Arias Promises To Fix ICE
In his May 1st speech to the Legislative Assembly and the Costa Rican people, president Oscar Arias Sanchez, said he is committed to fixing the "mistakes of the past" by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the state monopoly on electrical power and telecommunications.

Arias said the problems of the past are the reason behind the current energy crisis that the country is living through.

"I take the inescapable responsibility to straighten out the errors of the past, so that there never will be a lack of vision and the inflexible ideology drive us to darkness", said the president during his 85 minute speech to the legislature on the report of his government during its first year in office.

The topic of the energy crisis took up the most time in his speech in the tradicional report by the government on May 1st, before legislators and other government officials and diplomats.

The president asked the legislators to support his projects for the coming year.

The lack of electrical power is not due to an accident or a temporary problem, said the president in his message. Arias outline the four causes of the energy crisis: global warming, the aging thermal electrical generating plants, the limits placed by the past administrations on ICE to make the necessary investments, and the ideological deliriums of the union leaders.

The last point is what the president focused on. "Those prejudices have sanitized the participation of the private sector in the generation of electrical power".

Arias raised his hand, pointing with his index finger and his voice and paused between his words to make his point stronger.

"Obstructing the private companies... is a form of sacrifycing the Costa Rican public at the altar of the dogmas of a handful of unions. And that we will not allow", Arias said during his speech.

The president talked about the emergency declaration by his government last week coming to the aid of ICE to be able to make the necessary investment in more thermal plants and the proposal to the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE) to finance the hydro-electric project in the southern zone. The emergency declaration allows ICE to fast track its purchase.

The president also took the opportunity to urge the legislators to approve the Ley de fortalecimiento del ICE that would break the monopoly on telecommunications.

"As a citizen and as president I have made my choice" I will say yes to the TLC... because, on balance the positives outweigh the negatives", said Arias with respect to the free trade agreement with the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic, which will soon be put to a referendum where Costa Ricans must make a choice of yes or no to the trade deal.

The president's speech also covered other subjects like the bettering of the roads, the digital gap, pensions and the economy.

On the road issue, the president says his government is committed to repairing the 4.500 kilometres of the national road network. Arias said that the MOPT's (the transport and public works ministry) budget has been increased by 56% during 2007, to effect repairs that include raod resurfacing and clean up.

As to the economy, Arias said that there is an expected 8% growth over 2006 in the gross national production, the highest ever in the last six years and emphasized that the unemployment rate is lower than last year and second lowest in Latin America.

The president also said he was pleased that the inflation rate was the lowest in the last 13 years (9.43%), while reducing the devaluation of the colon in half of what it was in 2005, and emphasized the great reduction in interest rates, as they fell some 8 points.