanacaste Celebrates 180th Anniversary
Guanacaste celebrated it's 180th year of the 'Anexión del
Partido de Nicoya' over the weekend. The festivities included a
visit by president Able Pacheco, who told Guanacastecos that it
pains him of the poverty in the region and that his hands are tied
as the Fiscal Plan is held up in the legislature.
Pacheco, in his speech, assured listeners that though his government
has achieved all the goals it has for the region, it has worked hard
at ensuring development for the region, with more employment and
more tourists.
A recent study done in the area shows that poverty is increasing
rather than decreasing, now reaching 35% of Guanacastecos. The study
also reveals that residents of the area are concerned of the
negative effects of the Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC).
The anniversary festivities included traditional foods & drinks,
local artisans, a display of folklore costumes and dance and various
concerts.
180 years ago Guanacaste became a part of Costa Rica, when the
ruling party decided against annexation with Nicaragua.
Farmers For A Day
Sixty families in Guatuso, Upala, Los Chiles and San
Ramón spent a year learning about tourists that come to Costa Rica,
what motivates them and training on how to better serve them, in
their new tourist service of "farmer for a day"!
Local residents, like the Gamboa Alvarado, in San Marcos Decutris,
who are the first to receive tourists from New York and Washington
this week, will host tourists to their rural farm so that the
tourists can get a first account of what it is being a farmer in
Costa Rica.
The tourists will directly be involved in rural living -
riding on horses, milking cows and learning to make "chorreadas and
arepas" among the variety of local foods prepared and consumed on
rural farms.
Tourists will feel like farmers and farm living, rather than sunning
on a beach or trekking through the cloud forest or ordering coctails
at a bar.
The plan will allow the farmers increase their revenues and benefit
from the exchange of cultures.
¢10.000 and the Job is Yours
An old scheme that is taking on new life is taking
special advantage of working seeking employment.
The latest is a report out of Palmares, Alajuela (west of San José),
where a man asked potential employees the sum of ¢5.700 colones each
with the promise of giving them work as sales clerks and cashiers in
a store soon to open in the community.
Though the amount is small, local police are responding to the call
of those affected, who came from as far away as San Ramon on
learning of the possibility of employment.
Some of the young women claim that the man told them to show up on
such day to start work, however, only to find on arrival that there
was no such store or work.
The scam is not new. Newspaper ads appear on a regular basis
offering work opportunities, where the caller is not given much in
the way of details of the job and told to be at such office at such
time where they will be given all the information.
It is not uncommon to meet prospective employers at a different
location than where the employment will take place. Advertisements
are often placed by employment agencies or the interviews take place
at a temporary office while the store or business is being set up.
Those who do make the visit to these offices find that they are
really being recruited to be vendors, who are required to put a sum
of money to purchase their rights to distribution and/or as a
requirement to the next level of sales, where the "big" money is.
Some are offered a "dream" job and easily hand over the required
payment.
The sum of money asked usually is less than ¢10.000 colones. Once
the money is paid, they are told to show up for work at such a place
and time, only to learn that the location doesn't exist. A visit
back to the office usually finds no one there and in some cases,
nothing but an empty office.
Most of those affected by the types of scams are women and between
the age of 25 and 30, who are seeking to better their standard
of living.
 News
Briefs
-
In early July, while Municipal Police attempted to remove the Street Vendors
from the streets, several Vendors attacked a police officer. On Saturday
afternoon, following a tip, Municipal police officers swooped in on Avenida
Segunda to arrest the man who had attacked one of their own and near riot
ensued, in a confrontation between police and street vendors, who tried to
also cause property and vehicular damage in the melee.
|
