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Jun
26
Recession? says Who?
June 26, 2009 | Tags: Economic Development, Local Business News | 6 Comments
You would never know there was a recession in Puerto Viejo with the number of projects currently underway. And on top of all the building, they are finally making progress in fixing the roads. Rumor has it that they are hoping to complete the pavment between Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo with final black top in September and October, as that is when there is the least chance of rain.
 New Palà store in Hone Creek on opening day.  Local artisan David at Muebles Rustico across the street from the new Palà  The new Banco Naciónal bank building |
Today was the opening of the new Palà in Hone Creek. They are known throughout Central America as the discount grocer. Controlling interest of Palà along with 4 other Central American supermarket chains were bought by Walmart a few years back. If today’s line ups and traffic jam to get in are any indication, it will be a huge success.
David, local furniture builder and wood artist who works right across the street, seemed happy with the opening. It seemed more important to him that there would be more women to watch than the opportunity to sell more furniture.
Hone Creek was also just graced with a new office for the local water company. It seems that Hone creek will be the central town for most supporting services to the area. Large construction material provider, Colono is located right in the center and opened just over 1 year ago.
The new Banco National Building which is right next door to the Bank of Costa Rica has just been completed and is ready for occupancy. In addition to the bank there will be some offices and retail also in the buillding.
As if one new Supermarket was not enough, developers are wasting no time in constructing a new Mega-Super right in downtown Puerto Viejo. Prices will not be as low as discounter PalÃ, but will provide some competition for the current markets in town whose prices often seem aimed at tourists, making living and shopping in the community difficult for locals. This can be a real hardship for the locals, when typical salaries run $400- $500 month.
And finally, a gas station. Just down from the new Palà is a new gas station just going in. It should be ready in a couple months. Right now, the closest one is in Penshurt, 22 kms away, so advance planning and wasted fuel is required for a fill-up. Local sources say it will have the same owner as the station in Penshurt.
Not all are thrilled by all these displays of capitalism, as the lively debate on the Talamanca News on previous development news has proven.
 New gas station building site, Hone Creek. |
 New Mega Super site, Puerto Viejo. |
Jun
25
Police apprehend five undocumented African migrants in Manzanillo
June 25, 2009 | Tags: Crime & Punishment | Comments Off
Police arrested five migrants of African origin who had been abandoned by smugglers on the beach in Manzanillo, reported an official today.
The Security Ministry said in a statement that the incident took place last Wednesday, when police discovered five foreigners, allegedly from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, who were walking in an unknown direction and with no identification documents.
Apparently, the five foreigners were abandoned on Manzanillo beach, near Puerto Viejo, and made to believe they were in Canada, presumably the final destination of the trip, the ministry explained.
The five were identified as Glemeskel Berivan, 26 years, Golden Assefa, 25, both from Ethiopia, Allen Negash, 24, from Eritrea, and Almeda Ali, 26, and an unidentified minor under 16, both from Somalia.
The Costa Rican authorities believe that 28 other Africans may have been abandoned in the coastal area near Panama by the same smugglers.
In November 2008 officers seized in Costa Rica four Eritreans, who also entered the country without documents.
The authorities indicated that there are at least two ways in which African immigrants illegally enter Costa Rica: both start in Europe.
Some of them enter Italy illegally, where they get a permit to travel in the European Union. Then they go to Spain and from there are flown to Costa Rica, to cross Central America and Mexico by land to reach the United States.
Africans also have taken flights from Malta, an island located near southern Italy, to Venezuela, then moved by sea or land, mostly with a final destination of the United States.
Source: Univision: PolicÃa de Costa Rica aprehende a cinco inmigrantes africanos sin documentos
Jun
23
CATCAS General Meeting on July 20
June 23, 2009 | Tags: Community Calendar, Local Business News | Comments Off
| July 20, 2009 | ||
| 2:45 pm | to | 4:45 pm |
CATCAS, the South Caribbean Tourism and Business Board, is announcing a general meeting for all members on Monday July 20. The meeting will begin at 2:45pm at the Casa de la Cultura in Puerto Viejo.
There is only one item on the agenda for this special meeting: discussion of a project to construct facilities for the association and authorization to seek financing for this.
Questions should be directed to Rolando Soto at turismocaribesur@yahoo.com.
Jun
21
Murder Suspect Released
June 21, 2009 | Tags: Crime & Punishment | Comments Off
On Wednesday, the court in Limon released the suspect who has accused of the murder of Carlos Navarro, known locally as Rulos.
The suspect, identified in the latest La Nación article by last name Lewis (but previously referred to by last name Mitchell) was initially ordered held in preventative detention for three months by a Bribri judge. He had been held since June 3. The prosecutor had said there was sufficient proof to hold him while the investigation proceeded but the Limon judge has taken a different view.
Source: La Nación: Tribunal de Limón libera a tres asaltantes y a acusado de crimen
Jun
18
Find Restaurant Menus Online!
June 18, 2009 | Tags: Site news | 3 Comments
Trying to find a place to eat? You can now explore restaurant menus online on Puerto Viejo Satellite.
Head to the Restaurants page and look for listings which have a View Menu shown.
Some menus you can see which we have so far are:
If you’re a restaurant owner or manager, email us a clear photo, PDF or Word document of your menu and we’ll get it posted.
Jun
15
What happened to the forum?
June 15, 2009 | Tags: Site news | 2 Comments
 Don’t all look so glum. There’s still a place online to talk about Puerto Viejo. Photo courtesy Tropical Adventures. |
A number of people have commented that the forum has disappeared from Puerto Viejo Satellite and they missed it. Sorry to all you fans but I had to remove it.
The forum unfortunately kept getting attacked by spammers and the forum software made it very laborious to delete these spammers. I tried making it harder to register and then people had trouble getting registered but the spammers still found their way through. So with all the hassles…that was the end of it.
But you may have noticed I recently added the ability to comment on any place listed on the site, for example here’s the page for Cocles Beach. For other places and businesses: go to the map page, open the listing you’re interested in from the links on the left or below the map and then click view full listing. So that’s a great place to rave (or rant) about a good meal you’ve had for example.
And of course, you’ve always been able to post comments about our news stories here on the Talamanca News as the lively discussions about the marina, Le Cameleon and the jailed rapist has shown.
But what if you need a place to post your car for sale, to look for a good electrician or to find people interested in starting a ukulele trio?
Don’t despair. You can use the discussion threads on our facebook page.
The link to go directly to the discussion area is here and I’ve also added it to the Discuss menu from the main site. Don’t forget to “become a fan” of Puerto Viejo while you’re there if you’re a facebook user and share photos etc.
Jun
4
Late Night Party on Beach Ends in Murder
June 4, 2009 | Tags: Crime & Punishment | 1 Comment
 The crime happened at the beach downtown where the craft vendors setup. Photo by Martin Carvajal, courtesy of La Nación |
A party on the beach in the early hours of Wednesday morning ended in one man dead.
Deciding to get the last word in an argument which had been ongoing, a man identified by last name Mitchel went home for a firearm and shot his rival.
The victim is 20 year old Carlos Navarro, known locally as Rulos. He was shot six times at close range, twice in the head, twice in the chest and twice in the arms. The authorities arrested Mitchell several hours later.
The victim and suspect were seen at about 3 am yesterday along with other men on the beach.
“It is common here in the middle of the night when the bars close, people come to this sector of the beach where they sell crafts,” said Harold Brooks, chief of police for Puerto Viejo.
According to the report of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), the suspect in the crime was inebriated.
The authorities collected shells from a 9-mm gun at the site of the shooting.
Marcela Oviedo, owner of the restaurant Francini, worried about the harm that such acts cause to tourism. “It has lowered the number of tourists who visit us, because there are problems with drugs and assaults. We need more police presence”, said Oviedo.
More: La Nación: Discusión termina con hombre acribillado
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