JANUARY 30, 2007

BACK to School: Kids all over the country are enjoying their last week of summer vacation before they head back to the classroom Feb. 7.

WORKING Toward a Walkable City: Engineer and project supervisor Ana Elena Salas recently surveyed progress made on the construction of a pedestrian walkway in downtown San José that will extend from La Soledad Church west to La Merced Church. The project is part of the “ San José Posible ” project to revitalize the city by adding green space and making it pedestrian-friendly.

Government inspectors yesterday began an operation to review all of Costa Rica's 346 gas stations. This is the first time, as far as the officials could remember, that the government has done such a sweeping investigation.

Volunteer computer teacher Kurt Raihn found an unpleasant surprise Sunday at the small public elementary school in Esterillos Oeste, on the Central Pacific coast: the school's 18 computers, a precious resource for the small fishing village, had been stolen during the night. The community, left with just over a week until the 2007 school year starts Feb. 7, is now scrambling to replace the equipment.

Costa Rica is off to a bad start so far this year in terms of curbing the alarming increase in roadway fatalities, according to Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) spokesman Juan Rodríguez.

Government Begins Inspecting
All Costa Rican Gas Stations

By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff | lbaxter@ticotimes.net

Government inspectors yesterday began an operation to review all of Costa Rica's 346 gas stations. This is the first time, as far as the officials could remember, that the government has done such a sweeping investigation.

Officials with the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE), Public Health Ministry and National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) began their inspections with the Gasolinera Servicentro Tournon gas station, in northern San José, following a press conference. The inspections will focus on the stations' safety, infrastructure, mechanical operations, spill control and the training of their employees, said Oscar Porras, head of MINAE's General Administration of Hydrocarbons.

Gas stations must have drain and channel systems that keep oil, gasoline and other chemicals from leaking into city drains or local aquifers. Businesses that have small errors or faults will be allowed to remain open for one month while they correct them, Porras said. Those with serious problems, which Porras defined as “something that puts people's or the environment's health at risk,” such as a lack of a drainage system or emergency shutoff switch, will be ordered to close.

Thirty officials will follow five routes throughout the country, stopping to inspect every gas station in Costa Rica. Yesterday, officials set out on the first three routes; today they were scheduled to begin the fourth, and tomorrow they plan to begin the fifth. A final analysis of the national inspection is expected after Feb. 28, Porras said.

“We foresee that in the future, security norms are going to be much stricter,” Minister of Environment and Energy Roberto Dobles said at the press conference.

The operation comes exactly three months after two children were burned to death inside their mother's car when the gas pump they were parked next to exploded (TT, Nov. 3, 2006). Investigations into the Oct. 29, 2006 accident revealed the fire was likely caused because an employee was changing a filter in the same pump from which a vehicle was being fueled. The station was not equipped with a required emergency shutoff switch (TT, Nov. 10, 2006).    

Computers Stolen From Central Pacific School

By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

Volunteer computer teacher Kurt Raihn found an unpleasant surprise Sunday at the small public elementary school in Esterillos Oeste, on the Central Pacific coast: the school's 18 computers, a precious resource for the small fishing village, had been stolen during the night. The community, left with just over a week until the 2007 school year starts Feb. 7, is now scrambling to replace the equipment.

Raihn, a U.S. citizen who moved to Costa Rica three years ago with his wife, Kristy, and two children, told The Tico Times yesterday he was at the school to help build a new septic system when he discovered the loss. Someone apparently broke a glass panel in the door and cut the locks; some neighbors told Raihn they heard a noise at about 4 a.m. that morning, but that no one had been in sight when they went to check it out.

“All the kids are asking me, ‘What are we going to do?'” he said.

“It's just a little two-room school – they don't have anything, hardly any books,” said Kristy Raihn, a psychologist who works as a volunteer English teacher at the school. “To have these computers was such a gift for these children.”

The Public Education Ministry did not immediately respond to phone calls from The Tico Times yesterday regarding the possibility of replacing the computers – originally provided by the ministry – through another government donation. The couple is seeking private donations to get a head start on the project. To reach the Raihns, call 778-7111 or e-mail tranquilo_costarica@yahoo.com.

Roadway Safety Off to a Violent Start This Year

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Costa Rica is off to a bad start so far this year in terms of curbing the alarming increase in roadway fatalities, according to Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) spokesman Juan Rodríguez.

So far, 36 people have died this month at the site of traffic accidents, eight more than the 28 recorded in January last year, Rodríguez said. Of the onsite deaths recorded, 40% were pedestrians struck by vehicles, and the rest were caused by collisions. This figure does not include accident victims who died after being taken to the hospital, so there were probably even more casualties, he added.

Rodríguez called this figure “alarming” and said “the month hasn't gotten off to a good start in terms of roadway accidents.” Speeding and drunk driving, as well as pedestrians not using caution, are the main causes of accidents, he said.

MOPT is “making a call for all road users to do their part, both drivers and pedestrians” to decrease highway mortality, Rodríguez said.

Ortega Kicks Off School Year,
Calls for Increased Enrollment

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega kicked off the school year yesterday by calling for his country to enroll more children in school.

Every year, about 800,000 school-age Nicaraguan children do not enroll in school, he said.

Yesterday, accompanied by his wife Rosario Murillo, Education Minister Miguel de Castilla and Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco, Ortega visited six schools in the city of Sandino, north of Managua.

In the past, many children haven't been able to attend school because they don't have a uniform or cannot pay fees; this must change, Ortega said.

As of yesterday, 1.3 million Nicaraguan children were registered for school, although statistics from the Caribbean and some other areas are still not available, according to de Castilla. Last year 1.6 million Nicaraguan children registered for school.

The Association of Nicaraguan Educators estimates that an additional 1,500 teachers and 1,800 classrooms are necessary to accommodate the 800,000 children who aren't in the school system.

The association has called for Nicaragua to increase its budget for education from 3% of the gross domestic product to 7%.

Asian fetishists, gun control zealots and people with opinions about the Mexican-U.S. border will find some fodder in acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro González Iñarritu's “ Babel.” But don't let the trailer fool you; it's not about international terrorism and doesn't have much scope or philosophical relevance beyond the lives of its three casts of characters.

González Iñarritu, the director who brought us the heavy-hitting films “Amores Perros” and “21 Grams,” teamed again with writer Guillermo Arriaga and brought a bigger budget than ever (but, at an estimated $25 million, still paltry compared to what Hollywood bankrolls) to bear on a movie that aspires to deal with communication.

Not a Cartoon, at Least: Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in Alejandro González Iñarritu's “Babel,” set to open today in Costa Rica.

Photo courtesy of United International Pictures

The film is told in three dramas that occur simultaneously in four countries and are linked by a Winchester 270 rifle. The plot is thin enough that a brief summary can't avoid being a spoiler, but here goes: a U.S. couple is traveling in Morocco when the woman (Cate Blanchett) is accidentally shot. She writhes in pain while the couple's nanny takes their kids across the Mexican border to a wedding and a deaf and mute Japanese girl undresses in a misguided bid for acceptance.

The cast is flecked with superstars such as Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Gael García Bernal, and their prowess, commendably, is shored up or sometimes eclipsed by that of the no-names often given center stage.

The dream-team cast, writer and director and fascinating on-site filming in Morocco, the Mexican border and Japan were a potentially potent formula that fizzed – it's the story, man; it's mediocre. González Iñarritu claims it's about communication breakdowns in many forms – linguistic, physical, cultural, etc. – but such a broad theme alone does not justify corralling three plots into the same fold. The philosophical component is flimsy enough that it will spawn only conversations that end before you've wiped the last kernel of caramel popcorn from your shirt as you stand during the credits.

It is not surprising that the U.S. couple (Blanchett and a baggy-eyed Pitt looking his age) who argued bitterly in the opening scenes becomes closer while Blanchett is bleeding and pissing herself. Nothing brings people closer than a gunshot wound – after all, only a real bastard would keep an argument going while his spouse is dying in his arms. Likewise, the abuses Mexicans suffer at the U.S. border are not interesting enough to stand alone as a plotline. García Bernal shines as a blithe and smiley wedding goer but his wealth of talent is frittered away in a relatively minor supporting role. The Japan storyline is the most provocative, one of isolation and the pathetic attempt to escape it; and it ends with a peek at redemption. That third might be enough to justify the rest of it.

But maybe you should see this movie not for what it is, but because it's not a cartoon. It's also not “Eragon” or the worst Ben Stiller flick ever, which is sort of like a cartoon, but more depressing. Of the eight movies offered in Costa Rica at the time of this writing, three were cartoons, one was “Eragon,” and another was the worst Stiller flick ever, which makes “ Babel ” pretty attractive.