Archive for October 27th, 2009
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Costa Rica’s Public Works and Transportation Minister Karla Gonzalez resigned on Monday after being criticized for failing to assume responsibility for last week’s accident in which five people were killed.
A bus fell into the Tarcoles River, some 60 km east of the capital, last Thursday after a bridge over the river collapsed, causing the deaths of five passengers and the injuries of 32 others.
The bridge, built during 1920-1924, has not been repaired for years despite its shaky condition.
Gonzalez said that she recognized the state responsibility for guaranteeing the security of its citizens and hoped that her resignation would mitigate the outrage of the public over the accident.
Gonzalez added that all parties involved must take their responsibilities in this painful drama and draw a lesson from it.
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Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Thousands were out on Sunday to support the “Carrera y Caminata por la Vida”, the fight against breast cancer in Costa Rica, sponsored by Avon.
It is estimated that at least 7.000 people were out on Paseo Colón beginning at 8am, ending their walk at the Plaza de la Democracia, where they were met by the group “Son de Tikicia”, in addition to a host of other family activities.
Adriana Fernández, marketing manager for Avon, said that the number of people showing up in support broke all expectations.
All the money raised from Sunday’s event goes to the Fundación Nacional de Solidaridad contra el cáncer de mama (Fundeso).
All this month there have been activities in various locations around the country, the major ones focused in San José with its large population base.
Last Sunday, the supermarket chain Automercado sponsored the “Rosa” walk in Escazú and the Sunday before the Ross Foundation sponsored the “Corre por mi” in the Sabana park.
The focus of each activity is to detect breast cancer early.
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Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
The strike by the dockworkers in Limón is over, as workers and government reached an agreement late on Friday. However, the loss due to the strike by a small group, maybe 50 dockworkers, is enormous.
The JUNTA DE ADMINISTRACION PORTUARIA Y DE DESARROLLO ECONOMICO DE LA VERTIENTE ATLÁNTICA (JAPDEVA), estimates that the direct monetary loss for the strike that lasted three says is us$18 million dollars. However, the indirect losses may be even greater.
During the three day strike one cruise ship carrying 1.900 passengers could not dock and it is unknown how many more decided to scrub Limón from its list of docks. One company alone is reporting a loss of some us$600.000 when it had to destroy an entire load of bananas.
Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, while visiting the Turrubares bridge collapse site, told reporters that Japdeva is currently investing only 80% of its budget in salaries, but in the coming months will be raising to 100% in an effort to increase worker salaries and avoid further disruptions at the one of the nation’s two major shipping ports.
Arias said he was perturbed that the striking workers did not care that their actions would severely affect the artisans and those living off tourism in the area.
“What is important here is the need to move ahead the subject of concessions and to get it done as quickly as possible”, said Arias.
The strike ended with the workers obtaining a 2.44% salary increase.
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Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
The transition to the dry season has begun on schedule this week, despite previous predictions of an early end to Costa Rica’s unusually dry rainy season, according to the National Meteorology Institute (IMN). Meteorologists project that the duration of the changeover period will be “normal” in the Central Valley and on the Pacific side.
The dry season will begin between Nov. 7-11 in the northern Pacific, between Nov. 12-16 in the Central Valley, between Dec. 12-16 in the central Pacific and between Jan. 1-5 in the Southern Pacific.
On the Caribbean coast, the IMN forecasts 10 to 20 percent more rain than normal for the months of November and December.
October data has yet to be calculated, but earlier predictions indicated a drier-than-average October in the Central Valley and the Pacific – up to 40 percent less rain in some regions – due to the presence of El Niño in the Caribbean Ocean. Meteorologists believe that these predictions will prove to be accurate.
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