Saturday 06 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Avenida Central
Boulevard Extension Complete
Drunk Drivers and
Speedsters Can Do Community Work To
Avoid Jail
Hotels Ready On New
Online Reservations
System
Gas Price Drop Approved
10,000 Hectares of Bad
Bananas
Dollar Appreciates Again
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10,000 Hectares of Bad
Bananas
The constant rain that
has been battering the
Caribbean Coast of Costa
Rica for the past two
weeks has affected over
10,000 hectares of
bananas, one of Costa
Rica’s largest exports.
The rain is mainly due
to a cold front that sat
on the Caribbean Coast
for over a week,
followed by another and
yet another, affecting
Nicaragua, Costa Rica
and Panama. The Pacific
side of Costa Rica was
not affected and today
the country is enjoying
blue skies and sunshine.
It is estimated that the
loss of 10,000 hectares
of bananas is valued at
around us$30.8 million,
and many plantation
workers have not been
able to work for over a
month now. It was
originally estimated
that the loss would be
close to us$21 million
however after a closer
inspection many more
hectares were considered
to be destroyed, most
matted flat to the
ground with water and
mud.
This is not good news
for the many large
banana companies in
Costa Rica such as Del
Monte and Chiquita. The
equivalent of 4.3
million 18 kilo boxes of
bananas will not
circulate this season
due to the inclement
Costa Rica weather. With
markets worldwide on the
slowdown how are those
traders going to be able
to get the potassium
they need to get through
the day?
Costa Rica’s coffee
producers have also been
hurt by the bad weather
and a fungus outbreak,
however no numbers are
confirmed yet on their
losses. The Costa Rican
Institute of
Agricultural Development
stated that a total of
over 1,350 hectares of
crops (corn, bananas,
plantains, rice, etc.)
have been damaged this
season.
To try to offset these
losses and get farm
owners and workers back
on their feet, the
National Banana
Cooperation (Corbana)
will be tapping into
their emergency funds to
offer loans with 6%
interest. This morning
the French Government
also promised us$100,000
in aid to Costa Rica and
other countries are
stepping up to help out. |
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