Costa Rica Goes Dry,
Changes Telephone Number
System At The Stroke of
Midnight
At the stroke of
midnight tonight the "Ley
Seca" goes into effect
until Saturday morning,
banning the sale of
alcohol products in the
country. At the same
time, telephone uses
will have to dial an
extra digit to connect.
The Ley Seca or "dry"
law dates back to
decades, stopping the
sale of liquor, beer,
wine in all areas of the
country during the "Dias
Santos" (holy days)
which are Thursday and
Friday. The law also
bans the sale of alcohol
during elections.
Supermarkets and
retailers who sell
alcohol and remain open
during the two days will
have to block off all
floor areas that offer
alcohol for sale to the
public. The local
municipalities have the
charge of enforcing the
dry law and will visit
all supermarkets,
department stores and
pulperias (local store)
to ensure that the
liquor and beer sections
are closed off to sale.
Liquor stores will be
closed, as well as all
bars which will get a
visit from the local
municipal police or the
Fuerza Pública to place
a sticker on the door.
Bars, in hotels, for
example, will have to
close off all areas that
dispense liquor.
Authorities will be
visiting the
estalishments to place a
sticker on the liquor
cabinets and beer
coolers. Restaurants can
only offer their
customers soft drinks,
juices and water with
meals.
Notwithstanding the dry
law, Semana Santa is the
highest alcohol
consuming period of the
season, as people stock
up on their alcohol
before the country goes
dry.
The abuse of alcohol
during Semana Santa is
also the major reason
for many of the fatal
traffic and aquatic
accidents, as well as a
rise in domestic
violence.
Also, at the stroke of
midnight, Costa Rica
moves forward in its
communications system as
the Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE)
introduces its new eight
digit telephone number
system from the current
seven digits.
All fixed line
telephones - numbers
starting with a 2, 4, 5,
6 and 7 will have the
prefix "2", while all
cellular phones -
numbers starting 3, 8
and 9 will have the
prefix "8". Cellular
users will have to turn
off and their turn their
phones back on after
midnight so that the
telephone unit registers
properly with the
network.
Cellular users who fail
to do so will not be
able to connect to the
network until they turn
their units off and on
again.
All 800 numbers and the
emergency 911 will not
affected by changeover.
Callers from outside
Costa Rica will also
have to dial the eight
digit number to connect.
ICE says it has advised
all international
operators of the change
and there should be no
problems come midnight
for calls not getting
through.
The changeover is to
allow the institution to
offer more services in
the future as the
current seven digit
system is saturated. |
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