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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 213 | |||||||||
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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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 Comisión Nacional de
Prevención
Truck moves the bridge to new locationde Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias photo Former rail bridge placed
to help small Limón town By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The small agricultural town of Estrada in the Provincia de Limón has a new bridge, thanks to the national railway system. The town has been plagued by flooding that destroyed an older bridge, and it has been cut off frequently by weather. The town is about 30 kilometers west of the city of Limón. That's about 19 miles. The bridge was moved in by truck. The former railway span is some 50 meters (164 feet) long and 14 meters (46 feet) high. The national emergency commission invested nearly $800,000 to prepare the supports for the bridge. The Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles will participate in a ceremony Friday formally inaugurating the bridge along with the Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias. Driving examiners told to stay off job for probe By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The undercover judicial police operation seeking driving examiners who took money has netted a total of seven. The Poder Judicial identified them by the last names of Recia Chinchilla, Cubillo Guzmán, Céspedes Sandí, Rodríguez Camacho, Guerrero Mora, Torres Torres and Calderón Chinchilla. They were arrested Tuesday. Five were detained at the Dirección General de Educación Vial in Paso Ancho where driving tests are administered. Two were detained at their homes, agents said. They work for the Sección Especializada de Tránsito in the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes. A judge ordered Wednesday that they be separated from their jobs for six months while the investigation continues. They were jailed briefly. Plan to repair autopista reported to take 10 weeks By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A plan to fix the Autopista del Sol where the highway collapsed will take 10 weeks, the operators predicted in a plan presented last week to the Consejo Nacional de Concesiones. The private operators proposed four stages for the work with the highway being closed during the final stage. They said they hoped that they could be finished sooner if the weather cooperated. Among other jobs, the concession holder has to take out two bailey bridges that are now carrying traffic over a spot at Kilometer 47 where the highway slipped downhill. Also necessary, according to the plan, is improvements in the drainage. The concession council has not given the final approval yet for the work to begin. Gallery to open in Golfito By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Bambú Art Gallery in Gofito opens for business Saturday with an open house and exhibition of original paintings, the gallery said. The gallery also features other art objects. The gallery is opposite Banana Bay Marina in the south Pacific coast town.
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 213 | |||||||||
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 Steve Doyle photo
Workers have to truck in water for concrete because a
tap still has not been approved |
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When the approval process
runs into lack of accountability
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By Steve Doyle*
Special to A.M. Costa Rica We are Americans who like many others have chosen to make our home in Costa Rica. To start, let me be clear, we love this place and the people. It offers so much and is a grand adventure. But . . . . We are experiencing, to say the least, a most perplexing and aggravating situation. You see, we purchased 10 acres of land with one of those to-die-for vistas in Volio (a small village located five minutes outside of San Ramón in the Central Valley). This land is one source of our love for this country, the enthusiasm we have for living here, but also the source of the greatest aggravation I personally have ever faced. The plan is to build and develop our little slice of paradise, keeping about three acres for ourselves and selling the remaining seven acres to folks like ourselves as neighbors. We won’t get rich on this scheme by any stretch but hope to clear enough to help offset the costs of the land and building the needed infrastructure. The infrastructure is where the aggravation comes into play. Last year, we initiated the process in earnest to get the infrastructure on the land completed. This includes building a road, installing electricity poles with street lights, transformer, etc, and laying and connecting the water lines. All has progressed better than planned except for the water. The local water concession is an ASADA (similar to a locally owned coop like we have in the States). The full name is an asociación operadora de sistemas de acueductos y alcantarillado sanitario. The Volio ASADA consists of selected local citizens serving as a board of directors making decisions on the management of their water lines and sources. They are by no means professionals, nor do they necessarily have expertise in running a coop or any other business enterprise for that matter. There begins the basis for problems. When we bought the property approximately three years ago, everyone, including the ASADA board at that time, assured us that water was no problem and would merely require us setting a time and date to begin laying pipe and hook up. Well aware that water can be an issue, we made what we thought was more than adequate inquiry and investigation as to water availability prior to closing on the property. When we started in February 2009, the first thing we did was seek construction of the water lines. An engineering analysis provided the specifications for installing adequate water to the 10 acres. We would need to install water lines connecting to the ASADA water mains located near our property. The installation includes a pump and tanks, etc., that will provide the necessary volume and pressures for our lines (for brevity I will spare all of the technical detail). The key detail is that we know what is needed, it is within reason (expense and time) and we are willing to do it. So far so good. We approached the ASADA. They initially gave us encouragement, then there was hesitancy, then out of the blue they decided to consult the Instituto Nacional de Acuductos y Alcatarillados for guidance. Somewhere in here, our 10 acres and six water meters became complicated beyond reason. The ASADA could not make a move without the national water company providing their advice and counsel. The AyA advice and counsel became a 10-point process of studies, volumes, stresses, 10-year water usage, and more. Our application and addition to the water system of Volio promises significant benefits to the community beyond additional income for the ASADA. Yet the Volio ASADA has NEVER offered to help us by guiding us through the process, or partnering with us on the application to AyA. They have done NOTHING. Great future neighbors we have to look forward to living with in Volio. Our project now rivals any of the most controversial projects you have read about by the major developers in Costa Rica. But, we negotiated through this, hiring engineers with experience in obtaining infrastructure approvals and building of same. At significant cost to our limited budget, we have complied with all of the requested information and studies. This process started in October of 2009 and finally resulted in a presentation package in May of this year. In that eight month time frame the Volio ASADA was constantly a roadblock unable or unwilling to help or do anything that smacked of making a decision, being responsive, or having  Steve Doyle photo
Retaining wall is going up, thanks to trucked water. |
 Steve Doyle photo
Despite real estate sign at project entrance, occupance
depends on water.any responsibility (recall my comment about no business background? Add to that no common sense). Our engineer presented the application package to the ASADA for its review and decision in June. In early July he was informed the board could not understand the technical detail of the application. This from the same folks who requested this information and had the AyA supposedly guiding them through the process. It just keeps getting better. The application went to AyA in our canton where it languished for a week or so and then was forwarded to San José. There it was placed in the hands of the engineer (that’s the one and ONLY engineer in AyA Costa Rica, assigned to ASADA application reviews) who is responsible for reviewing and approving ASADA related applications. He went on a two-week vacation in the midst of this, so we lost that time to his job benefit. No one but him works these cases. He has absolutely no accountability nor obligation to anyone except himself. He works at his own pace, and if you ask about your project, he basically tells you to go . . . . Our engineer has since June, made several attempts to obtain status on where we are in the queue. The response from this individual is stop calling and bothering them. They will get to it if and when they decide. We are at four months of waiting with no indication of where the application is in the process, nothing. The application is simple. I really feel for someone who has an application pending that is complicated or requires extensive analysis and review. There is no responsibility, no accountability, and no obligation to even communicate. AyA and these related ASADA’s are the most dysfunctional and poorly run organizations I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with in my life. I know we are not the only ones facing this situation with this department of AyA, and that alone speaks volumes about AyA management. If AyA senior management is unaware of this individual and his performance, shame on them. If they ARE aware of his work ethic and poor performance, that is UNCONSCIONABLE, for they are just as incompetent if not more so, than their employee. I need help. If anyone reading this has meaningful suggestions, I am open and ready to hear them. I am trying to do our project within the parameters of Costa Rica. This is not the U.S.A. and I have no illusions that those standards apply here. I do not believe paying graft to get this done is the way to go, though that has been the suggestion of several resources. I will not contribute to that sorry process. Our little 10-acre project promises to employ through contractors, suppliers, and our eventual residency on the property several hundred local folks over a period of several years. The purchase of supplies alone for construction of the houses and infrastructure on the land, will amount to several hundred thousand dollars spent in the local community. We want to be part of the community and participate as good citizens. We may not be “citizens” of Costa Rica, but we have a significant economic interest here. Besides, our corporations facilitating the ownership of the land are citizens of Costa Rica. At this juncture we all are being treated shabbily, and Costa Rica is shooting itself in the foot, because of it. To Laura Chincilla, I would not have her job at any cost. She has so much incompetence to deal with, it is near impossible to know where to start. One place I would take a close look is anywhere in the governing agencies where people and their poor management skills or capabilities directly affects the pocketbook of Costa Rica. This San José AyA engineer is one glaring example. Some day sooner than later, I hope, we will get water. If not, what is for us a significant investment will not be worth spit, all because we tried to pursue a dream and live in a great place. We are not giving up, but we will not put up with this forever and we will make sure this stain on the Costa Rica way of doing things gets as much air time as possible. This has nothing to do with the “Pura Vida” mind-set, or the Latin vs. Gringo way of doing things. The issue is incompetence and lack of accountability. These are issues that differentiate functioning environments from potentially failing ones. That is a universal truth, regardless of the society. AyA and the Volio ASADA are failing Costa Rica at this juncture. They can not manage the simple processes (ie.: our water infrastructure application), which exposes why the AyA in particular, have such a lousy track record managing the really critical issues *As he said, Mr. Doyle lives in Volio and is trying to develop a small residential project. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 213 | |||||||||
| Orchestra to celebrate birthday with
Chopin and Beethoven |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional celebrates its 70th birthday this weekend with the usual double concerts. The house already is sold out, but Teatro Nacional workers will be putting up a tent and giant television screen on the Plaza de la Cultura for those who cannot get inside. The program Friday night and Sunday morning is under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero, a well-known musician who now is director of the Nashville, Tennessee, symphony orchestra. Performing will be 19-year-old Costa Rican pianist Daniela Rodó, soprano Kelley Nassief, mezo-soprano Jennifer Hines, tenor Bryan Griffin, bass Kevin Deas and the Coro Sinfónico Nacional. The program for the weekend includes "Concert for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in F Minor" by Frédéric Chopin, who |
composed it
in
1830 when he was just 20. The work contains three movements. Also on
the program is Ludwig van Beethoven's 1824 "Symphony No. 9 in D minor."
Some say this is one of the greatest musical compositions ever written.
The final movement features the singers and the chorus with the "Ode to
Joy," based on a poem by a poem written by Friedrich Schiller. The orchestra was founded in 1940 and has been a major element in the country's cultural life since. The current director is Chosei Komatsu, who has held the position for seven years. He is leaving after the final concert of the season in November, the orchestra said. The orchestra performs at 8 p.m Friday and 10:30 a.m. Sunday with duplicate programs. The orchestra consists of 72 professional musicians, most of whom are Costa Rican. |
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| Smoking, AIDS, sanitation cited as
major health problems |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wires services
The use of tobacco is now the primary cause of death around the world. And the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says not enough countries are taking adequate steps to discourage it. Thomas Frieden also touched on other threats to global health recently at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. More than 5 million people die each year from smoking, many of them in developing countries. And Frieden says fewer than 10 per cent of the world's nations are doing enough to prevent it. The head of the Centers for Disease Control points to the United States and Uruguay as countries whose anti-tobacco programs have worked. He says other countries should follow their example. "Tobacco is now the world's leading single cause of death. It kills more people than AIDS, TB and malaria combined. And unlike those conditions which are decreasing, it is increasing as a cause of death," he said. But smoking is only one of the world's major problems, Frieden said, pointing out that traffic accident deaths are becoming an epidemic. More than 1 million people are killed in traffic each year, he said, including people who are walking or riding bikes. "What will happen over the next 25-20 years, unless we |
take urgent
action, is that road traffic injuries will increase from 2
percent of
all deaths, to 3 and a half percent of all deaths. They will
become
the fifth leading cause of death around the world," he said. Frieden says respiratory infections, such as tuberculosis, continue to be another key problem. He says one billion people do not have access to clean water and two and a half billion do not have adequate sanitation. He says better access to both would prevent the deaths of millions of people, including children who die from diarrhea disease. "We have cholera still in many parts of the world, a reflection of the failure to provide clean water and adequate sanitation." The centers director says AIDS is still the major killer in Africa. He says part of the problem is that half of the people who have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, do not even know they have it. "We know that people who know they're positive are much less likely to spread infections to others, and the only way you can get services is to know you're positive," he said. Frieden says obesity is also an increasing health problem. He points out there are now more overweight people worldwide than underweight people. And he says the yearly number of deaths from cancer could be cut in about half if people quit smoking, maintained a healthier diet and took part in more physical activity. |
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| Cholera outbreak in Haiti still has not
peaked, U.N. reports |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A top United Nations health official says the cholera outbreak in Haiti has not been contained, and is yet to reach its peak. The warning came Wednesday from Claire-Lise Chaignat, who heads the World Health Organization's cholera control task force. The U.N. agency says more than 3,600 people have contracted cholera in Haiti, and as of late Tuesday, 284 have died from it. The death rate is lower than it was when the outbreak began a week ago, but Chaignat says it is still far above what the World Health Organization considers normal. Health officials' main goal now is to keep the outbreak from spreading south to the capital, Port-au-Prince, where |
hundreds of
thousands of survivors of January's massive earthquake are living in
crowded and unsanitary camps. The outbreak has largely been confined to
the Artibonite region of central Haiti. Health officials say they are providing powdered chlorine for water purification and testing water being distributed in settlement camps. The U.N. agency says the Haitian government has established a contingency plan to prevent the disease from spreading across the border into the Dominican Republic. The border remains open, but Dominican authorities are stepping up security. They canceled a binational market normally held near the border this week. Cholera, a bacterial infection, is spread by contaminated water, food and human waste. The disease is treatable but can kill within hours without treatment. A contaminated river in the Artibonite region is the suspected source. |
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Latin American news Please reload page if feed does not appear promptly |
 Promotora del Comercio Exterior photo
'Mi Linda Costa Rica' will perform in ChinaCosta Rica to have its day
at the Shanghai Expo By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rica Day will be celebrated at the Shanghai Expo Friday. A stand set up by the Promotora del Comercio Exterior attracts about 8,000 visitors a day during the week and 24,000 over weekends, the country's promotional arm said. “Mi Linda Costa Rica,” the typical dance group, is scheduled to perform Friday. Also expected to be there are U.S.-Costa Rica astronaut Franklin Chang and sculptor Jorge Jiménez Deredia The Shanghai expo runs through Sunday. It started May 1. Costa Rica has used four colors to characterize itself. The white represents peace, the blue symbolizes technology, industry, commerce and investment, the red suggests culture, education and the people, and the green symbolizes conservation, tourism, environment and sustainable energy. In a related event, Anabel González, the minister of Comercio Exterior hosted a luncheon for Chinese business people in the country's capital of Beijing this week. Representatives of 100 companies attended, the ministry said. The minister emphasized Costa Rica as a destination for direct investment and business partnerships. The luncheon, of course, featured a Costa Rican menu. |
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