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Hospital Employee Accused of Arson
In Calderón Guardia Hospital Fire
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
On the one-year anniversary of the fire that devastated San José's Calderón Guardia Hospital and took 19 lives, and the Chief Prosecutor's Office yesterday announced that a former nurse was formally accused of setting the hospital on fire, according to Judicial Branch spokeswoman Sandra Castro.
After a year-long investigation, the Prosecutor's Office is charging Juan Carlos Ledezma with arson and 19 counts of murder, Castro said.
He will now stand before a public audience of those affected by the fire who will decide if they wish to be plaintiffs in the case against him, according to a statement from the Judicial Branch.
The fire destroyed the hospital's surgery, birthing, neonatal and gynecology units, among others (TT, July 15, 2005).
Also yesterday, the Taiwanese government donated $15 million to the Social Security System (Caja) to rebuild Calderón Guardia.
At a ceremony attended by Caja director Eduardo Doryan and Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno, Taiwanese Ambassador Tzu-Dan Wu donated the funds, which will be used to build a seven-floor building to house obstetric, neonatal, gynecology, surgery and nutrition units as well as a blood lab and cafeteria, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
“Taiwan, once more, responds with concrete actions to express our solidarity and caring toward our Costa Rican brothers and sisters,” remarked Wu, adding that Taiwan will continue to support Costa Rica's development, well-being and prosperity, the statement said.
Tica Killed in Boston Tunnel Collapse
Milena Mora, 39, was killed by 12 tons of concrete that collapsed on top of her Monday as her husband drove through a tunnel in Boston, reported the daily La Nación yesterday.
Mora, who had lived in the United States for five years, was traveling with her husband Luis Angel Delvalle, from Puerto Rico, to pick up visiting family members from Boston's Logan International Airport.
She became trapped under the weight of a 10-by-13-foot section of concrete that fell from the tunnel's ceiling and died by the time rescue workers arrived, reported The Boston Herald. Delvalle was able to escape through the window of the Buick he was driving with minor injuries and was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The couple was passing through the Mass Pike connector tunnel, a stretch of road that is part of Boston's large-scale “Big Dig” highway project, according to the Herald.
A state trooper who saw the accident told the Herald “it appeared that iron securing the slab to the tunnel roof gave way.”
Boston Mayor Tom Menino yesterday called for a third-party investigation of the accident, involving neither the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority nor the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
Mora, who worked in Boston as a waitress and toll collector for the city's metro system, was a mother of three children ages 17, 19 and 23.
-Tico Times
Comptroller General Approves
Funds For Central American Games
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Three days before the inauguration of the Central American and Caribbean Games being held this year in Cartagena, Colombia, the Comptroller General's Office approved ¢14 million ($27,450) yesterday to cover some of the costs of Costa Rican athletes attending the games, according to a statement from the National Olympic Committee (CON).
The funds, which come from a budget surplus from the Costa Rican Sports and Recreation Institute (ICODER) must now be transferred from that institute to the Olympic Committee, according to Committee spokesman Marcelo Rivas. It is likely that ICODER will transfer the funds to the Committee before the games begin Saturday, he added.
The 115 athletes and coaches hoping to attend the games and compete in 13 sports have yet to receive any money from the Olympic Committee because of delays in approving funds, Rivas said.
All of the sports' federations are sending athletes to the games, but they have had to raise funds from private organizations and other government offices, Rivas said.
Five horses from the equestrian team were the first members of Costa Rica's delegation to depart for Cartagena from San José's Juan Santamaría International Airport last night; their riders will depart this morning, according to a statement from the Committee.
Athletes will also compete in track and field, bowling, gymnastics, swimming, synchronized swimming, racquetball, taekwondo, discus, volleyball, triathlon, soccer and judo. The games run through July 30.
See Friday's print or pdf edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.
Study Finds Costa Rica
Third Happiest Country in World
People living in Costa Rica are the third happiest group in the world, according to the Happy Planet Index (HPI), a measure of “the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered” calculated by the British organization New Economics Foundation (NEF).
The results of a study carried out by the foundation and published on its Web site yesterday showed Costa Rica to rank third on the index, behind Colombia, in second place, and Vanuatu, an archipelago in the south Pacific, in first place.
According to the foundation's Web site, the index is calculated using three factors: life satisfaction, life expectancy and ecological footprint, or impact on the earth.
“The HPI reflects the average years of happy life produced by a given society, nation or group of nations, per unit of planetary resources consumed,” the site said. “Put another way, it represents the efficiency with which countries convert the earth's finite resources into well-being experienced by their citizens.”
HPI is based on a scale of 0 to 100; 83.5 is considered a reasonable target, the site said. Costa Rica earned an index of 66.
Other Latin American countries ranked in the index's top ten, including Panama (5 th ), Cuba (6 th ), Honduras (7 th ), Guatemala (8 th ) and El Salvador (9 th ).
At the bottom of the list were Zimbabwe, Swaziland, the Ukraine and Burundi.
-Tico Times
Plants at a Glance: Breadfruit
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Common Name: Breadnut or breadfruit
Spanish Name: Castaña or fruta de pan
Latin Name: Artocarpus altilis
Family: Moraceae
Breadfruit is called fruta de pan, árbol de pan or pan de pobre in Spanish. The seeded variety is known as breadnut, or castaña or ramón in Spanish.
Geo-distribution: The breadfruit is believed to be native to a vast area extending from New Guinea through the Indo-Malayan Archipelago to western Micronesia. It is believed to have been distributed in the Pacific area by migrating Polynesians. Hawaiians say it was brought from the Samoan island of Upalu to Oahu in the 12th century. The Spanish were the first to transplant the breadnut tree from the Philippines to Mesoamerica.
The story of Captain William Bligh’s first voyage to Tahiti on the Bounty in 1787, and the loss of his cargo of 1,015 potted breadfruit plants because of the mutiny of his crew, is well known. He set out again in 1791 and delivered 2,126 plants of five different varieties to Jamaica in February 1793. Later, immigrants from this island distributed these trees in the Caribbean coastal region of Central America. The breadfruit is more commonly found in coastal regions, while the breadnut has adapted to both the coastal and midrange regions.
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Botanical Description: The breadfruit tree is a handsome, fast-growing tree from six to 25 meters tall, often with a smooth, gray trunk buttressed at the base. The leaves are evergreen, ovate, 23- 90 centimeters long, and 20- 50 cm wide, entire at the base, then more or less deeply cut into five to 11 pointed lobes. The upper surface is bright green and glossy, with conspicuous yellow veins, and the underside is dull, yellowish and coated with minute, stiff hairs. It is difficult to distinguish between the two types of trees; however, the breadfruit has a soft, white pulp with no seeds, while the breadnut contains many seeds. The fruit is spherical in shape, five to 30 cm in diameter, with a pattern of conical cells on the surface. It starts out green, turning to yellow-brown when ripe.
Food Uses: The ripe pulp of the breadfruit is eaten raw, baked or steamed, while the chestnut-like seeds of the breadnut are boiled or baked and peeled to provide a nutritious meal. Breadfruit flour contains 4% protein, 77% carbohydrates and 331 calories per 100 grams. The seedless breadfruit is low in protein compared to the breadnut, which is considerably higher in protein (13%). Both are valuable food crops that can be grown in the orchard.
Medicinal Uses: Older, dried leaves of these trees are used to prepare a tea for the treatment of kidney stones and bladder infections. In Trinidad and the Bahamas, a decoction of the breadfruit leaf is believed to lower blood pressure, and is also said to relieve asthma. Crushed leaves are applied on the tongue as a treatment for thrush. The leaf juice is employed for earaches. Ashes of burned leaves are used on skin infections. A powder of roasted leaves is employed as a remedy for enlarged spleen. Toasted flowers are rubbed on the gums around an aching tooth. The latex is used on skin diseases and is bandaged on the spine to relieve sciatica.
Preparation: One large leaf is shredded and boiled in four liters of water for 30 minutes.
Dosage: One to three cups of tea per day.
Notes: These trees can be particularly useful for gardeners in the coastal and midrange zones of Costa Rica; however, because of their large size, they are not recommended for small home lots. The breadfruit tree can be propagated only from new vegetative shoots that arise from the roots of the mother tree, which is why they are so rare and difficult to acquire. On the other hand, the breadnut is very common in Costa Rica, and the fruits or seeds can often be found in local farmer’s markets, and can be used for planting.
Plant one seed in a plastic nursery bag with fertile soil and water frequently. Young seedling trees prefer partial shade for the first year of growth; then they can be transplanted to permanent sites. Rich, fertile, soil with wet to moist conditions, such as riverbanks, are best for these trees. It is also important to note that livestock love to eat the leaves, so fencing is essential to protect them in their early stages of development.
For more information on tropical medicinal plants and gardening, visit www.thenewdawncenter.org or e- mail thenewdawncenter@yahoo.com.
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