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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 202 | |||||||||
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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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Our readers' opinions
Neighbor confirms statusof Arenal wireless service Dear A.M. Costa Rica: To second what my neighbor and friend, Tom Ploskina, has written, the nice people at our local Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad office do try, but there is obviously something wrong with a company that cannot give its employees any direction, or allow any room for initiative. Essentially, as Tom’s letter says, it was one of the desk people there who finally admitted to me just last week that the reason for our recent fall off in service is faulty equipment in their tower. They further told me that the equipment is from the same manufacturer as the data card/modems that they have foisted on us, and ICE cannot (or will not fix it). They said they are waiting for representatives of the Chinese manufacturer to come to town (but can’t say when) to hopefully repair or replace whatever is faulty. Meanwhile, as Tom also pointed out, they cannot or will not offer us a refund of money (since they are not delivering what we are being charged for), nor will they prorate our lousy service to try to make up for their shortcomings. Ultimately, and as Tom also said, we have no choice, but if we ever get one, you can bet we’ll be looking hard. John G. Dungan
Aguacate de Tilaran Another unhappy customer of Kolbi in Osa peninsula Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Regarding Tom Ploskina's letter to the editor, subscribers to ICE's Kolbi wireless service on Osa peninsula are also suffering continually degrading service. I signed up for the fastest service at ICE's Puerto Jiménez office earlier this year. For the first few months, I got what I paid for, but since then I've noticed a continual diminishing of both upload and download speeds, especially download. All things being what they're supposed to be, upload speeds should be much less than download speeds. When download speeds are much lower than upload, it's a sign of over subscription for a wireless infrastructure and not some problem with a local tower configuration. Last month, I notified my local ICE office personnel who are always friendly and accommodating and asked them to pass my complaint up the chain of command. It has since degraded to the point where I won't bother using it during peak customer usage times when download speed is 0. Like Tom, I also look forward to switching to a future competent internet provider and to dropping ICE like they drop my e-mails. Gene Warneke
Canaza, Osa Peninsula
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 202 | |||||||||
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| More delays on autopista, but Ruta 32 has been reopened |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The good news is that specialists finished their work Tuesday on Ruta Nacional 32 and the vital highway will not be closed this morning as planned. Meanwhile, the highway ministry said that the stretch of the Autopista del Sol between Atenas and Orotina will be closed for at least three more days. The work on Ruta 32 was to develop a three-dimensional representation of the shelf road that winds through Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo. The highway has been the scene of many slides, in part because the cliffs above the two-lane road are so steep. Officials are working to reduce the danger. The highway is the main connector between the Central Valley and province of Limón. The highway is used heavily by trucks headed to the docks in Limón with produce and other loads for export. The work on the autopista del Sol is more straight forward. Heavy rains washed out a section of the road, and the concession holder of the highway is putting in two bailey bridges to span the gap. One is 48 meters (157 feet) and the other is 60 meters 197 feet). The longer outside span carries traffic eastward. |
The outside span still is not
stable, and workers will have to install
three more pilings to carry the load of the bridge, said the Consejo
Nacional de Concessions. The inside span has been tested with heavy trucks and declared safe. The location is at Kilometer 47 of the highway. Traffic is being detoured around the problem area. The concession holder also reported that workers have completed more work to protect motorists from landslides. Some retaining walls were repaired, too. The company also has presented to the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes a long-term plan to keep the road in safe condition. The ministry said that the road might remain closed longer than three days if it appears that there still are safety issues. Meanwhile, the ministry reported that once the bridge work is completed, no tolls will be collected at the Orotina plaza until the company is able to fix the highway permanently and remove the bailey bridges. The bridges are government property. |
| Wreck of crashed drug plane yields another kilo of coke |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Law officers found one more package of presumed cocaine as they dismantled a small plane Tuesday. This is the aircraft that crashed in the Río Torres in La Uruca Sunday morning and yielded 172 kilos of cocaine. Now the total is 173, officials said. Some packages are believed to have been swept away by the river current. Meanwhile, the vice minister of transporte aéreo y maritimo potuario said that the government must exert a more rigorous control over international and local air traffic. The vice minster is Luis Carlos Araya, and he is among the public officials belatedly suggesting actions to hamper drug transportation. The vice minster was not specific, but local air flights are not now subject to the same kind of inspection that officials conduct for international flights. The drug-laden plane took off from Tobias Bolaños airport in Pavas. It had been inspected, but the drugs were not |
found in a wing tank until
after the crash. The copilot died, and the pilot continues to survive
despite critical injuries. Investigators said that the drugs may not
have been put on the plane until after the routine inspection. The drug plane was headed to Guatemala. The origin of the drugs still is not known. Initial speculation was that the substance had come in on a local flight from Quepos, hence the vice minister's comments. Some officials have expressed the fear that tightening up controls at public airports will cause smugglers to use private strips that are out of sight of officials. In Honduras, smugglers are landing their crafts on remote highways and in other unanticipated locations. The anti-drug police said Tuesday that they had confiscated more than $125,000 in various currencies from two men caught trying to leave the county into Nicaragua without passing through police and immigration controls. They are officers of the corporation that owned the wrecked plane. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 202 | |||||||||
| Paula appears to be a non-threat for
Costa Rican weather |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire service reports Like a mushroom, Hurricane Paula has popped up along the Central American coast. The storm seems to be far enough north so as not to be an indirect threat to Costa Rica. The country is coming off five days of good weather after unrelenting storms that caused many slides and damaged infrastructure. Paula has strengthened as it threatens the Gulf Coast of Mexico and parts of Central America, forcing officials to call for the evacuation of many coastal areas. At last report at 10 p.m. Tuesday, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Paula's maximum sustained winds were 160 kph (100 mph). Further strengthening is expected. The storm had strengthened since midday. The storm is about 115 kilometers (about 70 miles) southeast of the Mexican resort island of Cozumel, where hurricane warnings are in effect. It is expected to approach the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Hurricane Paula could dump eight to 15 centimeters (three to six inches) of rain over western and central Cuba, the Yucatan Peninsula and northern Belize, with some isolated areas receiving more than 25 centimeters (10 inches) Forecasters say the heavy rains could trigger flash flooding and mudslides in the region, especially in mountainous parts of Nicaragua and Honduras. |
 U.S. National Hurricane Center
Paula seems to be far enough north to have littel effect on
Costa Rica's weatherThe Instituto Meteorológico Nacional said that winds would return to drive away rain in the north Pacific and the northern zone. This condition also means an increase in rain in the northern mountains and in the Central Valley, the weather institute said. The central and southern Pacific would share the afternoon downpours that will be found in the Central Valley. The Caribbean will have sprinkles, the institute said. The Central Valley got rain Tuesday afternoon, ending a five-day mostly dry spell in the center of San José. |
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| More restrictions on firearms draws
opposing opinions |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two views on firearms surfaced at a legislative hearing Tuesday. One witness maintained that bearing arms was a concession by the state. She was Elizabeth Fonseca. Her view was challenged by Ricardo Guardia, who maintained that the right to bear arms is a constitutional right. The U.S. Supreme Court has found that possessing a firearm for self protection is a human right. Ms. Fonseca is the president of the Partido Acción Ciudadana. Guardia has been associated with hunting organizations and now promotes access for everyone. The two were commenting on a reform of various sections |
of the arms and
explosives law. The proposal prohibits the manufacture
of any type of firearm in Costa Rica or components. Minors would be excluded without exception from using firearms. There also would be more restrictions on issuing firearms permits. The revisions are supported by the Chinchilla administration. The testimony was before the Comisión Permanente Especial de Seguridad y Narcotráfico, which is likely to pass the bill onto the full legislature. Lawmakers heard that violence against persons, mainly robberies, increased 116 percent from 1990 to 2000. Firearms were used in more than half of these crimes during 2003, lawmakers heard. |
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Latin American news Please reload page if feed does not appear promptly |
Rescue
of miners may take up to 48 hours to complete By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Chilean rescuers have begun pulling out 33 miners trapped underground by a cave-in for more than two months. Officials say the entire rescue operation may take as long as 48 hours to complete. Rescue crews cheered as the first miner was pulled to the surface aboard a rescue hatch painted in red, white and blue — the colors of the Chilean national flag. The first man to surface was Florencio Ávalos, a 31-year-old miner with two children who has worked at San Jose for more than three years. He was working alongside his younger brother, Renan, at the time of an Aug. 5 cave-in which trapped the two men and 31 others. Ávalos embraced his family, rescue workers and Chile's President Sebastián Piñera, before he was taken by doctors for a series of medical exams. Piñera traveled to the San Jose mine Tuesday to monitor the operation and thank rescue crews who have been working for more than two months to free the trapped men. He also met with relatives of the miners and joined in singing alongside rescue crews, as they awaited the start of the operation. After the first rescue, Piñera told reporters that rescuing the 33 miners has been the main focus of his government, during the past two months. The president says his government had vowed to search for the miners until they were found and, now, officials were making good on the promise to bring them home safe and sound. Officials approved the rescue operation, late Tuesday, after performing extensive tests for two days on an Austrian-built winch and the rescue hatch, known as the Phoenix. Chile's Navy built three versions of the rescue hatch, which is equipped with oxygen and a hands-free telephone system to communicate with rescuers on the surface. The Phoenix has a metal cage to hold passengers and shock-absorbing wheels on the outside to help it travel up and down inside the rescue shaft. The Phoenix's first trip into the mine carried Manuel González, a veteran miner, who is helping the men to operate the hatch and prepare for their ascent. A video camera inserted into the mine showed González embracing each of the miners as he stepped off the Phoenix. Three other rescuers are to descend into the mine, in part to assist miners who are weak or ill. Mining Minister Laurence Golborne has said the entire rescue operation may take up to 48 hours, as the Phoenix can complete a trip into the mine in a few minutes to an hour. Golborne says officials have determined in which order the miners should come up, in part based on health conditions, but says the rescue team may alter it as needed. He says the first four miners to surface are those in good health, who can help operate the rescue equipment. He says rescuers have the list of names, but they will evaluate each miner, individually, and decide when he is ready to come to the surface. The trapped miners range in age from 19 to 63 and many come from families with a history of mining — one of Chile's key industries. All of the miners are Chilean nationals, except for Carlos Mamani, a Bolivian who had worked at the San Jose mine for five days before the accident occurred. Bolivian President Evo Morales also was expected to travel to the mine, Wednesday, to greet the Bolivian miner, who is viewed as a hero back home. The men have survived underground longer than any other people trapped in a mining accident in the world. After the cave-in, the miners were cut off from the surface for 17 days, until a drilling crew managed to locate them. |
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