Archive for January, 2009
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
The death toll from Costa Rica’s magnitude-6.1 earthquake has risen to 23 after three more bodies were found.
The country’s judicial investigative agency says the latest bodies were uncovered at the site of a collapsed restaurant in the town of Cinchona. The victims were the restaurant’s owner and two of his children.
The quake rocked the Central American nation last Thursday, unleashing massive landslides.
President Oscar Arias called for international aid for the devastated area on Wednesday.
German Formula One race champion Michael Schumacher, who was in Costa Rica for a previously scheduled appearance at a traffic safety event, toured the disaster zone and noted sadly that “so many families have lost their homes.”
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Thursday, January 15th, 2009
Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) announced Tuesday it will offer credit options for those afflicted by the Jan. 8 earthquake.
The options will consist of various types financing for homeowners and businesses.
The home financing credit will be available to those who have income and who are interested in rebuilding their lost homes, fixing their damaged ones, or building a new home from scratch.
BCR will also offer financing to quake victims who have limited income.
In addition to these two financing options, BCR is also offering affected families who are considered to be extremely poor 100 percent financing to rebuild homes. BCR said the bank would offer financing as soon as possible to developers who are rebuilding damaged homes.
Another credit option will consist of BCR identifying small and medium-sized businesses that were affected by the earthquake with the goal of restructure their credit lines and loosen up conditions.
For questions on these new implementation, call BCR, Vivienda Interés Social (Social Benefit Home) at 2287-9000, ext. 1104.
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Thursday, January 15th, 2009
ICE Takes Advantage of Lack of Competition in Telecommunications Market.
Consumers in Costa Rica can expect to see big changes in their bills this month, both positive and negative. An anticipated drop in gas and internet prices will be counterbalanced by an increase in telephone and electricity fees. The main player in these changes is the ex-state monopoly, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE). This time, under the pretext of the newly implemented free trade agreement, the telecommunications wing of the company has decided to do things on its own terms, ignoring the strong disapproval of the Public Services Regulating Authority (Aresep). (more…)
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Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
Huawei has won a US$235 million contract to build a 3G network in Costa Rica, according to local media. Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) deputy manager Claudio Bermudez said the 3G network should be operational throughout the Central American nation by the end of 2009.
ICE is currently the monopoly mobile operator in the country – although moves to liberalise the market was passed into law last year.
Last August, ICE had decided not to accept a sole bid from China’s Huawei for the supply of a 3G network – and will tried to retender the contract. The company had come under political pressure from the Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias to reject the contract.
Both Nokia and ZTE withdrew from the original tender process and Huawei’s own bid was roughly double the estimate that ICE had proposed. ICE had expected to spend around US$225 million on the 3G upgrade – but Huawei tendered a contract costing nearly US$583 million for 1.5 million 3G lines.
The new 3G contract calls for network capacity for 935,000 3G lines.
The Mobile World subscriber database estimates that ICE ended the 3rd quarter of last year with some 2.75 million subscribers, including some 46,000 customers on legacy AMPS and TDMA networks.
Alvarion recently won a WiMAX tender from ICE worth US$6 million covering San Jose and the rural areas of Limon.
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Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
The death toll from Costa Rica’s magnitude-6.1 earthquake has risen to 20 after more bodies were found.
The country’s judicial investigative agency says the death toll stands at 20 after three more bodies were found. Two were farm workers.
The quake rocked the Central American nation on Thursday, unleashing massive landslides and destroying homes in a mountainous, remote region popular with tourists and farmers. Fifteen of the victims have been identified.
President Oscar Arias visited a tent camp Tuesday that houses some of the estimated 2,000 victims whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
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Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
Several earthquakes of medium intensity rocked different countries of Central America Tuesday, according to information reaching here.
In Costa Rica, two earthquakes took place early Tuesday morning, one was 4.1 magnitude at 8:23 p.m (0223 GMT) and the other 4.3 magnitude at 1:09 a.m. (0709 GMT) in Valle Central, where main cities of the country are located.
No damages or casualties have been reported yet.
Meanwhile, in Colombia, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake hit the northwestern city of Medellin, with no immediate report of victims and damages, the Geology and Mining Institute (Ingeominas) said.
The earthquake in Medellin occurred at 2:49 p.m. (1949 GMT) with the epicenter in the municipality of Bolivar, southwest of Medellin.
In El Salvador, an earthquake mearusing 4.2 degrees on the Richter scale took place in the eastern municipality of Acajutla at 8:09 a.m. (1409 GMT).
The Salvadorian National Institute of Territorial Studies (SNET) said it has registered six earthquakes in the coast regions of Ahuachapan, La Libertad, Usulutan and San Miguel in 2009.
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Costa Rica’s mountain villages 35 km northwest of the capital of San Jose last Thursday. The quake left at least 19 people dead and 23 more missing, according to latest media reports.
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The death toll from Costa Rica’s magnitude-6.1 earthquake rose to 19 dead, with 23 missing, officials said Monday.
The quake rocked the Central American nation on Thursday, unleashing massive landslides and destroying homes in a mountainous, remote region popular with tourists and farmers. Fifteen of the victims have been identified.
The death toll rose by one Monday as rescue officials suspended from a helicopter dug out the body of a man who was buried in his car on a steep incline.
Rescue efforts have been slow, and more than 100 people had been listed as missing over the weekend.
But judicial police said in a statement that authorities had located most of the missing in shelters. Most of the dead and missing appeared to be Costa Rican or Nicaraguan.
President Oscar Arias declared five days of national mourning and issued a national emergency, making it easier for quake victims to receive aid.
His government also asked Congress to request a $65 million loan from the World Bank and a $850 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.
Preliminary figures estimate nearly $100 million in damages and 250 families left without homes.
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The Costa Rican government decreed a national emergency Monday following last week’s magnitude-6.2 earthquake that left 20 people dead and at least $100 million in damage.
President Oscar Arias and the head of the CNE emergency management office, Daniel Gallardo, signed Monday the decree declaring a national emergency that will allow quicker mobilization of the resources needed to aid thousands of people left homeless.
The authorities also declared five days of national mourning. (more…)
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The Ombudswoman’s Office (2248-2374), the Christian charity organization Asociación Obras del Espíritu Santo (2286-5252), the Costa Rican Red Cross (2542-5000) and the National Emergency Commission (2210-2828) are coordinating all donations to assist those affected by Thursday’s earthquake. They can direct anyone wishing to donate to the nearest drop-off or bank account. (more…)
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
Thirty-four American servicemembers and four helicopters from Honduras-based Joint Task Force-Bravo deployed to Costa Rica Jan. 10 to assist with disaster response efforts in areas affected by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake near San Jose.
The team, comprised of Army and Air Force aviation crews, rescue, medical and support members, supported ongoing efforts to search and locate victims of the natural disaster.
The military members are working in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and representatives of Costa Rica’s national disaster response organizations.
Navy Adm. James Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command, headquartered in Miami, directed the deployment after Costa Rican government officials requested U.S. assistance from the U.S. Embassy, located in the nation’s capital.
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
When Costa Ricans are done celebrating the Christmas and New Year holidays, they have yet another party to look forward to: the Palmares fiestas, one of Costa Rica’s most anticipated traditional celebrations. Palmares, a small town between Alajuela and San Ramon, is known for hosting the best fiestas and tope (horse parade) in the country. During the second half of January, Palmares becomes the focal point for many locals. each year, the Palmares fiestas begin the second week of January and continue through the month with a series of events planned by the Asociacion Civica Palmarena. these include concerts, fireworks, sports activities, “chinamo” tents with alcohol and food, the toros a la Tica (Costa Rican-style bullfighting) and a traditional horse parade.
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
Police seized slightly more than one ton of cocaine at a warehouse in San Lorenzo, a city in Costa Rica’s central Heredia province, and found a man with a gunshot wound to the head, the Security Ministry said.
The cocaine was found Friday night when officers responded to an emergency call from a woman who lives near the warehouse and heard shouting at the property.
Officers found a man, identified as 43-year-old Gerardo Varela Araica, who had been shot in the head and transported him to a hospital, where he is listed in serious condition.
The warehouse contained 500 kilos of cocaine and two vehicles packed with another 547 kilos, police spokesmen said, adding that the drug cache was taken to a police facility in San Jose.
Investigators are trying to determine who smuggled the cocaine into the country and what the wounded man’s role in the operation was.
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The Costa Rican Red Cross said Sunday it was focusing on the search for the missing and buried bodies, as well as the rescue of people who remain cut off after the magnitude-6.2 earthquake that rocked the central part of the country last week.
Several rescue teams are currently at work in Vara Blanca, one of the areas hardest hit by the quake, seeking bodies that witnesses say were buried in landslides. (more…)
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Monday, January 12th, 2009
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortegaon Sunday expressed his condolences to the families of the four Nicaraguans killed by Costa Rica’s recent earthquake, and ordered Nicaragua’s embassy in Costa Rica to offer all necessary help to the Costa Rican government and people.
According to the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry, some Nicaraguan diplomats have arrived in Costa Rica to help arrange the burial ofthe two Nicaraguan girls who died in the earthquake.
The Nicaraguan embassy in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, has been distributing food and water to the affected people.
A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the mountain villages some 35 km northwest of the capital of San Jose on Thursday afternoon, killing at least 18 and causing dozens of others missing.
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Monday, January 12th, 2009
The death toll from the magnitude-6.2 earthquake that rocked Costa Rica has risen to 14, the Red Cross said early Friday after 10 more bodies were found.
Rescue teams and security forces, meanwhile, were still trying to reach the zone most affected by Thursday’s quake, since some communities remained cut off due to landslides. (more…)
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