National Emergency Declared Due To Floods
Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, accompanied by his brother, Rodrigo Arias, the ministro de la Presidencia and other government officials, yesterday visited San Antonio de Belén for a first hand look at the damage caused by floods during the past week that destroyed some 1.200 homes in various parts of the Central valley.

The president, during the visit to Belén, one of the worst affected areas,  signed a government emergency decree, that allows the affected communities to receive financial aid.

The other communities affected by the heavy rain and flooding of last week are villages along the Burio and Quebrada Seca rivers, like San Rafael, Barva, Flores, Alajuela, Cartago and Alajuelita.

The emergency decree allows the government to earmark money for the reconstruction of the homes and repairs to the infrastructure.

The president thanked the work of the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias - CNE - (national emergency commission), the local municipality and officials of the Institución de Mixta Ayuda Social for their role in helping the affected and gave a special thanks to all those volunteers who worked with the CNE.

For his part, minister Arias, said that the CNE will receive a contribution equal to 3% of surplusses of state institutions and saying that he will send the heads of the public institutions a reminded to be current with their contributions.