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Casa Presidencial to Move Downtown
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
After much controversy over proposals to move Casa Presidencial, President Oscar Arias has decided to relocate the presidential offices from their home in the southeastern San José district of Zapote to the city's center, according to a statement from the Culture Ministry.
The new Casa Presidencial will be located on the eastern side of the National Park, near other government buildings including the Legislative Assembly, Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) and Supreme Court buildings.
The move is part of efforts to “revitalize San José and reaffirm our democratic culture,” the statement said.
Since assuming office in May, Arias has expressed a desire to relocate Casa Presidencial to downtown San José. His suggestion to move it to the National Cultural Center (CENAC), housed in the old National Liquor Factory building, sparked numerous protests of outrage by the artist community (TT, June 30).
Artists breathed a sigh of relief yesterday upon hearing of the decision not to move Casa Presidencial to CENAC, said actress and director of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) School of Theater María Bonilla.
“It was an act of good judgment,” Bonilla said of Arias' decision, adding that the artist community is planning a celebration in the near future.
Nevertheless, Bonilla said artists must remain vigilant that the government takes measures to protect culture.
“No country can guarantee artists tranquility,” Bonilla said. “There will always be threats to our budget and sometimes to our expression.”
A commission called the Project for Regional and Urban Planning in the Metropolitan Area (PRU-GAM) was created to study options for Casa Presidencial's relocation, taking into account urban planning issues such as transportation, green space, cultural activities and government affairs, the statement said.
The new Casa Presidencial will be completed within two to three years on the grounds of the Atlantic Train Station, which measure more than two hectares between the Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER) and the Social Security System (Caja) buildings, according to the daily La Nación.
The space houses a parking lot, the Museum of Forms, Spaces and Sounds, which would be moved to a new, unspecified location, and the Atlantic Train Station, which would be converted into a reception hall, the daily reported. The train tracks would also be rerouted to accommodate the new Casa Presidencial buildings.
Visiting President of European
Parliament Tours Country
European Parliament president Josep Borrell arrived to Costa Rica Sunday and kicked off his week-long visit with a trip to Tortuguero National Park on the northern Caribbean coast, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
Borrell also visited a forest conservation project in the Caribbean-slope town of Guápiles financed by the European Union.
Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles and European Union business manager Tomás Abadía accompanied Borrell on the tour, during which he also handed over new public buildings donated by the European Union to Tortuguero National Park including a ticket office, reception area and restrooms.
Other plans for Borrell's visit, which runs through Aug. 21, include meetings with President Oscar Arias, Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno, political party heads and European ambassadors, the statement said.
Stagno said Borrell's visit “clearly represents the interests of the European Union to push forward an association agreement between Central American and the European Union,” adding that he will use the visit as an opportunity to encourage this initiative, the statement said.
-Tico Times
Poll Finds Decrease in Support for CAFTA
Among Costa Ricans
According to the results of a recent poll, the number of Costa Ricans who support the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) fell from 61% in October 2005 to 41% this month.
The poll, carried out by CID-Gallup for the daily La República, also found that despite this decrease in support for the CAFTA, those polled do not support street protests against it.
Of those polled, 80% said they are against protests, while 16% said they support them.
According to the poll, conducted Aug. 1-7 among 1,200 people all over the country, support for CAFTA is greater among citizens with a higher level of education.
Government and business authorities who support the agreement attribute the decrease in its support to fewer publicity campaigns touting its benefits.
Union leader and outspoken CAFTA opponent Albino Vargas expressed satisfaction over the poll's results yesterday and said the public's disapproval over the agreement will continue to grow as people learn about its repercussions.
Costa Rica is the only signatory country that has not ratified the agreement, which is being discussed by the International Affairs Committee of the Legislative Assembly.
-ACAN-EFE
Arias Dismisses Cuban's Claim,
Says Island Needs Change
President Oscar Arias yesterday dismissed an insult by Cuba's Vice-President and reiterated his desire to see democratic change on the Communist-ruled island.
"I have many defects, but I'm no liar," Arias told reporters in response to Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage's allegedly calling him "a liar."
"I plead, as I always have, for a regime change and not for a monarchical succession" in Cuba, said Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel Prize during his first administration for his efforts to end civil wars in Central Ame rica.
In an open letter to Arias, published Monday by newspapers in Havana and San José, Lage responded to Arias' statement that he had suspended a meeting with Cuban officials scheduled for last week in Colombia because they imposed limits on what subjects could be discussed (TT, Aug. 11).
"The initiative for the meeting had always come from your government; Cuba never asked for it and it wasn't you or any of your officials who suspended the meeting because'they tried to limit the agenda.' It was me who did it," Lage said.
Arias told the press last week that the meeting was going to be held on Aug. 7 in Colombia, but that he had suspended it because Lage limited the agenda when he learned that Arias wanted to discuss the democratization of Cuba.
The Costa Rica n Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday that the government had not received any letter from the Cuban government and that "it would not discuss the disrespectful commentaries contained" in Lage's published open letter.
The statement added Arias "was interested in conversing with Mr. Lage about Cuba's future" and "considered that if they couldn't talk about the future of Cuba, the meeting would serve no purpose."
-ACAN-EFE
Ginger Has It All: Attractive Foliage, Exotic Flowers and Delicious Roots
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Those of you who enjoy the hot, spicy tang of ginger as a seasoning will find growing it in the home garden easy and practically care-free. Recently a reader sent me an e-mail and asked how she could grow ginger. This article gives you all the tips you need to harvest ginger at home.
First, you'll have to shop around for some ginger. Most supermarkets sell the Asian variety, which is plump and succulent and most desired for kitchen use. However, local markets often carry Jamaican ginger, which is smaller but very pungent.
Select roots (rhizomes, actually) that look healthy and are not wrinkled from dehydration. I'd suggest planting six palm-sized roots for a large family. Once you have acquired your ginger, you can prepare a space for them in the garden. I recommend planting ginger in areas around the main garden; the plants become permanent stands and can get in the way of annual garden vegetable production. Ginger plants make nice ornamentals, blooming August through October in most regions of Costa Rica.
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Exotic Blooms: Ginger flowers bloom August to October in Costa Rica. |
For each rhizome, prepare an area 50 centimeters in diameter, well dug to 50 cm deep. Add a shovel full of aged compost and mix it well with the soil. Then plant one ginger rhizome very superficially in the center of your prepared circle. Cover with soil in such a way that you can see several of the buds protruding from the soil. Sunlight will activate the rhizome to produce new roots and leaves.
Now comes the time to be patient. It will be at least nine months before you can begin harvesting from your ginger plants. Meanwhile, keep the stands of ginger weed-free and cultivated. Ginger plants like to have soil tilled up around the base of the plant, which stimulates more production of rhizomes.
If new leaves look pale green, try foliar-spraying your plants, preferably with organic fertilizers such as compost tea or seaweed extract. Adding more compost around the base of the plant helps improve growth and production.
Ginger dedicates its first stage of growth to roots and vegetation, followed by production of new rhizomes. At this time, you can start treasure hunting in your ginger patch. Since new rhizomes grow close to the surface of the soil, you can lightly brush away the soil to uncover them. A sharp kitchen knife is useful for separating a new clone from the mother plant. That's right; each root is an identical genetic copy of the mother rhizome you planted.
If you leave about half of the new growth on each mother plant, you'll have a bumper crop for the following year, and will be able to harvest fresh ginger all year long.
For more info on home gardening in the tropics, visit www.thenewdawncenter.org or e-mail the newdawncenter@yahoo.com.
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