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Local
Mayors will have more power
Today's
Mayoral elections could be an important one
for most Costaricans and their families. The
winning candidate, becoming Mayor, will have
the rights to veto decisions made my municipal
councils. A bad choice can can repercussions
in the daily life in the community.
32
"taxis" found with false plates
The
Transit police and the OIJ decomissioned in
San Jose 32 vehicles for having stickers and
plates as taxis, which were found to be false.
Errors
delays use of bridge
Due to a series of design errors the 780
meter Tempisque bridge, will not open
until February. The corrections will add
an additional 845 Million colones to the
final cost. |
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Tempting,
dangerous, unregulated
Financial
experts here defined the case of the financial
firms that offered unheard of interest rates
to investors as an explosive mix of excessive
trust, tempting high profits, and lack of
regulation. "I do not know of traditional
investments with such high returns,"
former Central Bank president Eduardo Lizano
said regarding Ofinter and Savings Unlimited.
Meanwhile, the victims of the fraud insist in
blaming the Government of Costa Rica for their
predicament and claim that a financial crisis
will break out here when all of them leave the
country.
Lizano believes that the numbers of the people
who took such risks is not likely to be as
high as to have an unusual weigh of the
economic activity of Costa Rica.
Yes to the
environment
The
Minister of the Environment, Carlos Rodriguez,
asserted that it will not be possible for
Mallon Oil Company, from Denver, Colorado, to
exploit petroleum in northern Costa Rica. He
pointed out that the oil business goes against
the environmental policies of the Pacheco
Administration. Mallon manager in Costa Rica,
Jenny Alfaro, claimed that the negative
position of the Ministry of the Environment is
political, not ecological, because the company
met all of the environmental and management
requirements. This is the second case
regarding oil this year, since the operation
of Harken-MKJ Xploration in the Costa Rican
Caribbean had also been ruled out last March.
Improvement
on poverty
While
the rate of poverty in Costa Rica has remained
at an average 20 percent, an unsuspected
positive change has been taking place in the
province of Guanacaste, where the figures went
from 37.5 percent in 1994 to 32.7 percent now.
Even though it remains the region with the
second highest rate of poverty, the
improvement in Guanacaste is considered an
example to follow in order to improve the
overall scenario. The figures surfaced in a
recent survey and experts are now analyzing
the causes, in order to transfer the positive
aspects to other areas.
South
Caribbean road damaged
The
road leading from the Port of Limon south, to
the beaches and resorts of the Costa Rica
South Caribbean, is subject of urgent repairs.
Heavy rains, which flooded several towns,
wrought major damage on the road, particularly
on the bridges over the Banano and Bananito
rivers.
Underwater
home
The
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Costa
Rica, Georgina Butler, dove some 12 feet to
place a plaque on the site of a "housing
development" for marine species in the
Gulf of Nicoya, on the Costa Rican Pacific.
The project consists in an artificial reef
consisting of 90 PVC cylinders, each 3.5 feet
tall and 15 inches in diameter, with an
overall cost of $50,000. The British
Government donated $30,000 and the British
foundation Raleigh International donated the
other $20,000. Even though the cylinders were
first placed in October, some 15 species of
fish and other marine life are already living
there.
New airport
facility
The old
terminal building at Juan Santamaria
International airport is to be demolished, in
order to build a new one. The new facility
will be similar to the one operating now,
which was inaugurated in May last year. The
decision of the Civil Aviation Technical Board
put an end to discussions regarding whether to
refurbish or demolish the old terminal.
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