Archive for March 6th, 2009
Friday, March 6th, 2009
China is willing to continuously push forward its friendly relations with Costa Rica, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said Thursday.
Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.
The two countries reached broad consensuses on a number of key issues when Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Costa Rica last year, said Wang, adding Hu’s visit pointed out the way for further development of bilateral friendly ties. (more…)
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Friday, March 6th, 2009
Costa Rica’s Blue Flag Ecological Program (Programa Bandera Azul Ecologica) has awarded Rios Tropicales the Blue Flag for Rivers with Two Stars for its Private Reserve by the Pacuare River.
Rios Tropicales, led by its founder – renowned conservation and sustainable adventure tourism advocate – Rafael Gallo, has achieved the highest level of recognition to date from the Costa Rican government with the Blue Flag For Rivers with Two Stars award.
Rios Tropicales received the award for its protection and enhancement of 16 kilometers of rafting river corridor along the world-class Pacuare River and neighboring tributary Terciopelo Creek, including contributing to the reduction of pesticides used along the creek. This is the inaugural year of the new Blue Flag for Rivers Award and Rios Tropicales is the only company in Costa Rica to achieve Two Stars to date. (more…)
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Friday, March 6th, 2009
The government of Costa Rica hopes to increase its power generation by tapping into volcanic hot spots, and to that end it has introduced a controversial bill in Congress that would allow drilling into volcanoes in national parks.
In January, the governmental Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) announced that it is contracting equipment for the geothermal power station of Las Pailas, on the side of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano, in the northwest province of Guanacaste.
The plant is scheduled to become operational in 2011, adding 35 megawatts to the 163.5 that are already supplied by the five units of the Miravalles volcano power station, in operation since 1994.
That same year, a third project, the Borinque, on the northeast side of the Rincón de la Vieja volcano, will be launched.
Geothermal power uses underground steam from volcanic regions. The energy is harnessed by extracting the heat from within the earth’s crust, in the form of a fluid that is used to move the turbines. Two holes are drilled in each case: one is used to draw hot water, and the flow of water is then cooled and re-injected into the other. (more…)
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Friday, March 6th, 2009
Recently, legislation proposed by the Costa Rican government to dramatically increase the income requirements to become a CR resident have caused quite a stir within the expat and retiree population, and rightfully so. This is no miniscule rise by a few percentage points to boost the bottom line; these increases, including a five hundred percent increase in rentista income requirements, are not only unfeasible but also send out the wrong message. Has Costa Rica, the longtime destination for North American retirees and expats, hit the crest of the wave and no longer wants its gringo neighbors to keep moving southward?
Of course not. It is unrealistic that the government would – or could – sacrifice such a vital stream of revenue. For better or worse, the Costa Rican economy is largely based on the influx of outside dollars; to suddenly pass regulations that significantly inhibit this flow of money would be economic suicide. But that is what these new regulations would seemingly do. Pensioner requirements for residency are slated to increase from six hundred dollars to two thousand, or a mere nine hundred dollars more than the average U.S. pension. Those falling into the rentista category face similar changes, with requirements increasing from one thousand dollars a month to five thousand. (more…)
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