As Floods Recede, The Affected
Going Home
As the
water recedes, those
evacuated to temporary shelters
are starting to return home. Or
what is left of it. The Comisión Nacional de
Emergencia (CNE) says that the
number of people in shelters is down to
6.171 last night from 8.500 the
day earlier.
The job of assessing damage and
rebuilding the area has begun.
So far some 800 homes have been
damaged or destroyed, along with
59 bridges and 3.147 hectares of
agricultural land. More than 57
routes have road damage - the
main road in Sixaola has 28km of
the 32km completely unusable to
vehicular traffic.
Residents of the area complain
that the high level of the road
contributed to the higher damage
level, meanwhile the road
builder says that is was the
road, used by the residents as
high ground, that helped to save
lives.
There still are eighteen
communities that have yet to
received any help from the Red
Cross and emergency workers.
Fortunately, there were only
four deaths reported.
The big worry now is the spread
of disease due to contaminated
water and other factors. The
Ministerio de Salud (Health
Ministry) is putting together an
emergency plan to clean and
disinfect water wells, as well
as coordinating efforts with the
Acueductos y Alcantarillados (A
y A) - the water and sewage
company - to get the flow of
water and sewage material
flowing again.
Experts and residents alike say
that this year's flood is the
worst they have seen in many
years. In total, more than 200
communities were affected.
Looking at a map, basically all
of the low lying lands from the
North in Sarapiquí to the South
in Sixaola was under water.
Sixaola was the hardest hit.
The government has announced
that it is planning a detailed
study of how the can stop this
situation from repeating itself
every year.
Authorities are quick to tell
residents that, notwithstanding
that the climatic conditions
have improved greatly over the
past day - sunny skies have
replaced the clouds and rain -
residents should still maintain
a state of alert as the weather
can change drastically and
without warning.
Pacheco's Tour of the Affected
Area Cut Short by Demonstration
A
group of taxi drivers yesterday
impeded President Abel Pacheco's
tour of the Caribbean zone to
get a first hand look at the
damage and loss by the residents
there.
The taxi drivers are still upset
at the government's decision to
continue to support the
vehicular inspection operated by
the Spanish/Tico consortium
Riteve SyA and that they are
require to submit their vehicles
for inspection twice a year.
The president began his tour of
the area in the northern zone of
Sarapiquí, accompanied by the
Minister of Transport and Obras
Publicas (MOPT), Randall Quirós,
president of the Comisión
Nacional de Emergencias (CNE),
Luis Diego Morales, and the
presidenteof the board of
directors of the Junta de
Administración Portuaria y de
Desarrollo Económico de la
Vertiente Atlántica, Alberto
José Amador.
The protest took place over the
Reventazón in Siquirres, forcing
the president and his entourage
to change plans and return to
San José rather than move
forward towards Limón and the
southern zone as planned.
Central Bank Announces Plan to
Reduce Inflation
The Banco Central
de Costa Rica (BCCR) - Central
Bank - announced yesterday that
it's principal goal for 2005 is
to reduce inflation by at least
3.3 percentage points lower than
in 2004. If the bank is able to
achieve it's goal, the inflation
rate for this year would be kept
at 10%.
Last year's inflation rate of
13.13%, according to bank
officials, was an isolated case
even though it was the highest
in the last year and the highest
in Central America.
The high inflation rate is being
blamed mainly on the high cost
of oil on international markets,
Costa Rica spending more than
us$200 million dollars for the
crude.
Part of the BCCR plan is to
issue bonds in the amount of
us$200 million dollars and
increase interest rates. The
plan also includes increase the
international monetary reserves
and to keep the deficit at 3.9%
of the Gross National Product (Producto
Interno Bruto - PIB).
The Central Bank is also putting
strength on the passing of the
Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC)
- Free Trade Agreement with the
United States. The government
has yet to send the TLC
agreement to the legislature,
wanting to first put through the
'Reforma Fiscal' - the Tax
Reforms that have been stalled
in the Congress for almost two
years.
President of the BCCR, Francisco
de Paula Gutiérrez, told the
Spanish language daily newspaper
La Nación, that "he
respects the politics of the
Costa Rican president Abel
Pacheco, however, the TLC and
Tax Reforms are two items the
government needs to resolved
this year as it is important for
the country's growth."
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Occidental
Hotels & Resorts Continues
Expansion with Addition of
Grand Papagayo
Occidental Hotels & Resorts,
one of the world's leading
resort companies and
all-inclusive hoteliers in
the Americas, announced its
newest resort, Grand
Papagayo in Guanacaste.
The Grand Papagayo marks the
third property in the
company's Costa Rica
portfolio and underscores
Occidental's growth strategy
to be the most luxurious
resort brand in Costa Rica
offering customized
all-inclusive vacation
experiences for a range of
travelers.
Located on the northwest
Pacific coast overlooking
the Bay of Papagayo and
Playa Buena beach, the
169-room Grand Papagayo
Resort was designed to
provide the upscale traveler
and family with the kind of
personal attention found at
a boutique hotel while
enjoying all the amenities
and activities of a
full-service resort.
One of the world's leading
hotel companies and the
largest all-inclusive resort
chain in the Americas,
Occidental Hotels & Resorts
has 22 resorts in key
destinations under its
Allegro, Grand and Royal
Hideaway brands.
Tamarindo Airport Closure
Threatened
Ralph
Nicholson,
TheBeachTimes.com
The owners of Tamarindo
Airport warned the Costa
Rican Government Wednesday (January
5) they would shut
the airport down within a
week if they were not
allowed to charge outgoing
passengers a fee for using
the facility.
Grupo Tamarindo Diriá, which
bought the airport in 1993
as part of plans for a
200-hectare development on
the outskirts of town,
issued the ultimatum this
week to Consejo Técnico de
Aviación Civil (the Board of
Civil Aviation).
They have given the Board
until January 13 to approve
their request to charge up
to $5 per outgoing passenger
to help defray operating
costs for what is now the
fourth busiest airport in
the country, after Tobias
Bolañes Airport, in Pavas.
The ultimatum comes 11
months after Grupo Tamarindo
Diriá, which operates the
Tamarindo Diriá Hotel,
agreed to suspend the
passenger tariff while the
Government considered their
request.
“We have asked for this
tariff to be approved
repeatedly,” said Luis A.
Medaglia, General Manager of
the Tamarindo Diriá. “In the
first days of December Civil
Aviation promised us they
would approve the tariff by
December 17, but then the
government closed down for
the holidays.
“Yesterday I went to another
meeting and was told they
wanted us to wait until
January 13,” he said. “If
they don’t approve our
tariff by that date we will
close the airport.”
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