Painting of INS Building
Stirs Controversy
The paint job being
applied to the Instituto
Nacional de Seguros
(INS) towering building
located in downtown San
José has to come to a
hault following an order
by the Sala IV or
Constitutional Court,
based on a decision of a
"recurso de amparo"
(writ of habeas corpus)
filed by the Asociación
Nacional de Empleados
Públicos y Privados (ANEP)
- public workers union.
Albino Vargas, secretary
general of the ANEP,
argued that the
arbitrary decision of
Guillermo Constenla,
president of the INS, to
paint the exterior of
the building, threatens
the environment of
buildings of historical
significance that are
located in the vicinity
of the INS.
According to Vargas, the
inappropriate painting
of a building of such
dimensions "would dilute
the dominance of
perspective and cultural
monuments" that surround
it.
The problem, however, is
that the painting of the
exterior of the building
has been partially
completed already, as
the south face of the
building is now white,
while the north face is
half white and half
concrete grey.
The INS has three days
to file its response to
the court decision.
However, Constenla was
adamant that it will not
halt the work and it
will not be asking for
any permits either.
"The INS has the powers
to provide maintenance
to its buildings and
there is no rule or law
that prevents us from
carrying out the work,
and at the moment that
we are given such a
court order, we will
then obey the law", said
Constenla.
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