Alajuela Hospital Builder
Director In Preventive Detention
When
President Abel Pacheco, on live
television a couple of weeks ago
spoke the words of getting tough
with those responsible for the
Alajuela Hospital debacle, a
hospital that has been some 25
years in making, that has so
many deficiencies and
malfunctioning medical equipment
since it opened last October, no
one really believed that
anything would be done about it.
Last week the Fiscalía de
Delitos Económicos raided the
offices of the Spanish
consortium that built the
hospital, Obrascón Huarte Laín (OHL),
and detained it's executive
director, Hernaldo Lazo. Several
other OHL executives had already
fled the country, leaving on
flights headed for Madrid,
Spain.
Saturday night, a judge with the
Segundo Circuito Judicial in
Goicoechea ordered three months
of preventive detention for Lazo
while the Fiscalía continues
it's investigation. Lazo was
transferred to San José's San
Sebastián jail.
Israel Moya, a manager at the
Caja Costarricense del Seguro
Social (CCSS), the government
agency that oversees medical
care and operation of hospitals
was given the same preventive
measures for his role in what is
suspected to be a case of
corruption, failing to properly
inspect the builder's progress
and construction process.
Both Lazo and Moya are Costa
Ricans, while the four OHL
executives who arrived on
Wednesday from Spain to meet
with CCSS officials, left the
country Thursday morning, hours
before the raid on OHL offices.
The meeting had been scheduled
for Friday morning with CCSS
director, Dr. Alberto Saenz, to
discuss the problem faced by the
CCSS with a hospital that cost
us$40 million dollars and is not
functioning as it had been
planned.
Before leaving for Madrid, the
OHL executives commented to CCSS
officials that the hospital
building presented no structural
faults and that it was a
question of maintenance and some
of the equipment that is
malfunctioning was not part of
the contract.
The executives vowed to return
to confront their
responsibilities though no date
for the return was given.
For his part, President Pacheco
has said that he will personally
contact his counterpart in Spain
to discuss the situation. He is
upset that after all the
planning and spending a huge
amount of the money, Costa
Ricans didn't get what they had
bargained for.
An Interview with Fiscal General
Dall'Anese, Who Says He Is Only
Doing His Job
In an
interview in today's edition of
the Spanish language newspaper,
La Nación, Fiscal General
de la Republica, Franciso
Dall'Anese, talks about the
current situation at the
Fiscalía - the prosecutor's
office - since he took over one
year ago, the achievements and
the weaknesses of the
department, the change of
opinion in accepting a bodyguard
and some of the cases that his
office have been working on.
Dall'Anese pointed out that his
office can now handle about
17.000 cases a year, due to a
system of follow up and control
that has been implemented and
that his prosecutors have
adopted the idea of "burning the
midnight oil".
This has allowed his office to
solve some high profile cases
like the murder of the son Fabio
Garnier and that of murdered
journalist Ivannia Mora. The
weakness that his office faces
is in administration, where if a
computer breaks down, it could
be weeks before it can be
repaired or replaced.
The Fiscal General is getting
the recognition that is
unprecedented in Costa Rica's
history. Dall'Anese says that he
is met by Costa Ricans who give
him the thumbs up just about
everywhere he goes. He pointed
out that justice is not what
many people think it is and is
not based on public opinion. The
prosecutors and judges can't
base their decisions on opinion
polls, the Fiscal added.
Dall'Anese was asked why the
change of opinion regarding a
bodyguard. Dall'Anese had said
when he took office that if his
predecessors didn't need a body
guard, neither would he.
However, these days the Fiscal
General is surrounded by
bodyguards which accompany him
everywhere he goes.
"The decision was that of Jorge
Rojas (Director of the OIJ) and
I cannot go against his
decision", was Dall'Anese's
reply. The Fiscal General told
his interviewer that Jorge Rojas
clearly told him of his concern
for safety and had to leave it
to him to do his job. Dall'Anese
said he has had to get used to
the idea.
Asked about corruption and if it
will be possible to change or
rehabilitate a politician or
public official who has been
living with corruption most of
his life, Dall'Anese said that
he doesn't know if that could be
achieved, but just like a
prisoner who has the opportunity
to be rehabilitated, so can a
corrupt politician or official.
The interview led to the obvious
question, that of how former
president Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
was treated when he returned to
Costa Rica, facing accusations
of corruption, and was
handcuffed and sped away like a
common criminal.
Dall'Anese was emphatic that at
no time the rights of the former
president were violated. The
police acted in accordance with
the regulations in place, which
means that a person - any person
- who is detained by the police
must be handcuffed at all times
while in their custody,
including while riding in a
vehicle.
Fiscal Dall'Anese added that he
was not present when the former
president was detained as he got
off the Taca Airlines flight,
but from all the reports
indicate that the police acted
in a proper manner. Dall'Anese
also said that they tried to
avoid the transmission of images
as the former president was
taken off the airplane, but it
was the decision of the Ministro
de Seguridad Pública (Rogelio
Ramos), to allow news reporters
and cameras near the former
president.
In the case of former president
José María Figueres Olsen,
Dall'Anese wouldn't say much
other than his investigators are
working on the case and are
looking into every possible way
to get to the truth.
Asked if Figueres could claim
political asylum, Dall'Anese
said that that will depend on
the country or countries
involved to make that decision.
Figueres is not under any
political persecution, nor is he
- for the moment - under
indictment.
The big and final question was
on his political aspirations
given his high profile position.
His answer was a clear, no. "I
have no political aspirations, I
am doing my job and will be here
for the duration of my
appointment by the Supreme
Court, after that, I will be
back at the Tribunal de Casación,
where my desk is waiting for
me."
|
|
Sales
Abroad Increased
The Promoter of Foreign Trade
(PROCOMER) reported
that Costa Rican exports
increased by 4.2 percent and
reached $502.4 million in
January, $20.2 million more than
in the same month last year, at
$482.2 million.
The agency also
reported sales to new markets in
Morocco, Hong Kong, Spain,
Colombia, Venezuela, Holland,
and Italy, the destination for
goods which have recently joined
the local production.
The United
States remains the major trade
partner; 43 percent of Costa
Rican exports are destined to
that market. Hong Kong places
second with 6 percent, followed
by Germany (4.9 percent) and
Holland (4.5 percent).
Liberia
Airport Expands
With a $2.2 million
investment, Daniel Oduber
International Airport in
Liberia, Guanacaste, will expand
its bay for airplanes from four
to six commercial jets at a
time.
Also, it will increase its
capacity for private jets from
12 to 25.
Airport authorities
said that the works will be
completed in the coming months,
in order to meet the increase in
the number of scheduled and
non-scheduled flights that have
made of Liberia the gate to the
Northwestern Costa Rica beaches
and mountains.
|
|
|
|
