Vol. 3 • Edition 196 • Monthly • January. 2010 • Costa Rica, Central America •

entertainment P.15

society P. 10

lead story P.14

society P.13

According to statistical data of the Promotora del Comercio Exte-rior (PROCOMER), Costa Rican exports reached, from January to November of 2009, an accumulat-ed value of US$7,981 million.

The gathering and sale of Olive Ridley turtle eggs imparted by the Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de la Comunidad, at the Ostional Wildlife Refuge, is regulated and allowed by the current environ-mental legislation. .

At the Estocolmo School, lo-cated in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, more than 60 students presented their final project in what is the concluding time frame for the “Ha-cia las Estrellas” program.

The fact was confirmed via a publication made by the Costa Ri-can Ornithological Association, or AOCR as abbreviated in Spanish, in the last edition of the prestigious Zeledonia magazine.

Improving the quality of science education in Guanacaste

Turrialba Volcano Wakes Again

National Exports Stop Decreasing

Ostional Community Authorized to Benefit from Use of Olive Riley Turtle Eggs

Experts Register Five New Species of Birds in Costa Rica

www.journalcr.com

Ash fall from the Turrialba volcano has not stopped; situation that has affected the agricultural production of the zone. Photo Sylvia Guard M.

(InfoWeb Press) Concurrently with the closing of this edition, the Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias (CNE) declared a state of green alert in the canton of Turrialba, due to an ash eruption which affected communities near the volcano´s crater, namely La Central and La Pastora.

In accordance with the field reports and the scientific technical organisms which have been monitoring the volcano, the expulsion of particles and a minor rise in the seismic activity of the Turrialba volcano has been confirmed.

Guillermo Barrantes, coordinator for the Turrialba Emergency Committee also confirmed the fall of ash, spanning a radius of 3 kilometers around the crater.

In light of such activity, the CNE activated the Emer-gency Committee of Turrialba, sent its officials and ge-ologists to assess the situation and take the necessary means of response.

The CNE also recommended the closing of the Tur-rialba volcano National Park, and the evacuation of some 21 people from La Pastora to homes of relatives in Paraiso de Cartago.

In the meantime, a group of functionaries and tech-nicians of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG, as abbreviated in Spanish), visited various communities near the Turrialba volcano, with the intent of assessing the initial impact, that the volcanic materi-al, which continues to fall over the crops and livestock of the area, has had.

According to the information given by Francisco Brenes, MAG Director of the Central Oriental Region, Cartago, the extension agencies of Turrialba and Pa-cayas are currently in alert and their functionaries are in charge of making assessments within the communities of Pacayas, Santa Rosa of Oreamuno, San Pablo, San Gerardo and Capellades, amongst others.

Meanwhile the MOPT and CONAVI, coordinated the mobilization of machinery to begin, as soon as pos-sible, the intervention of the Route 416, which mea-sures 17 kilometers in length, and leads to the Turri-alba volcano. This route was declared a national access route mid las year, and thus had not been incorporated into CONAVI´s registers. None the less, through the re-scheduling of works with the companies who carry out the maintenance of our national routes, in the zone of Turrialba, this will soon be attended to.

Edition 196 • January. 20102

P. 4 lead story

¢200 Million Invested in the San Dimas de la Cruz Bridge(InfoWeb Press) The residing executive present of the Instituto de Desar-

rollo Agrario (IDA, as abbreviated in Spanish), Dr. Carlos Bolaños Cés-pedes, and the current president of Costa Rica, Dr. Oscar Arias Sánchez, attended the inauguration of the San Dimas Bridge, located over the Sapoá river in La Cruz, Guanacaste; a job in which the IDA invested ¢200 million colones.

P. 6 society

New Aeolian Plan begins to Function in Guanacaste(InfoWeb Press) Since this previous December 8th , a new aeolian plant was been put into operation by the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE).The plant, that is located in Guanacaste, near the Miravalles volcano, is comprised of 55 turbines that, moved by the forces of the wind, reach a power of 49.5 megawatts. Thirty of the propellers began to generate elec-tricity in September.

P. 6 society First Technological Gathering Held in Guanacaste(InfoWeb Press) Numerous small and medium sized companies or

PYMES as abbreviated in Spanish, financial and government functionar-ies, Information Technology employees and university researchers gathered in Liberia during a Technology get-together organized by the Science and Technology Ministry (MICIT) and the University of Costa Rica (UCR). This with the intent of promoting the exchange of information, experiences and knowledge to achieve a greater union amongst fields and solidify ac-tions to work towards achieving greater development and competitiveness.

P. 10 society Country produces more than 40 thousand kilograms of forest seeds(InfoWeb Press) Costa Rica consolidated, among Latin-American coun-

try, as the only country to have a Forest Seed Specie Certification Program (teak and melina). This work is carried out through the National Office of Seeds (ONS, as abbreviated in Spanish), adherent company of the De-partment of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG, as abbreviated in Spanish), which is in charge of certifying, controlling and promoting the use of upper quality seeds.

P. 13 society

Initiatives in favor of environment and culture receive awards(InfoWeb Press) A total of $20.000 will be distributed amongst nine Cos-

ta Rican projects which where selected as the winners of the Xth edition of the Ford Motor Company´s Conservation and Environment awards.

P. 14 business

Tourism Sector is Confident in Increase of Activity During the Beginning of the High Season(InfoWeb Press) December gave rise to the start of the tourist high season,

during which, the national tourism sector aims to attract visitors by offer-ing discount packages in their services and enhanced value in its products.

Emergency Medical ServiceToll Free 800-EMS2000

Air and ground ambulance - Doctor - Paramedic

Call center 8380-4125 • 24hrsQuepos - Jaco - Cobano - Tamarindo

Huacas - Sardinal - Liberia

CoSTA RICA BASICSArea: 51,000 km2Population: 4,509,290 (Nov 2008)Capital: San JoseLanguage: SpanishTime Zone: UTC/GMT-6 hours

USeFUl NUMBeRS

EmergenciesEMERGENCY SERVICES 911Fire 2688-8918Medical Alert (Ambulance) 2670-0258OIJ (Police Special Branch) 2690-0128Red Cross 2666-0994Hospital Liberia 2666-0011Hospital Nicoya 2685-8400Hospital San José 2257-7922Clinic (Coco) 2670-0987Clinic (Liberia) 2666-1881Emergency Medical Service 8380 41 25 24 hrs.Santa Monica Radialogy Center 2665-0704

TransportCentral Line San José 2257-7214 2221-9115Central Line Liberia 2666-0085Interbus 2283-5573 Fax: 2283-7655Pulmitan Liberia 2666-0458 2666-3818Tica Bus 2666-0371

Lost credit cardsAmerican Express 0 800 012 3211Mastercard 0 800 011 0184Visa 0 800 011 0030

Vol3•Edition196 January.2010 Costa Rica, Central America OUR TEAM

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ALSO INSIDE

P.04 Lead Story

P.06 Society

P.10 Society

P.12 News Brief

P. 13 Society

P.14 Business

P.15 Business

Contents

COStA rICA tIDES ChArt Information for Pacific Coast

Page two

Day High Low High Low High

Sun 15 01:05 / 9.23 ft 07:24 / 0.27 ft 13:37 / 8.40 ft 19:34 / 0.71 ft

Mon 16 01:52 / 9.41 ft 08:11 / 0.04 ft 14:24 / 8.58 ft 20:20 / 0.64 ft

Tue 17 02:37 / 9.46 ft 08:54 / -0.07 ft 15:08 / 8.66 ft 21:04 / 0.68 ft

Wed 18 03:19 / 9.38 ft 09:35 / -0.06 ft 15:51 / 8.64 ft 21:46 / 0.81 ft

Thu 19 04:00 / 9.18 ft 10:15 / 0.07 ft 16:33 / 8.53 ft 22:28 / 1.02 ft

Fri 20 04:41 / 8.88 ft 10:55 / 0.30 ft 17:15 / 8.34 ft 23:10 / 1.30 ft

Sat 21 05:23 / 8.49 ft 11:35 / 0.61 ft 17:58 / 8.10 ft 23:53 / 1.60 ft

Sun 22 06:06 / 8.06 ft 12:17 / 0.97 ft 18:43 / 7.85 ft

Mon 23 00:39 / 1.90 ft 06:52 / 7.63 ft 13:00 / 1.34 ft 19:30 / 7.62 ft

Tue 24 01:28 / 2.14 ft 07:41 / 7.24 ft 13:47 / 1.68 ft 20:19 / 7.48 ft

Wed 25 02:22 / 2.29 ft 08:35 / 6.94 ft 14:37 / 1.95 ft 21:11 / 7.44 ft

Thu 26 03:19 / 2.29 ft 09:33 / 6.79 ft 15:30 / 2.09 ft 22:04 / 7.54 ft

Fri 27 04:17 / 2.12 ft 10:32 / 6.80 ft 16:24 / 2.08 ft 22:56 / 7.78 ft

Sat 28 05:12 / 1.80 ft 11:27 / 6.99 ft 17:17 / 1.93 ft 23:45 / 8.13 ft

Sun 29 06:03 / 1.37 ft 12:18 / 7.31 ft 18:07 / 1.65 ft

Mon 30 00:33 / 8.55 ft 06:51 / 0.88 ft 13:07 / 7.71 ft 18:57 / 1.29 ft

If you wish to move to Costa Ricayou don’t need to pay more for the best

Moreinformation,pg.16

Edition 196 • January. 20104 lead STory

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(InfoWeb Press) Five new species of birds have joined the official list of Costa Rican bird species this year.

The fact was confirmed via a publication made by the Costa Rican Ornithological As-sociation, or AOCR as abbreviated in Span-ish, in the last edition of the prestigious Zel-edonia magazine.

According to the report, the species are not new to the world of science, they are known bird species of the World, however these birds have never before been spotted in Costa Rica, and now their presence, in the country, has been proven for the first time.

The first of these birds is called the Christ-mas Shearwater whose scientific name is Puffinus nativitatis.

It belongs to the Puffinus genus which is amply distributed throughout numerous ar-chipelagos of the Pacific Ocean including Hawaii. It is estimated that only some 5000 individuals of this specie exists in the wild.

The second addition to the Costa Rican birding list is the Accipiter poliogaster or Grey-bellied Goshawk. This specie is a bird of prey, meaning it searches for food using its beak. The specie inhabits tropical and subtropical forests and jungles of lower re-gions. They have been spotted around most of South America. As its name indicates, it is distinguished for having a greyish colored belly.

The so called Black-legged Kittiwak gull (Rissa tridactyla), is a medium-sized, stocky bird with short legs and a chipped tail. It is

the third specie to be added into the national inventory of birds this year. It is one of two species that belong to the Rissa genus and owes its name to the distinguishing charac-teristic of the genus of having its rear finger atrophied.

Physically, this specie is differentiated for its yellow and long beak without spots; the lower body and head is white while its back and the upper part of its wings is grey and it has ever darker grey colored wing tips. They also have dark grey or reddish colored legs.

Its behavior is recognizable because they are sea birds and only come to shore to nest.

Until recently it was believed that this specie was only distributed throughout the oceans of the northern hemisphere but in March of 2009, Nicole Michel, a bird spe-cialist, was able to spot an individual of this kind at the mouth of the Tortuguero river lo-cated within the Tortuguero National Park in Limon.

According to Michel, what was spot-ted was one lone individual with “winter plumage” posing on the beach, but that was enough to register it in the country.

A bird called Veraguan Mango (Anthraco-thorax veraguensis) was also included in the 2009 national bird inventory by experts of the Costa Rican Ornithological Association.

The bird is light and small. It presents a brightly, metallic-green colored plumage and its beak is almost as long as its body. The

Experts Register Five New Species of Birds in Costa Rica

(InfoWeb Press) The residing executive present of the Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA, as abbreviated in Spanish), Dr. Carlos Bolaños Céspedes, and the current president of Costa Rica, Dr. Oscar Arias Sánchez, at-tended the inauguration of the San Dimas Bridge, located over the Sapoá river in La Cruz, Guanacaste; a job in which the IDA invested ¢200 million colones.

The construction of this bridge will ben-efit over 34 families, that, from now on, may take their agricultural produce out of the re-gion and send their children to school with-out the risk of having to cross the river by boat or overhang as they did before.

Furthermore at the Municipal meeting of La Cruz, held in the Experimental Bilin-gual School gym, the executive president of the IDA, symbolically gave the first twelve parcels to twelve families, members of the Asociación de Pequeños Agricultores de Los Ángeles (APALA, as abbreviated in Span-ish), who will be allocated to a settlement called Valle Real. The IDA purchased this land, which measures 216.21 hectares, at a cost of ¢710 million colones. Now it will house 50 families, distributed in the follow-ing fashion: 32 families in parcels and 38 families in lots.

The activities of production that these families will be involved in include: sow-ing of roots, tubers, citrus, pineapple, basic grains, hot Pepper as well as livestock activi-ties and eco-tourism.

At the same event, the IDA gave a cer-tificate which designates the Asociación Administradora de la Producción Agrícola y Coordinación Institucional del Asentamiento Orosi, as the administrators of CEPROMA (as abbreviated in Spanish) namely the Pro-cessing and Food Marketing Center, located within Valle Real, and whose construction was concluded during the month of Novem-ber 2009.

CEPROMA boasts an agroindustrial infra-structure of 279 meters squared. Its area of

influence reaches neighboring populations such as Orosi, Argendora and Santa Elena, plus, other nearby communities like La Vir-gen, El Caoba, Piedras Azules and Brasilia.

Recently the IDA also gave works of in-frastructure, whose value exceeds the ¢100 million to the settlement of Orosi, an act that will prompt the strengthening of the social and economic development of 20 families.

The total area of this settlement is superior to 106 hectares and it has 17 plots of 5 hect-ares each and 23 lots for dwellings.

The works given include internal roads, which measure 5 kilometers and sewer sys-tems. The works were executed by means of an agreement with the Municipality of Santa Cruz. The material for construction was donated by Mr. Martín Serrano and his wife, both small-holders of the settlement of Santa Cecilia. The investment was of ¢ 51.217.000.

Other projects given were the enlargement of the network, improvements to the pump-ing system, guard station and storage tank for the aqueduct.

male bird´s neck is frequently of a blueish color.

Until now, scientific evidence showed

that this bird only inhabited the neighboring country of Panama. None the less, specialists Kevin Easley and Steven Easley where able to observed various individuals in a garden located in Golfito, Puntarenas.

The Veraguan Mango has been part of the endangered species list since July 2006.

The last specie to complete the list of bird novelties for this year is a kind of humming-bird called Lepidopyga coeruleogularis.

This is another minute bird which also boasts a very visible and metallic colored plumage whose beak is almost as long as its body.

Similar to the spotting of the Veraguan Mango, the Easley scientists confirmed the presence of this specie amongst red flowers called Erythrina in Puntarenas.

¢200 Million Invested in the San Dimas de la Cruz Bridge

The first of the bird species to be discovered is the Christmas Shearwater, Puffinus nativitatis. Photo TGJ archives

Neighbors of San Dimas can now safely transit the bridge in which 200 million colones where invested. Photo Alberto Calvo

Edition 196 • January. 20106 SocieTy

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(InfoWeb Press) Since this previous De-cember 8th , a new aeolian plant was been put into operation by the Costa Rican Insti-tute of Electricity (ICE).

The plant, that is located in Guanacaste, near the Miravalles volcano, is comprised of 55 turbines that, moved by the forces of the wind, reach a power of 49.5 megawatts. Thirty of the propellers began to generate electricity in September.

The plant is conceptualized in the design, construction, assembly and operation of the wind turbines, with an individual capacity to produce 900 kilowatts (kW). The entire park is located within an area of 500 hectares.

This plant will supply energy to some 100,000 users. Furthermore, it has the ad-vantage of being less of a contaminant than electricity generated with diesel.

The work was executed under the plan of financing BOT (to build, to operate and to transfer, according to its acronyms in Eng-lish) by the Planta Eólica Guanacaste S.A. company.

Once construction was finalized, opera-tions and maintenance of the plant was trans-ferred to ICE. The Contract Supervisory Unit of the UEN PySA was responsible for over-seeing that the conditions agreed upon where followed.

ICE reported that the connection of the

plant to the National Electric System (SEN, as abbreviated in Spanish) is carried out through a substation that is linked with a transmission line of 230 kV between Mira-

valles-Liberia.

With this contribution, the aeolian capac-ity of the country was elevated by 70%. This

substation was transfered to ICE immediate-ly, for operation and maintenance.

The aeolian power plant complex is locat-ed in the province of Guanacaste, 30 kilome-ters north of the city of Bagaces, 8 kilometers west of the town of Guayabo in the vicinity of the Miravalles volcano.

Recently, the vice Minister of German Environment, Michael Mueller, said, during an official visit to the country, that “Costa Rica is a model for Latin America in themes of climatic change and biodiversity. Costa Rica already generates more than the 90% of its electric power with renewable ener-gies. It will be exemplary how this country will transform itself into the first country in the world, where the energy provision in the framework of its 200 years of indepen-dence, namely marked in the 2021, will be 100% supplied by renewable sources, in other words it will become a carbon neutral country.

The Guanacaste power plant park as seen by the company Juwi of Wörrstadt, Germany symbolizes, in the opinion of the Federal Department of German Environment, a good example of the successful transfer of tech-nology and knowledge to Central America. The wind park makes the country less depen-dent on costly imports of traditional energy, creates jobs and contributes to the protection of the World´s climate.

(InfoWeb Press) Numerous small and me-dium sized companies or PYMES as abbre-viated in Spanish, financial and government functionaries, Information Technology em-ployees and university researchers gathered in Liberia during a Technology get-together organized by the Science and Technol-ogy Ministry (MICIT) and the University of Costa Rica (UCR). This with the intent of promoting the exchange of information, ex-periences and knowledge to achieve a greater union amongst fields and solidify actions to work towards achieving greater development and competitiveness.

Eugenia Flores, the Minister of Science and Technology stated that “ companies generate better and more jobs and prod-ucts as they grow. We want to strengthen the PYMES and contribute to their growth by linking them with the universities and research centers. Technology gatherings of this sort promote interaction between partici-pants and encourage companies to improve their level of technology and increase their innovation capabilities. Without a doubt this reunion is an opportunity for the PYMES of Guanacaste”.

Producers from the entire province as-sisted the event, betting on making renova-tion technology present in their companies as a means of surviving and growing in times of crisis. The gathering enticed businessmen and producers to get to know new projects to help improve their competitive edge and

form strategic technological alliances which impulse initiatives in conjunction with re-search centers. This with the purpose of ob-taining funds from the Fund for Incentives of the MICIT and other public and private funds.

These sort of Technology gatherings are an incentive set forth by the MICIT, which searches to create a public space of inter-relation between the different – academic, producers and public – sectors, as well as the exhibition of products and projects. The assistants also participated in conferences

which covered topics like entrepreneurship and biofuels.

Concurrently it was announced that Cos-ta Rica invested 416 millions of dollars in science and technology activities, in 2008. According to the indicators of science, tech-nology and innovation officials this amount represents an 18.8% increase from 2007, data to be released by the MICIT.

From that investment, 118,8 millions of dollars where utilized for investigation and development (0,4% from the PIB), $171,5 millions in education (0,57% from the PIB), and $125,7 millions in science and technol-ogy services (0,42% from the PIB).

The indicators are the result of an exhaus-tive analysis conducted, and according to Flores, “traces a general panorama of the science, technology and innovation activities that take place, of what the country invests in research and development (I+D), of the qual-ity and quantity of our human resource, of the efforts of the private sector to be innova-tive, and of the existing interaction between the universities and companies”.

The study, presented the data of 2008, based on five types of indicators: Science and Technology Investment Indicators, Sci-ence and Technology Human Resource Indi-cators; Product Indicators; Information Tech-nology Indicators or (TICs), and Innovation Indicators.

New Aeolian Plan begins to Function in Guanacaste

First Technological Gathering Held in Guanacaste

A total of 55 wind turbines where installed in the park. Photo TGJ archives

“Ocarina” products exhibited by Lidia Fennell, Verónica Navarro and Daniela Bassey. Photo MICIT

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Edition 196 • January. 201010 SocieTy

(InfoWeb Press) The gathering and sale of Olive Ridley turtle eggs imparted by the Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de la Co-munidad, at the Ostional Wildlife Refuge, is regulated and allowed by the current en-vironmental legislation, as long as scientific studies demonstrate that the controlled and rational taking of these eggs does not endan-ger the specie.

So explains the Ministry of Environ-ment, Energy and Telecommunications (or MINAET, as abbreviated in Spanish), in an announced made to counteract the informa-tion which has currently been circulating through internet and television which depict photos of Ostional community members col-lecting such eggs.

The Ostional Integral Development As-sociation (ADIO, as abbreviated in Span-ish) is the only entity that has permission to commercialize the Olive Riley Turtle eggs. These eggs must be packaged in sealed bags, with the organization´s logos on them plus accompanied by the corresponding receipts.

Therefore, the consumption of turtle eggs that don’t come from Ostional and follow these conditions is illegal, points out, Temp-isque Conservation Area Director, Nelson Marín Mora.

The Ostional National Wildlife Refuge was founded in 1982, precisely to protect Ol-ive Riley turtle nesting sites, which back then where subject of investigation of the School of Biology of the University of Costa Rica.

Since the 60´s, the first inhabitants of Os-

tional used turtle eggs as a means of feeding their families. However with the creation of the refuge, the community was organized, and formed the Ostional Integral Develop-ment Association (ADIO), in order to have a formal project which would allow for the rational use of the resource, and give protec-tion to the area, thus preventing a massive and uncontrolled taking of these eggs by outsiders.

It is important to point out, that the results of the investigations conducted by the Uni-

versity of Costa Rica (UCR) show, that given the quantity of turtles that nest at the same time in this location, it is technically feasible to allow a controlled use of these eggs which would not be damaging to the turtle popula-tion. Furthermore, national and international authorities have assessed the situation, and as a means of control, permission is given exclusively to the community of Ostional and only through the development associa-tion.

On its part, ADIO, coordinates with

MINAET functionaries to maintain a perma-nent vigilance group to watch over the turtles and their eggs. They also conduct activities to protect the newborn turtles and improve their habitat.

The official decree N° 28203-MINAE-MAG implemented in November of 1990, which has since been revised and updated; the Fishing and Aquiculture law Nº 8436 of the 25th of April 2005; and the Protection, Conservation and Recovering of Marine Turtle Populations Law N° 8325 signed on the 28th of November 2002, back up the ac-tivity in order to make it legal, and above all guarantee a sustainable practice which does not warm the Olive Riley turtle population.

On-site control is carried-out through a biweekly plan elaborated in accordance be-tween INCOPESCA, MINAET, ADIO and the School of Biology of the UCR. One of the objectives is to maintain, the permissible limits of the use of the Olive Riley turtles low, in order to minimize the impact caused by human activity and guarantee a rational extraction of their eggs.

Concurrently, the extraction of these eggs can only be carried out during two and a half days, after the nesting season has been de-clared, by either the project director or the UCR biologist on call, to have started.

In conclusion, this project contributes with the integral sustainability of the area and brings benefits to the community of Ostional.

Ostional Community Authorized to Benefit from Use of Olive Riley Turtle Eggs

Neighbors of Ostional carrying out the Olive Riley egg harvesting at the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge . Photo Photo TGJ archives

(InfoWeb Press) Costa Rica consolidated, among Latin-American country, as the only country to have a Forest Seed Specie Certifi-cation Program (teak and melina). This work is carried out through the National Office of Seeds (ONS, as abbreviated in Spanish), ad-herent company of the Department of Agri-

culture and Livestock (MAG, as abbreviated in Spanish), which is in charge of certifying, controlling and promoting the use of upper quality seeds.

According to ONS reports, during 2009, our country produced near 8 thousand ki-

lograms of melina seeds, and more than 40 thousand kilograms of teak seeds. Of these, around 25 thousand kilograms where ex-ported to countries such as: Mexico, Equa-tor, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama, among others.

“This forest seed activity constitutes in an important source of employment and of in-come for populations existing near sources seedbeds at the beginning and end of each year”, Walter Quirós Ortega, Executive Di-rector of ONS, commented.

Furthermore, within the framework of the National Plan of Food, under the system of certification the production of black-bean seeds was tripled in comparison to the previ-ous period. During 2009 more than 454 met-ric tons of black and red bean seeds where certified (67% of varieties black color and 33% of varieties of red color) and more than 171 metric tons of corn seeds of the variet-

ies Los Diamantes 8843 y Estación Jiménez Núñez -2.(EJN-2).

Likewise, the totality of seeds produced by the Costa Rican Institute of Coffee (ICAFE) for national provision, and the production of seeds of private enterprise for export, where certified

The commercial registry of varieties the ONS maintains, permitted the inscription of 33 new varieties of different crops; these are added to the already existing list available to be marketed and therefore contributes in of-fering a greater supply of improved varieties destined for the agricultural production of the country.

“During 2009 a Regulation of the Law of Protection of Vegetable Obtaining was elab-orated, a required stipend for the implemen-tation of this regimen of protection and the regulation of seeds was brought up to date”, concluded Quirós Ortega.

Country produces more than 40 thousand kilograms of forest seeds

Edition 196 • January. 201012 Edition 196 • January. 2010 13neWS brieF

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SocietyPollution Diminishes in tamarindo

Beach Waters(La Nacion) The beach waters of Tamarindo are again

apt for recreation and swimming, after pre-senting a “substantial” decrease in the levels of contamination.

So demonstrates a study conducted by the National Laboratory of Water, of Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA), which shows that the quantity of fecal matter in each 100 mil-liliters of water decreased from 800 in the 2007 to 100 in this year.

Fecal matter is an indicator of a group of bacteria, whose presence signifies a risk of transmission of infectious illnesses.

Darner Mora, director of the Laboratory, declared that in the year 2007 the beach wa-ters of Tamarindo presented a high peak of fecal contamination, due to 11 direct and in-direct discharges of sewage.

After that situation, several corrective measures were initiated. For example, the AyA withdrew the Ecological Blue Flag the beach had previously been awarded and the Department of Health emitted sanitary cita-tions to more than 80 commercial establish-ments.

“It is evident that the actions of the com-munity and of the entities in charge where fruitful, since the improvement is very good”, Mora detailed.

The study conducted by AyA was done, between 2008 and 2009, with samples taken in eight different points along the beach lo-cated in front of main hotels.

Ricardo Sancho, president of AyA, em-phasized the interest of the population of Tamarindo in aiding to diminish the contami-nation of the water.

He comments, “ In the past we were se-vere and critical in regards to this beach, even generating discontent amongst local hoteliers; today we have to recognize the im-provement and tell people that they can swim there without worry of greater problems aris-ing”.

costa Rica Assumes Presidency of Permanent counsel of the oeA(El Financiero)José Enrique Castillo, permanent repre-

sentative of Costa Rica before the Organiza-tion of the American States (OEA, as abbre-viated in Spanish), assumed, this Tuesday, the presidency of the Permanent Counsel of

the Organization for three months. The diplomat received the title, at the

hands of, permanent representative of Co-lombia and departing president, Luis Alfonso Hoyos.

The new president will abide by “the Letter of the Organization of the American States, whose nature, purposes and princi-ples continue to be fully in-forced and whose compliance should be renewed day by day”, as reported the OEA.

Permanent Counsel regulation states that the Presidency be exercised successively by the title holding representatives, in the al-phabetical order of the names in Spanish of its respective countries, for a period of three months.

tighter Security controls At costa Rica’s Airports For US Bound

Flights(Inside Costa Rica)At the request of the United States the Di-

rección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC) has tightened its security protocols at the Juan Santamaría (San José) and Daniel Odu-ber (Libera) international airports on flights to the US.

The measure follows the attempted terror-ist attack on Christmas day on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan.

Among the changes are that passengers will not be able to carry on their carry on any powdered substance. Items like coffee, sugar, salt, cacao or powdered milk are a no on, unless they are purchased within the ter-minal’s retail stores.

Jorge Fernández, director of Aviación Civil, is emphatic that passengers travelling to the US should buy items like coffee only from stores in the airport terminal - these are the stores beyond the security checks, near the boarding gates.

The only exception to the rule, according to Fernández are prescribed medical items and infant formula and milk. However, these items will be closely inspected by the Policía Aeroportuaria (airport police) before board-ing.

The restrictions on liquids, like gels, creams, toothpaste, etc, continues if they are in packaging over 100ml.

Also xray machines and metal detectors will continue to inspect carry on luggage.

Fernández said that in addition to all of this, passengers on US bound flights will have to submit to a final boarding inspection, this being done by the airlines, independent of the security checks and controsl of the

DGAC.Although the tightened security measures

are geared towards US bound flihts, Copa airlines, part Continental airlines, said it would be adhering to the US security mea-sures though Copa has no direct flights to the US from Costa Rica.

The director of the Policía de Vigilancia Aérea stationed at the Santamaría and Odu-ber airports, Glen Pacheco, said that passen-gers can expect more exhaustive checks to impede passengers from boarding with any dangerous substance or material.

BUSineSScountry Foresees closing of the

nAFtA with Singapore by January 15th

(La Prensa Libre)

Ministry of Foreign Commerce authorities announced that within the following weeks, somewhere between the 11 to the 15th of Jan-uary, the final details and consultation pro-cesses will be concluded for the completion of the Free Trade Agreement between Costa Rica and Singapore.

Currently, as confirmed by the leader of commercial negotiations, Fernando Ocampo, almost the totality of the normative themes have been agreed upon and the negotiation to access Costa Rican markets covers currently 90% of the tariff universe and Singapore´s almost 100%.

From his point of view there is a gran num-ber of sectors that could benefit and for this reason a long process of consultations invok-ing the 55 sectors has lead to 129 meetings and three rounds of consultations by sectors.

In services, 28 sectors have been consulted and 33 meetings have taken place

Close to 20 meetings have also taken lace with organizations such as chamber of pro-duction, associations, civil groups, episcopal conferences, universities and Legislative As-sembly personnel.

Currently, five tax exemption packages have been established, just like the rest of the negotiations that Costa Rica has been mak-ing, each with time limit periods going from zero to ten and one exceptional, in which products that have immediate tax exemption will be included .

Ocampo confirmed that in regards to mate-rial for goods, they have not had much prob-lems in elaborating a proposal, since Singa-

pore practically does not produce anything.

Official data indicate that the commercial exchange between both countries is small. Parts and accessories for automatic data pro-cessing machinery are the principal products that are exported from Costa Rica to Singa-pore, this represents 68.9% of the total ex-ports to that country.

Other products added to the demand of goods are amplifiers, which account for an 11.8%, integrated circuits holding 4% and unroasted coffee with a participation of 1.8%.

Daniel oduber Airport expects a 3% to 5% Recovery in 2010

(La República)

Travel activity is expected to increase by 3% to 5%, during the beginning of the tour-ist high season and throughout the next year, at Liberia´s principal airport, in spite of the decrease felt at the beginning of 2009.

These predictions where made after a slightly more dynamic influx was felt in the terminal.

Another sign that foretells the possible increment in movement in the terminals for 2010, are the figures provided by the Juan Santamaría International Airport. This, de-spite of the fact that the percentages of in-coming tourists, during September and Oc-tober, reported a decrease of 0.5%, the digits where approaching levels comparable to those of the same period in 2008.

“National tourism suffered considerably during 2009. Companies involved in the in-dustry are hoping that the beginning of this year´s high season will bring with it an im-provement in the activity and they are rely-ing on promotions by offering discounts and deals to encourage a rise in the activity”, in-dicates Juan Carlos Ramos, president of the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur).

Despite de steady increase in the quantity of incoming and outgoing tourists since 2002 through the Liberian airport, the global eco-nomic crisis made 2009 the exception.

The estimated decrease is of 11.5% in comparison to 2008, what corresponds to around 48,300 less tourists.

This situation is also reflected during the high season months. For example, during July of last year, 38,465 people occupied the services of said airport , while this year, dur-ing the same month a 13% less people used the airport.

(InfoWeb Press) At the Estocolmo School, located in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, more than 60 students presented their final project in what is the concluding time frame for the “Hacia las Estrellas” program.

The program´s intent is to develop scien-tific capabilities, in students of 10 to 12 years of age, showing them the roles which science and technology play in their community and the world.

“Hacia las Estrellas” is a project developed by the Programa Nacional de Informática del Ministerio de Educación Publica (MEP), the Fundación Omar Dengo (FOD), and Frank-lin Chang´s AdAstra Rocket Company.

The program, three years in the running, has unified and increased the content of the science studies plan for elementary school students. The topics are related with science projects that are developed by the Ad Astra Rocket company.

It is an incentive to improve the quality of science education by adopting a vision that follows a line of education known as Sci-ence, Technology and Society.

“Hacia las estrellas” instills, in students, pedagogical strategies such as: development of scientific capabilities in order to better ask and express questions, being able to gather research information in a systematic way, in-formation processing, constructing models, making conclusions through evidence col-lected, diverse problem solving skills and the integration of all the before mentioned skills in research, design and invention processes.

During the previous three years in which the program has been implemented, relevant results have been evidenced which have al-lowed for the interaction amongst students and Ad-Astra Rocket Company engineers to take place through a blog which has been in operation since 1997 http://adastrarocketcr.blogspot.com/2008/06/cohete.html).

Another positive result of the “Hacia Es-trellas” program is that students are ventur-ing early into studying topics pertaining the fields of chemistry and physics which are not studied until high school. Topics include: atom alignment in different states of matter, magnetism, electromagnetism, electricity,

and alternative sources of energy such as plasma.

The program has transcended the class-room and the information laboratory to the school community since each participating school and its students are aware of the proj-ect and share it.

The children of the three participating schools, Guardia, Estocolmo, and Antonio Maceo y Grajales began this project in 2007 when they where in fourth grade. Today, these children are sixth grade students and leave their elementary schools with a wider knowledge and understanding of science and technology.

In 2010 a new round of the program will be launched, again focusing on fourth grade level students, but this time, the program is enriched by what was learned during the pre-vious three years.

(InfoWeb Press) A total of $20.000 will be distributed amongst nine Costa Rican projects which where selected as the win-ners of the Xth edition of the Ford Motor Company´s Conservation and Environment awards.

The awards ceremony will take place at the Nacional Automotriz NASA edifice, a branch company of Ford in Costa Rica. The ceremony will be graced by the presence of Rita Solís, Corporate Communications man-ager for Central America and the Caribbean, in conjunction with the Minister of Environ-ment, Energy and Telecommunications, Mr. Jorge Rodríguez and Tim Lattimer, appoint-ed by the United States Embassy in Costa Rica as the person in charge of environmen-tal concerns; amongst other special guests.

Rita Solís, Corporate Communications manager for Central America and the Carib-bean for the Ford Motor Company, stated

that “it is a pleasure for Ford to complete ten years dedicated to supporting Costa Ri-cans who are preoccupied with environmen-tal conservation and cultural topics. We are proud to state that our desire to continue with these initiatives is proportionate to the increased compromise shown by the popula-tion itself, in hopes of a better future for all, which is reflected in the 109 projects which we received for this edition.

Selecting the winning projects was not an easy task for the jury since participants dem-onstrated high levels of practical value, dedi-cation and originality in their contribution to environment and culture. The nine wining projects are categorized as follows; under the Conservation and Environmental Educa-tion category, the projects are: Benicio Ech-everri Salazar and his project “ Tire Walls, Economic solutions for families of limited means”; Víctor Hugo Montalvo Jiménez,

with “ Teaching Children through play: the environmental problem which our home, the Earth, faces”; the Asociación por Res-cate Animal de Puntarenas with its project “ Healthy Animals, Healthy Environment”; Yaguará, with “Benefits for local people and the conservation of the jaguars through better cattle gracing practices in the Osa Peninsu-la”; and the Hagnauer Foundation´s project “Implementing a disabled person accessible nature trail at the Centro de Rescate Las Pu-mas”.

In the Conservation and Cultural Heritage Education category the jury chose three win-ners: the Asociación Artística Ramonense with the publishing of the book Maderas y xilografías de Álvaro Acosta Rodríguez; the Finca Educativa Kan Tan S.C. With their project “ Rescuing the traditional Brunka abode”, and the Fundación para la Conser-vación y el Desarrollo Chorotega (FUN-

DECHO) for their project aimed at searching for fairness in the work force for teachers of indigenous languages in conjunction with the MEP for the reinforcement and dissemi-nation of the autochthonous languages of Costa Rica.

In the conservation engineering category the winner was Fernando Orozco Vargas with his project, “Designing systems to col-lect and make water potable in the region of Talamanca”.

Improving the quality of science education in Guanacaste

Initiatives in favor of environment and culture receive awards

Engineer Valverde y Erick Sánchez, UCR Planetarium representatives give certificates to students. Photo Anabelle Prado

Protection and freshness

the whole dayDEXIPIES products are formulated under strictly supervised processes, with ingredients of the highest quality, by Laboratorios MELS-FAC S.A., Costa Rica. Phone: (506) 2215-2424. Fax: (506) 2215-2727. Sold at pharmacies throughout the country.

Project FUNDECHO obtained the prize in the category of Conservation and Education of the Cultural Inheritance. Photo Ana Beatriz Murillo

SocieTy

Edition 196 • January. 201014 Edition 196 • January. 2010 15buSineSS

Each column, row and box must contain each number from 1 to 9. There is only one solution, wich is shown here.

buSineSS

(InfoWeb Press) December gave rise to the start of the tourist high season, during which, the national tourism sector aims to at-tract visitors by offering discount packages in their services and enhanced value in its products.

“National tourism suffered considerably during 2009. Companies dedicated to the national tourist industry are hopping that the beginning of this high season will bring with it better results. Tourism businesses are bet-ting on discounts and deals to promote and jump start the activity”, indicates, Juan Car-los Ramos, president of the National Tour-ism Board (Cámara Nacional de Turismo (CANATUR)).

At the same time, Ramos is confident that the situation will begin to change with the year´s end, since percentages of incoming tourist, through the Juan Santamaría Inter-national Airport, during the months of Sep-tember, October, although December showed a decline of 0.5%, where reaching the same levels as those of the same period in 2008.

Visitors´numbers, during the month of De-cember 2008, registered a total of 183.546 tourists entering our country; the most preva-lent having been tourists from the United States 39.4%, Europe 14.5% and Canada 8,1%. Thus for December 2009, the tour-ism sector hopes that the numbers will once again close positively.

“Tourism businesses fight to reactivate the

industry and increase foreign visits and lo-cal tourism by offering, along with promo-tions - a tourism product of quality, of which the country is an example of, in order to get a better potion of the market share”, Ramos emphasizes.

In 2008, the most visited regions by tour-ists where the Central Valley, visited by 73% of the total tourist count; Guanacaste North, visited by 26.6%; the Northern Plain by 25%, and the Central Pacific visited by 22.8%.

Gonzalo Vargas, current vice-president of CANATUR, indicated that 2009 was a dif-ficult year for the tourism sector, none the less, admits that it was the year in which actions where consolidated that will develop in conjunction with the support of business, organizations and entities tied to the activity.

“The impact of the consequences that the world economic crisis brought with it has been seen reflected in 2009, a year which showed a decrease of 9.14% in the numbers of incoming tourists from January to Sep-tember. In 2009, 1.478.360 incoming tour-ists where reported, while during the same period, in 2008, Costa Rica had received a total of 1.627.124 tourists, which indicates a difference of 148.764 less tourists”, stated Vargas.

He added that it has been a drastic pe-riod for the tourism sector, since the root of the crisis due to the dependency on the United States as the principal market, sev-

eral companies closed and many others had to reduce personnel. None the less, Vargas considers that it has also beena year of chal-lenges, where the turisim activity has had to reinevent its strategies to make ends meet while always maintaining a product offer of much cuality.

Vargas comments that for the closing of

2009, Costa Rica projects an anual decrease close to a 10% having this year been the first to show a decrease in the registered records since the year 2002 when a decreace of 1.6% was reported due to the aprenhension of con-sumers to fly after the terrorist attacks in the United States.

(InfoWeb Press) According to statistical data of the Promotora del Comercio Exte-rior (PROCOMER), Costa Rican exports reached, from January to November of 2009, an accumulated value of US$7,981 million. This signifies a reduction of US$ 998 million (11.1%) if compared with the same period during the previous year, being this percent-age, at the same time, the smallest registered fall of 2009.

Likewise, it is pertinent to point out, the increase of 2.8% that arises as a result of the comparison among the exports carried out

during the month of November of this year with what was obtained during the same month in 2008.

It also fitting to mention that of the total exports, the industrial sector was the one that reached the highest percentage of accumu-lated participation with 76.2%. The agricul-tural sector follows with 21.5% and livestock and fishing with 2.3%.

Precisely, in the livestock and fishing sector, the exports, during the first eleven months of 2009, reached an accumulated value of US$183 million, amongst which

favorable behaviors of products stood out. These included milk, in its diverse presenta-tions (concentrated milk profit increased by 61,9% and non-concentrated milk increased 20,1%), and pork meat, which increased by 82.5%. In general terms, this sector presents the smallest decrease of only 3.8%, due to the reduction of fresh fish exports, including fillets and other kinds of fish meats.

During the first eleven months of the pres-ent year, the agricultural sector reached an accumulated value of US$1,713 million, which signifies a drop of 12.3%, if compared with the same interim during 2008. All this, is caused by the descents in international ex-ports of products such as coffee and banana. At the same time, an increment of pineapple exports is observed (1.2%), as well as a re-covery in the exported value of flowers, foli-ages and leaves in November 2009, in com-parison to November 2008.

The industrial sector, in turn, reached an accumulated value of US$6,085 million, during the period from January to Novem-ber of 2009, showing favorable increases in products such as medicines, which showed a 7.2% increase and infusion equipment,

which showed a 5.1% increase.

Nevertheless, industry, is one of the sec-tors that has been affected the most. Ac-cumulated exports decreased by 11%, as a result of the compression of all sub sectors of this group, such as the manufacturing in-dustry that diminished by 14.9%, as well as the electric components for microprocessors that decreased by 3.1%.

It is important to point out that during the month of November 2009, Duty Free Zone exports only presented a 7.7% decline; a per-centage that turns out to be lower than the registered total exports amount, which helps to cushion the generalized decrease in the behavior of the overall array of Costa Rican exports.

Foreign Trade Minister, Marco Vinicio Ruiz, commented that this behavior fortu-nately, continues to depict a light tendency towards the recovery of the overall national exports scene. Which is expected to recov-er further more still, after the approval of the new Law to govern over the Duty Free Zones, one of the transcendental regimens of the exporting process and one that has ben-efited the country positively.

(InfoWeb Press) Central Government re-sults show a reduction of 6.5% in incomes, during the eleven months that have elapsed this year, in relation to the same period the year prior. November presented an increase of 5%, in comparison to the month of No-vember 2008, thanks to a recovery during that month, of the collection of Customs, Rent and Internal Sales tax. This situation during the month of November allowed for an improvement in the accumulated total, which already marks a stronger tendency toward a better overall improvement, with less of a tendency to fluctuated negatively in comparison to prior months.

According to the figures of the Estate, to-tal expenses increased by 20%, mainly mo-tivated by the increase of the remunerations, that result from the different adjustments that they have been made along the year and from the transfers to the Fund of higher Education (FEES, as abbreviated in Spanish). The re-munerations reflect a growth of 30.9% ac-cumulated during the month of November in comparison to the same period during 2008. Furthermore, the area of “other expenses” in-creased by 12.3% and the resources destined for pension payments increased 17.9% in November of the 2009, in comparison to No-vember 2008. The resources destined to the FEES increased by 33.6% during this period, in relation to the accumulated of last year´s November. Which confirms the tendency that 2009 has carried out, that this is the year in which the FEES has grown more in the last 5 years.

The expense by interests, during Novem-ber increased by 4.6%, in comparison to last year, being that the interests of the internal debt are growing a 8,2%, which begins to show the effect in the expense of interests and a greater need for financing of the public debt, given the fal in recovered tax income during 2009. The growth of interests derived from local debt they are being compensated for by the smallest increase on interests from the external debt, influenced at the same time, by the smallest increase in internation-al interests and the stability of the exchange rate in the country.

About the behavior of the main areas of income, it can be emphasized what was charged in the area of “other tax incomes”, which increased by 1.2%, while it col-lected by sales tax (internal) enlarged a 2% and what was collected by the consumption (internal) tax grew 6.3%. In contrast, the amounts gained by concept of income tax collection decreased by 2% and what was collected in customs was reduced by 17.6% during November 2009, in comparison to the

same month in 2008. “The gradual tendency to revert the fall by

the collection of taxes, is an important sign of recovery and allows for a little more opti-mistic view for future months. Nevertheless, we should not grow too confident, public fi-nances suffered an important blow with the crisis and this will be reflected in the defi-cit that we will close with in 2009. We will continue, therefore, to work very strongly to combat evasion and fraud. These are areas in which we don´t let our guard down at any time”, indicated the Minister of Treasury, Jenny Phillips Aguilar.

A sample of the work carried out is the in-crease in the collection of taxes in cigarette imports, that increased from ¢2.944.633 in October 2008 to ¢618.350.061 in October of 2009 and from ¢46.135.456 in November 2008 to ¢961.880.119 in November of 2009. This was possible due to the integrated work effort of the Revenue and Customs officials, because from September of the present year on, the taxpayer responds in first instance to the Management of Large Taxpayers of the Direction of Taxation, then contributes the information required on prices, brands and other information. Then, with this informa-tion the officials determine the taxable base of the collection of the selective tax of con-sumption and sales,updates the databases and through a data processing application the information is fed into the databases of a system called TIC@, used to determine the tax liability at the moment of the importing cigarettes and cigars, which, by the law of reference, are subject to a particular mecha-nism of calculation of their taxes.

(InfoWeb Press) The Legislative Assem-bly approved this past 18th of December a reform pertaining to the Law of the regimen of the Duty Free zones which aims to: attract investors, stimulate product links within na-tional companies, and promote the develop-ment of investments outside the Extended Greater Metropolitan Area, which was de-fined in order to comply with this law.

“Today we applaud the efforts of the pub-lic officials, of the different fractions, who after conscientiously studying and analyzing the topic, consolidated, with their unanimous vote, the Regimen of the Duty Free Zones, and with it, the vision of country above direct foreign investment” assured the Minister of Foreign Commerce, Marco Vinicio Ruiz.

The Minister also acknowledged the role of the private sector “who has participated in the process in an active manner, offering first hand information and taking their own expe-riences to the corresponding officials”.

This reform will permit to the country to comply with the commitments acquired in the Agreement on Subsidies and Compensa-tory Measures of the World Organization of the Commerce (OMC), that forces to elimi-nate any incentives connected with the ex-ports.

With its approval, Costa Rica will gain the necessary judicial security not only to maintain existing invested capital, but to also attract new investors, foreign and local, and thus be able to offer more job opportunities.

Currently the Duty Free Zone regimen di-rectly employs more than 53 million work-ers and has close to 100 thousand indirect jobs. Under this regimen, last year, more than 4.982 million dollars where exported which represent 54% of the total exports of the country.

The new Duty Free Zone Law eliminates references to requirement of export. It intro-duces filters which serve as criteria to opt for the regimen such as: belonging to a strategic sector of the country, international mobility of investment and the condition of “exempt or non contributer”, of the company at the moment of application of the regimen.

Furthermore it encourages product links through the inclusion of fiscal credits and the figure of “significant supply companies”; plus by this new legislation, companies lo-cated within the Greater Metropolitan Area will pay a fee of 6% of the rent tax during their first six years and 15% during the next 4 years. Those companies that comply with certain levels of jobs offered and capital in-vested may opt for 0% of the rent during the first 8 years.

Likewise, those companies located outside the Extended Greater Metropolitan Area, will have the possibility of not paying taxes on rent during their first 6 years and the reform also promotes the setting up of industrial parks in Limon, Puntarenas, Guanacaste, the Brunca Region, and the Huetar Norte Re-gion.

Tourism Sector is Confident in Increase of Activity During the Beginning of the High Season

National Exports Stop Decreasing

Tax Collections Gives Rise to Incomes

Reform of the Duty Free ZoneLawisApproved

The decrease in the number of visitors was smaller than expected, and the sector is hoped to be reactivated during the next high season. Photo Gregory Villalobos

Minister of Property, Jenny Phillips Aguilar, indicated that the gradual tendency to revert the fall in tax collections, is an important sign of recovery.

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