Apr
28
Oscar Arias inaugurates new water system for area
April 28, 2009 | Tags: Government and Politics, Health | Leave a Comment
Oscar Arias and Roberto Sancho unveil a plaque for the new water system
Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica, was among the dignitaries in Hone Creek (just outside Puerto Viejo) on the weekend to open a new water system. The new system will also service the communities of Puerto Viejo, Carbón Uno, Comadre and Catarata. The executive chairman of Costa Rica’s water company AyA, Ricardo Sancho, said that the new service would benefit approximately 5,000 residents.
Sancho said that the project was to “install chlorination systems, construct new PVC and polyethylene pipes and distribution lines for each of the communities; also pressure valves to homes.”
The project involves pumping water from a well located near the community of Sand Box, to a storage tank located near Hone Creek. From here the water is gravity fed to the communities benefiting.
The old system often ran out of water during dry periods.
The new system was built with the financial help of the Institute for Agriculture (IDA) which contributed 25 million colones (approximately $44,000 US), and the Joint Social Welfare Institute (IMAS) which contributed ¢100 million (approximately $175,000 US).
Sancho said the residents may apply starting this week to connect to the new project.
However, comments from readers regarding the announcement indicate that the project isn’t really complete yet, but that the inauguration went ahead anyway as Arías was scheduled to attend and so they didn’t want to move the opening ceremony even though the completion of the work is “at least 2 weeks away”.
Source: Costa Rica Hoy: Hone Creek inaugura nuevo acueducto
Apr
2
Hotel Taxes Down, Airline Taxes Up
April 2, 2009 | Tags: Government and Politics, Tourism | Leave a Comment
Costa Rica has eliminated the 3% ICT tax from hotel stays. ICT is the agency charged with promoting tourism in Costa Rica and the tax funded their operations. The tax has been replaced by a $15 tax on airline tickets into Costa Rica.
With this change, the nightly room tax for a room in Costa Rica will now be 13% instead of 16.39% so for most visitors the savings from the hotel tax should offset the $15 additional paid for their tickets.
The government is also hoping that the new airline tax will be easier to collect and less subject to evasion as well.
The airline ticket tax took effect on April 1st. The hotel tax change was effective as of Friday March 27 but many hotels are just now hearing about the change and making it effective. For those hotels which include taxes in their rates, it will be up to them whether to decrease their rates accordingly or just take a little extra profit.
More: La Nación: Aerolíneas advierten que cobro de $15 más en boletos afectará turismo
Update Apr 4: The new tax rate in this article was initially erroneously reported as 13.39%. It should be 13.00%. The old tax was 16.39% since the 13% sales tax was also applied to the 3% ICT tax.
Mar
1
Constitutional Court Declares Puerto Viejo and Cahuita Are Not Cities
March 1, 2009 | Tags: Economic Development, Government and Politics | 9 Comments
 At stake are the unspoiled beachfront properties of the area and who gets to make the decision to of how to develop them |
In a long awaited decision released on Feb 25, the Sala Constitucional declared that the law making Cahuita and Puerto Viejo cities was unconstitutional.
Law 8464 passed in October 2005 had declared that these communities were municipalities. This would have allowed people who have lived in these areas for many years to obtain title to land as the city designation would have exempted these areas from some of the provisions of the maritime zone law which states that the first 200 meters of property from the high tide line is public property. Under this law, in effect since 1977, the first 50 meters can not be developed at all and the next 150 meters can only be leased from the government as a “concession”.
But law 8464 was challenged from the very beginning and it also did not specify the boundaries of the proposed cities. So local property owners and governments were left in limbo as to who would ultimately be responsible for making rules and determining development planning.
Real estate agent Manuel Pinto told the Talamanca News that this decision is unfortunate for those long time residents who would’ve obtained more valuable legal title to their land. But much of this land had also been bought from those long term residents by speculators in the hopes that title would come through. Those residents and those to whom they have sold will now have to abide by the maritime zone rules.
While giving title to those currently holding such land would’ve been a boon to them financially it would have also opened up that land to development which didn’t necessarily respect the natural environment or character of the area.
Local property developer Christer Ericsson stated that “longtime residents have no reason to fear eviction if they truly have been living on their lands before the law took effect and obtained it in a lawful manner. They will simply get the right to the concession inheriting the rights and obligations that come with it. Concessions will be granted by the local government (Municipality) and ICT only. The arrival of a plan regulator is setting the stage for proper planning and zoning that will protect our community in the future from indiscriminate development.”
Ericsson said his impression is that overall “the community is welcoming this decision and are happy to see all institutions unified working together for the sake of all residents and the future of the community.”
More:
- Nuestro País: Cahuita y Puerto Viejo en Limón no son ciudades (in Spanish) (Google translation to English)
- A.M. Costa Rica: Sala IV strips Cahuita and Puerto Viejo of city status
Oct
1
Some Good Road News!
October 1, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Government and Politics | 3 Comments
The good news below (my translation) comes to us from Rolando Soto, the president of our local tourism chamber of commerce (CATCAS) which has been working hard on a number of issues, including pressuring government to take action on our dangerous, dusty and bone-jarring road between Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo.
Finally JAPDEVA (Junta de Administración Portuaria y Desarrollo Económica de la Vertiente Atlántica or the Board of Port Administration and Economic Development for the Atlantic Coast) has made good on the offer they made 3 months ago to repair and pave 2 kilometers of the road between Puerto Viejo and Hone Creek. During the last 3 days, their equipment has been working to prepare the surface of the road for these 2 km that are between Hone Creek and approximately the Hotel Hawa. We will have to continue fighting to ensure that the remaining 4 km are paved and, in the short term, repaired.
The original in Spanish read:
Finalmente JAPDEVA cumplio con su ofrecimiento hecho hace tres meses de arreglar y asfaltar al menos dos kilometros de la carretera entre Hone Creek y Puerto Viejo. Hace 3 diss maquinaria de ese ente comenzo los trabajos de preparacion de la superficie a fin de posteriormente asfaltar esos 2 diolometros que estan entre Hone Creek y aproximadamente el Hotel Hawa.. Tendremos que seguir luchando para que el resto de este tramo de aprox. 4 kilometros tambien sea reparado en el corto plazo.
Thank you CATCAS for your hard work!
Sep
2
Hone Creek – Puerto Viejo Road Dangerous for Your Lungs and Limbs
September 2, 2008 | Tags: Economic Development, Government and Politics, Health, Transport | Leave a Comment
 Kely, David, Nelson & Kenia Chaves travel 3 km each day to school in a cloud of dust . Photo by Mario Rojas, courtesy of La Nación. |
Anyone who has traveled the road between Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo knows what a danger it is: unpaved, huge potholes, full of dust, lacking in signage, shared by bicycles and cars and pedestrians with no separation between them. It has always been a strange exception in that the route between San Jose and Hone Creek is one of the better routes in the country, but those last 5 kilometers to Puerto Viejo remind you you’re still in the developing world.
Locals have been complaining to the municipality for years to get the road paved. The municipality always responded that they didn’t have the money to fix the road. Finally last year, the road was declared a national route by CONAVI, the national roads council.
But so far the Conavi designation hasn’t translated into a road up to standards. The minimum width of a nationally designated road is 20 meters. Darwin Mena, an engineer working with Conavi, said that this road at points is only half that and that the width is encroached upon at several points by buildings owned by the Municipality of Talamanca which need to be removed.
Neighbors complain that the many cars and buses traveling at high speeds are a daily risk to people on bicycles and on foot that are covered by clouds of dust. Not only does the narrow potholed road cause collisions, the clinic in Hone Creek reports that they treat at least 4 people each week who were hit by stones thrown up from the road.
At the Hone Creek clinic doctors have also reported another hazard of the road — increased cases of asthma. The cases have been reported by those who need to commute the road daily by bicycle, children who walk along the road to get to school and those living near the dusty road. The director of the clinic, Wilman Rojas said that 80% of those living on the edge of the road are suffering from respiratory problems.
Eddie Ryan of the Chamber of Tourism says “As inhabitants of this place, we feel completely abandoned. Puerto Viejo is a unique tourist destination and the need for repair of this road is urgent.”
Ryan stated that the road receives maintenance every six months, but weeks later is damaged again. “The grader scrapes the street and spreads the material, but when it rains you lose all the work.”
The engineer Mena said that the repair of the road could be done in two years. Funds are supposed to be budgeted for 2010 to execute the work.
More:
- La Nación:Ruta en Talamanca es peligrosa para viajeros
- La Nación: Polvo afecta salud de los habitantes
May
31
Committee Against Marina Seeks Residents to Sign Petition
May 31, 2008 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News, Economic Development, Government and Politics | 1 Comment
| June 1, 2008 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
The anti-marina movement has prepared a petition with the help of a lawyer for which they are urgently seeking signatures this weekend in order to present it to the national government on Monday.
The movement, which is now known as the “Comité Unidos por Talamanca y Caribe Sur” with the goal of continuing to lobby for sustainable development of the area, plans to present the petition as soon as possible as they have found out that the Congress has the issue of the marina law on the agenda for the coming week. Congress is proposing to amend laws in such a way that would allow investors to get a provisional concession from the Municipalicity and Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) and a go ahead from the environmental ministry prior to the completion of a full environmental review. With this provisional concession, the investors would be able to start the project without waiting for their official concession and the full review of their plans.
The proposals before congress is intended to “speed up investments” in Costa Rica.
Puerto Viejo area legal residents, i.e. those holding a cédula de residencia or Costa Rican cédula, are invited to sign the petition.
| Update: The committee will have people going around collecting signatures this weekend. The letter can also be signed at Lourdes’s little clothes shop next door to ATEC. The next meeting of the committee is on Sunday, 1st of June at 2 PM at the Centro Pro Niño behind the PV school. |
May
13
MEPE raises bus rates on Limon – Manzanillo Route
May 13, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Government and Politics | 1 Comment
The fare increase that MEPE applied for in April from ARESEP (Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos) is now coming into effect.
The rate between Limón and Puerto Viejo will go up from 1,510 colones to 1,815 colones. MEPE routes between Limon and Bananito and San Andres will also go up.
More: La Nación: Ocho empresas de autobuses impugnan alza en pasajes.
Apr
25
More Road Closures This Weekend and Next
April 25, 2008 | Tags: Community Calendar, Government and Politics | Leave a Comment
| April 26, 2008 | ||
| April 27, 2008 |
 Scenic Route 32 through Braulio Carrillo National Park. This route will be closed for part of the weekend |
The highway agency will again be closing the main road between San José and Limón for six hours both Saturday and Sunday for more work repainting lines on the road.
This week they will be working on a section between Río Sucio and the old toll station. There will be interruptions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, said the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes.
Work last weekend was called off due to bad weather. Motorists are being advised to use alternature routes from Turrialba to Siquirres and Vara Blanca to Sarapiquí. Officials plan on closing part of the highway again next weekend, too, they said.
Along the Caribbean coast workmen will be on the job at one of the pillars of a bridge over the Río Vizcaya some 25 kms. (16 miles) from Río Banano. Traffic will be halted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, said the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad.
As reported in: A.M. Costa Rica: More road delays planned by highway painting crews
Apr
4
Road Closures This Weekend Between San Jose and Limon
April 4, 2008 | Tags: Government and Politics | 1 Comment
Scenic Route 32 through Braulio Carrillo National Park. This route will be closed for part of the weekend |
The highway agency will be closing the main road between San José and Limón for six hours both Saturday and Sunday. The reason is that work crews are painting lines on the road.
The highway is Route 32 that runs from north San José to Limón. The route will be closed Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., said the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. the traffic will be regulated by workers, according to the schedule.
As reported in: A.M. Costa Rica: Main highway to Limón to be closed to paint lines
Feb
20
A view from the Marina Meeting
February 20, 2008 | Tags: Economic Development, Government and Politics | 9 Comments
There’s no other issue that’s raised as much interest in the community as much as the proposed marina. That is evident from the overflow crowd that showed up on Feb 12th for the meeting about the marina. It’s also evident on this site where the vast majority of comments on the posts have been about this issue or about the issue or about the issue of what economic development model our community should follow. Check the Recent Comments stream on the left for some of the recent comments about this issue — the last 12 comments on the Talamanca News were all about this issue.
I wanted to share another view from the marina meeting. After the acrimony of the meeting, Alaine Berg of ATEC has written an opinion piece which calls for a solution to bring the community together to come to a consensus rather than pull us apart.
You can find it here: Greencoast News: OP.ED Marina New World “What Now?”
Jan
23
Court action threatened to block Marina
January 23, 2008 | Tags: Environment, Government and Politics | 3 Comments
 Many local residents fear the marina project could further damage the area’s coral reefs |
Back in October we wrote (Talamanca News, Oct 23, Community presents petition asking for more info and meeting on Marina) that various community residents and community groups had presented a letter to the municipality asking them to hold a public meeting on the proposed marina project to give the community a chance to ask questions of the municipality and of the developer on how they would mitigate environmental impacts and other questions on how the project would affect our commmunity. And while the mayor initially responded positively to that request, promising a meeting, it never came about. Instead interested residents held their own meeting in December (Talamanca News, Dec 12, Most Attendees at Marina Meeting Oppose Plans; Experts Highlight Risks), without the participation of either the municipality or the developer.
Well some local residents and community are tired of waiting for the municipality to offer public information on this $40 million mega-project and so have issued an ultimatum to the mayor of Talamanca. A letter demanding answers was sent Monday.
If no reply is received from Mayor Rugelis Morales Rodríguez within 10 days, the residents, supported by the Asociación Preservacionista de Flora y Fauna Silvestre, threaten to file an appeal with the Sala IV constitutional court, asking magistrates to pronounce the marina project illegal.
A release by the Asociación Preservacionista de Flora y Fauna Silvestre claims that the project will damage more than 18.5 hectares of living reef, which currently protects the coast form erosion.
The project announced by consortium Grupo Caribeño Internacional S.A. includes a huge marina for Playa Negra with berths for 384 boats. The plan includes the building of 2 breakwaters, a commercial zone, administrative offices, a artisan’s marketplace and yacht repair and maintenance facilities. The investors behind the group plan to invest $40,000,000 in the project and say it will create about 2,000 jobs. The plan has split the community, with many ex-pats and those who prefer the natural state of the community opposing it but many local residents seeing an opportunity for more jobs and money.
See more: A.M. Costa Rica: Puerto Viejo residents issue an ultimatum to local mayor.
Oct
25
Municipality agrees to meeting on marina; experts sought
October 25, 2007 | Tags: Environment, Government and Politics | 2 Comments
Members of the community presented a petition (see story here) on Friday to the municipality asking for a public meeting in Puerto Viejo to address community concerns about the marina development and it’s effects on the environment and community. The municipality agreed to holding a meeting, although if has yet to be scheduled.
ATEC is seeking community involvement to make sure the communities concerns are well-voiced at this meeting. They are especially seeking experts in the environment and development who can speak and offer expert opinions on how this development will affect the area.
If anyone has background in this area, or knows someone who does, please contact ATEC. Finding Costa Rican citizens who are experts in these areas and can speak about these subjects would be especially welcome and would likely be better received by the municipality.
Oct
25
Decree changes boundaries of Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge
October 25, 2007 | Tags: Environment, Government and Politics | 4 Comments
 Lagoon inside the Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge |
A decree published on Monday in La Gaceta, the official government newspaper, again changes the boundaries of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge.
The decree adds one area and removes several others.
The decree adds two areas of sea to the maritime protected area. 2,500 square meters of area was added at the mouth of the Sixaola river and 100 meters was added was added to the northeast of the Cocles river.
The decree also repealed part of a previous decree which included parts of the Puerto Viejo and the villages of Gandoca and Manzanillo in the reserve boundaries. It stipulated that the municipality of Talamanca and Minae, the environment ministry, should work together to determine which areas should remain part of the reserve and which should be deemed urban areas.
Costa Rican law protects the first 200 meters of coastline on both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. The first 50 meters of this maritime zone from the high tide mark is considered public land and cannot be developed. Within the next 150 meters however concessions can be granted for development. In areas inside the refuge, this land cannot be developed. Outside the refuge, the municipality would be able to grant these development concessions.
The Gandoca-Manzanillo Refuge was established in 1985 and protects some of the most important wetlands and coral reefs in the Caribbean. It shelters endangered species such as the manatee and green and carey sea turtles.
Edwin Cyrus, director of the La Amistad Caribe conservation area, stated that this new decree opens the door to exclude an important part of the refuge and make it part of the urban zone.
“With this decree the entire maritime zone of the refuge could be redrawn as urban zone”, he warned.
Cyrus also warned that “economic development in areas beside the protected zone can be catastrophic for the wetlands of the zone which are on listed on The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands as of international importance.”
For her part, Paola Mora, legal counsel for the Municipality of Talamanca, said that it is the right of the communities of Gandoca, Manzanillo and Puerto Viejo to take control of these lands; that they are already well-known as urban areas.
“The municipality supports environmental protection and has therefore called for a halt in the falling of trees throughtout Talamanca.”
“The municipality commits to coordinate with environmental institutions, not just to do whatever we wish. Everything will be done in total coordination with the competent institutions to come up with a new process”, added the lawyer.
Link: La Nacion: Nuevo decreto varía límites de Refugio Gandoca-Manzanilo.
Your thoughts are welcome. Please leave your comments on this article.
Oct
23
Community presents petition asking for more info and meeting on Marina
October 23, 2007 | Tags: Community News, Government and Politics | 9 Comments
Members of the Puerto Viejo community presented a letter to the mayor of Talamanca, Rugeli Morales, and the president of the municipal council, George Brown Hudson, asking for more information on the marina being proposed for Puerto Viejo (see Talamanca News for Sept 25th). The letter was signed by more than 150 people, including local hotel, restaurant and business owners, teachers, fishermen, workers, a doctor, surfers, residents and tourists.
The letter expresses surprise that the community first learned of the council’s approval of the marina project in a La Nacion article–there was no public consultation.
The letter writers are particularly concerned that the marina project will adversly affect the sensitive environment of the area, a concern also expressed by many of the readers of The Talamanca News who commented on the original article.
Among the specific concerns expressed by the letter is how the project will affect the areas already overtaxed water supply which has ran dry several times in the last year. They also ask what will happen to all the additional waste generated by the huge project — both garbage and sewage. They question whether a project of this sort is in line with the area’s reputation as an ecotourism destination.
The letter writers have asked for a community meeting on these issues. If and when one is announced, we will let our readers know here.
You can read the letter presented here.
Oct
8
TLC passes narrowly
October 8, 2007 | Tags: Government and Politics | Leave a Comment
 National Results  Limon Province Results |
Provisional results from the TLC referendum give the yes side a narrow victory. The results were split across the country with several provinces voting No. Voters in Limon Province though were the strongest supporters of the treaty, voting 55% in favor.
Official results are available from the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones.
How do you think this will affect Costa Rica and our local communities in Talamanca? Leave your comment on this article.
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