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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second newspage | |||||||||
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 166 | |||||||||
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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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in southern San José By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some 121 individuals may have lost their homes in the vicinity of the Centro Penitenciario San Sebastián in southern San José. These are residents of Las Barracas in the Luna Park section who were displaced when a bank of the Rio Maria Aguilar gave way destroying 36 homes, said the national emergency commission. Health officials are examining the site, and they said informally that the persons probably would not be able to return to their homes. The 121 are being housed in the community halls in Los Olivos and Luna Park. Employees from the Municipalidad de San José are working with government social agencies to provide housing for the families. Officials said the site was an accident waiting to happen. Much of the construction was on a landfill too close to the river. Of course, the majority of the individuals had few options. Other reports of damage came in Monday after heavy weekend rains. The total of homes flooded in Corredores is 170 after a dike broke there on the Rio Seco. A dike also broke on the Río Claro in Golfito. Some 22 persons were displaced. In Asserí there were reports of damage in the communities of Los Mangos, Vuelta de Jorco, San Gabriel and Aserrí Centro. It was in Asserí where a woman vanished into a nearby river when ground gave away Friday. She still is missing. In Alajuelita a wall collapsed, and there was damage to a bridge in Concepción. The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias. is maintaining an alert in 14 cantons because of saturated soil and continuing low pressure that causes heavy rain and thunderstorms. Parents get 22 years each in abuse death of baby By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two parents each got 22 years in prison Monday in the death of their month-old infant who suffered major injuries. The dead baby was Britany Linares Wu. The mother has the last names of Wu Lian and is Panamanian. The father has the last names of Linares Sancho. He had to be helped from the courtroom in the Tribunal de Juicio de Cartago in a wheelchair after the verdict. The baby died July 8, 2009, in the Hospital Nacional de Niños. The child suffered multiple injuries and showed symptoms of shaken baby syndrome, the Poder Judicial said. The judicial verdict said the baby suffered three broken ribs and a broken leg also. Six men, including a cop, surprised inside a bank By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial agents had six men under surveillance, which is why they were able to catch them inside a Banco Popular branch in Cariari de Pococí, Limón. The men were using an acetylene torch in an effort to open the bank vault early Monday when heavily armed tactical squad police arrived. The men had broken into the bank building through the roof. They had managed to cut a hole into the bank vault, agents said. The arrests put an end to a wave of such crimes in the province of Limón, agents hope. One of the men detained is a Fuerza Pública officer. The Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública quickly identified him as a 29-year-old suspended officer with the last names of Hernández Delgado. The ministry said the man was suspended June 8 after he and two other officers were accused of raiding a home with a false judicial order, an apparent robbery. His suspension was supposed to last until Sept. 8, but there was a criminal case in progress. The Poder Judicial identified the other men by the last names of Jiménez Segura, Flores Valerín, Dávila Sosa, Morales Fonseca and López Segura. Judicial agents have a handful of crimes in which torches were used to break into safes and strongboxes. They hope to clear these with the arrests Monday. Our reader's opinion
Caja hospitals get anotherexpat vote of confidence Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Mr. Johnson is right about services in the Caja hospitals. I, too, had pancreatitis, but was misdiagnosed by a shiny, new private hospital and sent home, only to have the untreated problem reoccur a few days later. This time I went to San Juan de Dios, and can say that the medical and nursing care was better than any I have experienced in hospitals in the U.S. and UK. — and certainly far better then the expensive private hospital I first went to. Mr. Johnson has done a service to all who face medical decisions: Don't short-change the Caja hospitals. Their physical facilities may not compare to private hospitals, but the medical and nursing care I had was second to none -- and when you're sick that's what counts. Carl Robbins
Turialba
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 166 | |||||||||
 A.M. Costa Rica/Dennis Rogers
This structure at Playa Tortuga seems to be well within the
maritime zone. |
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| New zoning plan would void all claims at Playa Tortuga |
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By Dennis Rogers
Special to A.M. Costa Rica Long-term struggles over a potential beach concession behind Playa Tortuga near Ojochal on the south Pacific coast are likely for naught once a zoning plan is approved, authorities say. Recent years have seen attempts by adjoining landowners and squatters to stake claims to what would be a prime building site in the Zona Marítima Terrestre or maritime zone, on the strip from 50 to 200 meters from high tide that is property of the government but can be leased on concession. The Municipalidad de Osa has been ordered by central government authorities to remove squatters from public beach land on Playa Tortuga and elsewhere but has not complied. Another individual has sold lots on the beach itself, according to Alexis Maizel, director of the Reserva Playa Tortuga research station. The titled property along the area in question is a small piece with a house overlooking the flat beach. According to co-owner Eric La Vasseur, he and the other owner would like the concession to put some “cabinas in there, plant some fruit trees.” He said they put a claim on the concession upon purchasing the property in 1994, and planted fruit trees and made other minor improvements. What was originally a trail along the river through the private property was made into a narrow road in late 2008 without any municipal or transport ministry approval. This road is now almost wide enough for a car but an ATV cycle can easily pass. It leaves the highway at the abutment of the Río Tortuga bridge and is entirely in the river’s buffer zone. This expansion was reported by the other owner Charlie Nicolosi, and environmental ministry employees Alonso Badilla and Antonio Orozco in January 2009 filed a report on the damage to the river’s buffer and the presence of squatters in the maritime zone. Some dwellings were on the strip 50 meters from high tide which is exclusively for public use. This was submitted to the Osa prosecutor's office. The owners at one point hired a guard to stop people going through the private property and did reduce traffic. The guard would “cause a hassle, [he] wouldn’t let them through with materials, and eventually they gave up. But those people were using it more as a weekend place anyway.” After suffering vandalism on their property, the owners returned to “the legal route,” La Vasseur said. A reporter’s visit in July revealed new construction and even the installation of electricity in protected areas by the river, but none of the huts within the 50-meter zone remained. None of the plantings of food crops described repeatedly by the Reserva Playa Tortuga staff were evident, other than some coconut trees planted in the sand and a few forlorn looking plantains. Attempts to block the road were countered with a suit to |
the Sala IV constitutional court by
a squatter, claiming his right to
access to his home was cut off. The claim stated plainly that the
84-year-old man lives in the maritime zone. The legal status of his
home site is irrelevant to the issue of access. The suit was filed in
February 2009 but not acted on until November. Costa Rican law allows for what is called “calle pública.” If a path or road has been used traditionally, it can be declared public even if it passes through private land. Strictly speaking, the suit was against the municipal authorities for not enforcing access, not the landowners who put up the fence. The court kicked the case back to the municipality for action, and the roadblock was removed. The landowners and turtle researchers claim that public access to the beach is across the mouth of the Río Tortuga, which is only passable at low tide. La Vasseur said “we have no problem with people walking to the beach” as long as there’s no destructive activity like damaging mangroves. Regardless of previous applications for a concession, all claims are null and void once the new zoning plan finally takes effect, according to Guillermo Miranda, coordinator for the maritime zone at the Instituto Costarricence de Turismo. The institute oversees concessions granted by the respective coastal municipalities. He said files of the sort required for an application for a concession are archived after only four months if there is no action. Some files have also possibly been lost in break-ins at the municipality in 2007 and 2009 when computers were stolen. Possession rights of the sort held by squatters likewise have no validity once the new regulatory plan is put in place, Miranda said. The concession law does give priority to the first to file, but that would be immediately once the plan is finalized. If the zoning plan has the area designated for construction, any other use including a turtle nursery would require a change of land use designation. If the project the concessionaires report on their plans is not started in 24 months, the concession is lost, Miranda said. The regulatory plan for Osa is under way but not ready, said Jorge Solano of the Programa de Investigación en Desarrollo Urbano Sostenible or ProDUS. It is part of the Universidad de Costa Rica, and has prepared plans for municipalities around the country. Solano is managing the preparation of the coastal part of the zoning plan. He wouldn’t say if the particular parcel in question would be designated for concession, as the plan is confidential until submitted to the municipality. Solano did say that any small plot hemmed in by protected areas and with difficult access probably would be added to the protected buffer zones. The reserve’s turtle nursery, which was reported held up by municipal paperwork is presently submitted to MINAET for approval but they’re “just slow” rather than obstructive, said Ms. Maizel. They hope to have it operational in mid-September and to begin receiving volunteers when construction of more dormitories at the center is finished. |
| Man loses appeal against five-year sentence for trafficking |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Sala III has confirmed a sentence of five years assessed against a man on two charges of trafficking in persons. The man with the last names of Centeno Guzmán appealed conviction in a Liberia court to the top criminal panel of the Corte Suprema de Justicia. He was convicted under the immigration law that existed at the time, the first to criminalize this type of trafficking. The court said the case files showed that the man and two other persons brought seven persons into the country in exchange for money. Among these individuals, all |
Nicaraguans, were two minors, the
court said. That was Oct. 11. The illegal immigrants spent the night in a home on the Costa Rican side of the border and then traveled by car in the morning. They were headed to Atenas but the trip was cut short when the vehicle crashed into a tree, the Poder Judicial said. The second charge involved the transport of nine Nicaraguans, including one minor, Oct. 23. They were in a vehicle en route to Liberia when they were stopped at a police checkpoint in Santa Cecilia de La Cruz in Guanacaste, according to the Poder Judicial. Police caught Centeno after a short chase, they said. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 166 | |||||||||
 Junta de Administración
Portuaria y Desarrollo Económica de la
Vertiente Atlántica file photo
Loading cargo at the Moín docks is
certainly not high tech.
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| Lawmakers, business people worry about
Moín rates |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Opposition parties have joined up to ask the president to dump the current plan to accept bids for a concession on the Moín docks. The opposition parties released a letter Monday signed by a wide range of management representatives directed to Luis Liberman, vice president. The signers of the letter expressed concern about a disproportionate increase in the cost of shipping containers through the port. The signers, many of whom represented exporters, said that the little information available suggests that the country would not be competitive. Signers were from such diverse groups at the American-Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce, the Cámera de Bananeros and the Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones de la Empresa Privada, among others. Lawmakers seconding the complaint were from Acción Ciudadana, Movimiento Libertario, Unidad Social Cristiana, Accesibilidad sin Exclusión and Frente Amplio. Some of the opposition parties, like Acción Ciudadana, have opposed the plan, but others, like Movimiento Libertario, supported the concept. The legislative parties and the business representatives suggested the creation of a commission to analyze the concession process. The lawmakers listed four concerns with the concession offer. They said the concession offer was pushed through and lacked transparency, the projections of exports were |
disproportionate,
the proposed rates were based on exaggerated
estimates and that the port would become one of the most expensive
in Latin America. They also said that the firm that wins the bidding would have a de facto monopoly on shipping. A related presentation prepared by Acción Ciudadana said that the per shipping container cost under the new regime would be $310. Costs elsewhere range from $95 to $220, the presentation said. The Junta de Administración Portuaria y Desarrollo Económica de la Vertiente Atlántica, a government agency, runs the Caribbean ports at Moín and Limón. They are widely acknowledge to be highly inefficient. The central government seeks to install a concession holder to invest in the ports and increase efficiency. That plan worked in Caldera on the Pacific. In an outline of goals marking her 100 days in office, President Laura Chinchilla said her administration was planning to increase export but she did not directly address the dock situation in the province of Limón. The situation has been contentious. The Óscar Arias Sánchez administration, of which Ms. Chinchlla was once a part, engineered the ouster of dockworker union leaders and advanced the election of members likely to accept a government buyout offer. Buyout is critical to the concession plan. Companies seeking the concession have been invited to a meeting next week to obtain a detailed outline of the proposal. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 166 | ||||||||||
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| Pedestrian struck down by stray bullet in city By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A 25-year-old man walking near the Teatro Nacional in the center of San José died Sunday night at 10 p.m. when he was hit in the back by a stray bullet. He was identified by the last name of Paniagua. Agents said that some 30 persons, patrons at a nearby bar, went into the street at that time and were having a fight. Someone pulled a gun and fired it wildly, killing Paniagua, agents suspect. Pregnant woman set up robbery, police claim By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police said a 20-year-old pregnant woman took advantage of her condition to win sympathy from shopkeepers so that two companions could stick them up. The Fuerza Pública arrested the woman and three companions Sunday night after someone triggered a robbery alarm at a small supermarket in San Rafael de Montes de Oca east of San José. The woman was identified by the last names of Delgado Trejos of Barrio Cuba. She and the three male companions were in a car leaving the scene of the robbery when police stopped them. Police said one of the man carried a toy gun. Officers recovered 200,000 colons in bills, nearly $400. Iwo Jima medical teams may see up to 1,000 a day Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The Polideportivo JAPDEVA in Limón and the colegios Técnicos in Bribrí and Siquirres are being used as medical centers during the visit of the USS Iwo Jima. In Limón services will be offered through Monday to perhaps as many as 1,000 persons a day. Mission organizers expect about 250 persons a day in Bribri through Sunday. At Siquirres some 250 person a day were expected for the four days ending today. Costa Rican officials and U.S. service members from USS Iwo Jima gathered during an opening ceremony in Limón, Saturday to begin the 10-day humanitarian civic assistance mission, which is called Continuing Promise 2010. As part of the mission, U.S. and foreign service members and non-government organizations also will provide dental, veterinary and engineering services, as well as medical. The New Harmony Air Force Band of Flight played the Costa Rican and U.S. national anthems before key leaders addressed the local community during the opening ceremony. Among the dignitaries was Anne Andrew, the U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica. Also there were Eduardo Barboza, Limón mayor, and Commodore Thomas M. Negus, heading the mission, and Capt. Thomas J. Chassee, commander of the Iwo Jima. “I am delighted that the Iwo Jima will be with us for 10 days, and I know you will extend a warm welcome to them, as you have to me,” said Ms. Andrew. “I feel very lucky that many of the people I have met within the last week are here with us today to receive the commodore and crew of USS Iwo Jima.” |
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Latin American news Please reload page if feed does not appear promptly |
getting food and water By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Thirty-three trapped miners in Chile have started receiving food, water and other supplies intended to help them survive as they face a wait of up to four months before they are rescued. Rescue workers started sending the supplies Monday through a narrow drill hole. The miners are also expected to receive medication and communication devices. The 33 miners were found alive Sunday after being trapped for more than two weeks in a mine near the northern city of Copiapo. A colleague of the miners told the French news agency they have about 1.8 kilometers of space within which to freely move around. After discovering the miners were alive Sunday, engineers began making plans to drill a rescue tunnel through nearly 700 meters of solid rock. Authorities say the depth of the gold and copper mine, and the instability caused by the shaft collapse, will force them to work slowly. Joyous families have been writing letters to boost the morale of their loved ones. Chile's President Sebastian Pinera announced Sunday the miners were alive after 17 days underground. He showed reporters a note the miners had written saying they were well. The miners attached the note to the end of a drill probe that had reached their emergency refuge deep underground. A video camera lowered down the narrow 700-meter-long hole showed the miners with their shirts off because of the heat. The miners became trapped following a shaft collapse Aug. 5. It is not clear what caused the collapse. The mine has a history of accidents and was reopened after having been closed in recent years. Chile is the world's largest copper supplier. Intel, Nokia set up lab to explore 3-D on cells Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Intel Corp., Nokia and the University of Oulu in Finland, officially opened the Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center today. It will employ about two dozen research and development professionals and become the latest member of Intel's European Research Network, Intel Labs Europe. Initially the lab will conduct research for new and compelling mobile user experiences that could leverage the rapidly increasing capabilities of mobile devices, Intel said. Creating interfaces that are more similar to interactions in the real world can enable experiences that are more natural and intuitive, in the same way that modern games and movies are more immersive through the use of realistic 3-D graphics, the company said. The new lab is well aligned with the MeeGo open source platform recently launched by Intel and Nokia. MeeGo provides flexibility for developing new 3-D experiences on mobile devices as much of the lab's research activity will also be open source. "The University of Oulu's focus on future telecommunications solutions as well as electronics and photonics made it the perfect location for the Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center," says Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer and director of Intel Labs. Another potential area of research could look into technologies that allow displaying a 3-D hologram of a person on the other end of a phone conversaton, a capability only found in science fiction movies today, said the company. |
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