Donations Keep Pouring In
While relief efforts are
underway in the Caribbean
communities after the rain and
flood affected more than 8.500
people, causing more than us$20
million dollar damage to more
than 214 communities, 3.928
houses, 26 clinics and
hospitals, 21 water lines and 85
roads and bridges damaged, some
beyond repair, San José busy
raising money, food and clothing
to help out.
From the Parque Central to the
Parque La Sabana, fundraisers
along with Red Cross workers
were on hand to take donations.
And with the morning
announcement that the Banco de
Costa Rica (BCR)would match
every colon donated, the
Repretel telethon in front of
Mas x Menos in La Sabana heated
up even more.
Donations came pouring in from
every corner of Costa Rica. The
Repretel telethon alone had
raised ¢102 million colones
(us$221.000 dollars) that was
matched by the BCR bank bringing
the total at 7:30pm at
¢204.000.000 colones.
The BCR bank will keep the
donation account open until the
end of January, allowing those
who can't contribute right now
time to save and donate.
Along with the cash about six
tractor trailers loaded with
food, clothing and other
necessities were announced to be
on their way to Limón. Scores of
vehicles by difference relief
agencies were also filled with
donations, all making their way
to those most in need.
Readers of insidecostarica.com
are doing their part as well. As
of last night, we received $625
in donations from our readers,
adding our promise to pitch in
10% of the donations and the BCR
bank doubling it, our total now
stands at $1.375.
Ericsson Contract Still Not
Approved
The
Ericsson contract to install in
Costa Rica 600.000 new GSM lines
got another kick in the pants
Friday when the Contraloría
General de la República
(Comptroller's office) send back
the us$130 million dollar
contract without a
countersignature.
Ericcson was awarded the
contract at the beginning of
last year by the Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad
(ICE) to add to it's current GSM
and TDMA cellular network of
900.000 lines, in anticipation
of filling the increased demand
for cellular service.
Costa Rica is ranked number
three in the world for cellular
usage, however, it is still
having problems meeting the
demands for the service.
Currently there are no GSM lines
for new subscribers and the
stock of TDMA lines could be
used up in the next couple of
months.
The contract ran into problems
after it was made public as the
Contraloría failed to give it
the OK claiming there were a
number of problems with the
contract and allegations that
several key ICE employees and
board members met privately with
Ericsson officials in Prague
last year.
The Ericsson company appealed
the Contraloría decision and the
Constitutional Court (Sala IV)
sent it back to the Contraloría
for a review. The Contraloría
says it is waiting on the full
decision by the court before it
will consider the approval.
A decision on the contract will
have to wait for now.
Nicaraguans Employed More Than
Costa Ricans
A report in the Spanish daily
newspaper Diario Extra
Saturday says that Nicaraguans
are employed more than Costa
Ricans, which goes against the
popular belief that Nicaraguans
in Costa Rica are only a drain
on the health and social system.
The study was commissioned by
the Fundación Promotora de la
Vivienda (Fuprovi) on the
Nicaraguan immigrant population
in six communities of the
Metropolitan Area (San José).
The study reveals that the
Nicaraguans living in the six
communities are employed, that
only 18 out of 100 homes are
made up by foreigners and that
the other 82 have at least one
Costa Rican in the family. The
study also shows that
Nicaraguans are less poor than
Costa Ricans in those
communities.
The study was carried out from
June of 2003 to June of 2004 and
concentrated on the "informal"
communities of La Carpio, El
Bosque, La Frontera, sections 7
& 8 of Los Guido, La Aurora and
Tejarcillos.
The important fact revealed by
the study is that though 47% of
the heads of the families are
Nicaraguans, 64% of the
residents are Costa Ricans, the
figures mean that there is a
large number of households
headed by a foreigner, these
homes are formed with Costa
Ricans through marriage and
birth.
Another fact revealed by the
study is the majority of
Nicaraguans living in those
communities are less poor than
Costa Ricans, while Nicaraguans
work more hours in general than
the Costa Ricans.
The study included incidents of
domestic violence. In the areas
of La Carpio and La Frontera,
where there are a larger number
of heads of the family being
Nicarguan, only 12% were
responsible for domestic
violence while 13.4% for the
Costa Ricans. In the other areas
the domestic violence percentage
is 19.1% for Costa Ricans and
only 13% for the Nicaraguans.
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Santa Cruz Fiestas and the
People to Blame (?) for It
TheBeachTimes.com
What does it take to make the
biggest and most renowned
Fiestas in the country?
Bulls for a start. Dozens of
them, with august names like
Centenario, and El Santa Cruz,
or others that mock the animals’
dangerous nature, like
Sombrerito (little hat), and
Pica Pollo (Chicken-Picker).
Add xylophones that developed
into oversized, complex wind
instruments called Marimbas,
playing indiscriminately through
day and night; and dancing and
singing from 25 groups of
dancers and musicians; and throw
in revelers who hide their
identity behind papier-mâché
masks shaped into devils. Then
throw in the most outstanding
horses in the country to
participate in the parades.
And of course, all this should
be put together by a five-member
organizing committee working
around-the-clock for seven
months.
Dr Luis Alonso Matarrita,34 (at
right) is the President of the
Comisión de Fiestas or Party
Committee. In real life, he
practices General Medicine at
the Clinic of the Caja in Santa
Cruz.
The committee is named by the
Municipality of Santa Cruz every
year in June, and because of the
magnitude of the enterprise, the
council is studying how make
better use of the experience
gained during the exhausting
months before the inauguration
of the Fiestas on January 14th.
The obvious suggestion is to
extend the mandate.
“I accepted the nomination to
the committee because of the
love I have for my city and its
traditions,” Dr Matarrita said
this week amid final
preparations. “I am a
Santacruceño through and
through, but every year, each
new appointee has to learn this
all over again.
“I’ve learned much this year,”
he concludes, “which will not be
of much use to my successor.”
© The Beach Times
This year Dr Matarrita has taken
on another struggle. He would
like to see the Fiestas have
their own permanent space. At
the moment the Fiestas grounds
are spread throughout Santa
Cruz, and there are high costs
incurred in renting additional
space.
“We rented this lot near the
main Plaza, and then had to
spend money to put electricity,
and water there, not to mention
complying with the Ministry of
Health’s requirements,”
explained Matarrita.
And Dr Julio César Quirós,
Director of the Ministry of
Health’s office in Santa Cruz
has a long list of requirements
before the Fiestas can take
place.
“We need to see an engineering
certification that states that
the barrera or bullring is
secure and apt for a certain
number of people,” he says.
“Emergency and evacuation plans,
plans drawn up for Public Safety
patrols and the presence of the
Red Cross, plans for the
management of solid waste and
black waters, plans for the
installation of latrines, a
detailed map of all activities,
insurance policies for civil
lawsuits, for firework displays,
for all workers…”
Dr Quirós also speaks of the
inspections that will take place
at the fair on Friday. Samples
from all food stalls will be
taken and sent to the laboratory
at the University of Costa Rica
in San José to test for traces
of contaminated foods. This
practice has helped the Ministry
of Health in past years to
determine which foods are the
safest to sell at the Fiestas
and which foods will receive the
necessary permits.
To raise money for the
activities, the committee sells
its food and liquor stalls, and
even each of the 12 segments of
the barrera and bleachers in
public auctions. Different
starting bids are set, with the
liquor stalls being the most
expensive. The successful
bidders for the bullring
segments will agree on a fixed
cover charge hours before the
event starts. Last year, a view
from the bleachers cost 2,000
colones per person.
Hosting the Fiestas is not
cheap. Around ten to 15 million
colones go towards
entertainment, which does
include two bull rides each day,
and daily fireworks displays.
Dr Matarrita estimates that some
100 million colones circulate
during the Fiestas, but of the
money collected, only about
seven million colones remains.
That goes to the municipality
and is destined for social works
such as homes for abandoned
children, or even to buy lots
for homeless people.
He is also hoping some money
could be set aside for the
purchase of a lot that would
belong to the Fiestas. And
therein lies the difficulty —-
the committee starts without a
cent and has to make the
experience a profitable one for
Santa Cruz by the time the 100
firecrackers mark the end of
this year’s Fiestas
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