ICE Needs the Ericsson Contract for GSM Service
Will there be a new GSM cellular service? And will it be this year? or when? The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) is adamant that the Contraloría General de la República - the Comptroller's office - again review the contract that ICE signed with the Ericcson firm for 600.000 GSM lines.

Currently there are no new lines available and the Ericsson contract, that was rejected last year, that would have seen the sale of those lines last December, could make the much needed service available by the end of the year.

However, if the Contraloría does not approve the contract, ICE has to start again with a new bidding process that could take up to a year and then at least six months for the installation of the network.

The Ericsson contract is worth us$130 million. Ericsson was awarded the contract by ICE early last year, however, a closed meeting by ICE and Ericsson Costa Rica officials in Praguelast spring raised eyebrows when it was discovered that Ericsson paid for the ICE officials, who had made an unannounced side trip.

The newly appointed Contralor, Alex Solís, who resigned from office under pressure, denied the necessary approvals for all public contracts and killed the deal. The rumour that ICE was going to negotiate an expantion of it's contract with the current provided of GSM service in Costa Rica, Alcatel, opened the door to corruption scandals that has touched many political figures and businessmen.

Former ICE board member, José Antonio Lobo, admitted to getting a pay off from ICE who in turn paid a portion to former Costa Rican president, Miguel Angel Rodríguez. Lobo is under house arrest and Rodríguez is preventive detention in La Reforma prison, after being detained as he returned to Costa Rica after stepping down from his new job as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) based in Washington, DC.

Edgar Valderde, president of Alcatel Costa Rica, was fired by the French telecommunications firm and is under investigation, along with another former presidnet, José María Figueres Olsen, who is refusing to return to Costa Rica to answer questions by a Legislative committee.

Ericsson appealed the decision by the Contraloría and the Constitutional Court, known as the Sala IV, decided that the Contraloría has to again review the contract due to circumstances surrounding the last decision and then Comptroller Solís.

In the meantime, as this mess sorts itself out, Costa Ricans are waiting with cellular telephone in hand, in the hopes that any time soon they can get connected.

Long Awaited Fisheries Law Passed
On Thursday (Feb. 10) Costa Rican legislators unanimously approved a new national fisheries law. The proposed law has been debated since 1995, when parts of an antiquated fisheries law from 1948 were ruled unconstitutional.

The new law includes a prohibition on "shark finning" and creates fines and jail terms for those involved in landing shark fins at Costa Rican ports. There are also stiff penalties for anyone who harms endangered sea turtles and the law requires shrimp fishermen to use TEDs, special devices which allow sea turtles to escape from shrimp nets.

For nearly 10 years, fishermen, legislators, industry representatives and conservation groups have worked to finalize the text of the law which includes 173 articles.

Along with many senators, PRETOMA opposes portions of the new law that promote overexploitation of Costa Rica’s ocean resources, such as free permits to foreign vessels to fish tuna in Costa Rica’s national waters and increased sport fishing.

Four years ago PRETOMA led a campaign that halted the passage of a previous draft of the fishery law which would have granted even greater licenses to foreign fleets to fish in Costa Rican waters.

“The last thing Costa Rican fishermen and ocean species need are more vessels fishing in our waters and the region,” says Arauz. “If we truly want commercial and endangered species to recover we need to limit fleets, especially large advanced foreign fleets. And we need a moratorium on longlining in the international waters of the Eastern Pacific.”

Large foreign longline fleets that set millions of hooks began arriving to the region in the 1980s. Since then, the number of leatherback sea turtles nesting on the Pacific coast of Central America has declined by 97% and many national fishermen are struggling because commercial species have been depleted.

“Due to the fact that so many species, such as sea turtles, dolphins, tuna, mahi mahi, rays, swordfish, sailfish and sharks migrate throughout the region, the only way to truly keep from wiping them out is to work on a regional level,” says Arauz. “This new law combined with a recent halt to illegal landings by foreign vessels at private docks and the Ministry of Environment’s vision for creating some form of protection for 25% of Costa Rican waters, are important steps. However, even with the best laws and policies in Costa Rica, without regional cooperation species and fisheries are still threatened.”

PRETOMA (Programa Restauración de Tortugas Marinas) is a Costa Rican non-profit, non-governmental, marine conservation organization that works to promote responsible fisheries and protect sea turtles, sharks and marine biodiversity.
 

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La Nacíon Unveils New Look The Spanish language daily newspaper La Nación, which forms part of the Grupo Nación, yesterday unveiled it's new look following an investment of us$28 million in a new printing plant.   The new printing press, Kba-Comet, made in Germany is housed in a new 4.478 square metres (48.200 square foot) building that has four storeys with a height of 28 metres (92 feet). The Nación had been anxiously awaiting the construction and installation of the new printing press for more than a year and last week, a group of actors dressed as constructions workers paraded the Boulevard (Avenida Central) with boards announcing the change. Friday's edition of the La Nación revealed not only the new look but the quality of print and crispness of the colour and the photos. The new format is larger than the older, at 42 centimetres (16.5 inches) from 37 centimetres (14.5 inches). The format allows for more news and information and more advertising. The classifieds section has been completely redone and the Viva and special sections are now stapled, making it an easy pull out. The new printing press has a larger capacity that the older machine that has been used for many years. Currently, the La Nación prints 115.000 copies daily and 150.000 on Sundays. The Grupo Nación also prints for other publications, like the daily Spanish language newspaper Al Día, magazines and various regional newspapers and advertising supplements. Irish Eyes Are Smiling in Costa Rica Irish eyes were smiling after round two of the Costa Rica Open on the European Challenge Tour as Belfast’s Michael Hoey moved into a share of the lead, closely followed by Athlone’s Colm Moriarty after another day of tough conditions at the Cariari Country Club, west of San José. Hoey carded his second successive round of 70 to join Kyle Dobbs of the USA at the top of the leaderboard on a two under par aggregate of 140, with Moriarty sitting just one shot back after a two under par 69 in round two. Moriarty is tied with Sergio Acevedo of Argentina, with another four players a further shot behind on level par 142 in the event, which is joint sanctioned between the Challenge Tour and the Tour de las Americas. As conditions at the Cariari CC toughened up, England’s Richard McEvoy and Argentina’s Juan Abbate, who shared the first round lead with Dobbs, carded 76 and 77 respectively to fall back to one and two over par. The blustery winds at the tricky 6577 yard Cariari CC proved less of a problem for the Irish duo of Hoey and Moriarty, both having grown up playing in the wind on their native island.