Engineers tasked with identifying dangerous bridges in order to prevent another fatal collapse are resorting to Internet images uploaded by tourists. Such is the inadequacy of the government's own infrastructure records, a University of Costa Rica (UCR) expert engineer has revealed.

According to engineer Guillermo Santana from the UCR's National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models (LANAMME), the government is unable to say for certain how many more bridges could collapse like the one in Turrubares on Oct. 22, because a complete file on the country's bridges and their maintenance history doesn't exist.

LANAMME was nearly one year into a report advising the government on infrastructure solutions, bridge maintenance and training procedures for bridge inspectors, when a 1920s hammock-style bridge spanning the Río Tárcoles buckled under the weight of a bus carrying 38 passengers, killing five people.

“If there is no database and we don't know what bridges we have, how can we act upon it?” Santana asked.

“For this reason we have been getting help from tourists who have uploaded holiday pictures of Costa Rican bridges onto Google and YouTube, which no doubt reminded them of Indiana Jones and was all part of their holiday adventure,” he said.

In many instances, these images provide the only basis for engineers' assessment.

“Other than that, we have had to rely on the odd paper report filed away in different government locations and written by untrained inspectors who didn't realize the importance of their findings and therefore didn't prioritize them,” Santana said.

“This can happen when there are so many departments,” he said, pointing to the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) and its National Roadway Council as examples. “There is no clear responsibility.”

Since the collapse of the Turrubares bridge, the government has accepted the resignation of Public Works and Transport Minister Karla Gonzalez and replaced her with Marco Vargas, who promised to stop traffic on two hammock-style bridges in Grano de Oro de Turrialba and San Jerónimo de Esparza, making them accessible only to pedestrians, starting Friday.

Costa Rica has also commissioned a Japanese bridge expert to supervise the repair of 10 bridges identified as priorities in a separate study carried out by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency in 2007, and promised $15 million in funding.

See the Nov. 6 print or digital edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

Costa Rica's Public Security Ministry suspended the issuance of new gun permits to foreigners Wednesday, according to national media reports.

The move came on the heels of a shootout Tuesday between Jamaican assailants and Costa Rican police in the western San José suburb of Escazú, in which 30-year-old Judicial Investigation Police officer Randall Mauricio López was shot dead, the daily La Nación reported.

The deadly firefight started at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday a block and a half north of the cemetery of San Antonio de Escazú. The assailants also are suspected of involvement in the Oct. 29 murder of Milena Madriz, a 20-year-old university student, in the eastern San José neighborhood of Los Yoses.

The news comes amid a string of reports that point to an unprecedented rise in murders in Costa Rica. According to a report released last month by the United Nations Development Program, homicides here nearly doubled in eight years, rising from six per 100,000 people in 2000 to 11 per 100,000 in 2008 (TT, Oct. 23).

Never before open to the public, two homes that hug the northeast corner of Costa Rica's Bellavista Fortress – now the National Museum – were unveiled Monday as part of a permanent exhibit of the museum.

Constructed at the end of the 19th century, the houses were the residences of the first- and second-in-command of the fortress until the army was disbanded in 1948. They then became the headquarters of the National Meteorological Service until the 1970s. After that, they housed the Museum's Department of Anthropology and History until 2007.

“The restoration of these buildings is a service to the historical memory of our people,” said President Oscar Arias during a visit to the museum on Monday. “If the National Museum reminds us of what Costa Rica was like in war, these commanders' homes speak to us of what an armed Costa Rica was like, and what every day was like in a country with a permanent military body.”

Relatively small by modern standards, the two homes abut each other at the top of Cuesta de Moras, as Avenida 1 is known as it climbs the hill ( cuesta ) toward the museum. An elaborate entrance leads into the first commander's home, which is paved with geometric hand-painted tile and topped with high ceilings.

Though none of the furniture is original to the houses, it was selected to represent the time period when the buildings served as residences. The bedroom set of León Cortés, who served as president of Costa Rica from 1936 to 1940, adorns one of the rooms. Another room is furnished with pieces from the museum's collection to resemble a study.

“We adapted what we had in our collections to fit the area and the time periods,” said Lidilia Arias, who designed the exhibit. “This was not exactly what the homes looked like while people lived here.”

The architects did keep the double-lead doors and guillotine style windows and painted the walls the same color as they were at one point in their history. In fact, the curator left small squares open to show visitors the different shades of the walls over the years.

The renovation project, which began in January, expanded the museum's exhibition space by 700 square meters and cost $480,000.

The entrance fee to see the homes is included in the price of the ticket for the National Museum: $6 for foreigners, $3 for foreign students and ¢1,000 for residents.

Open Tuesday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sundays, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telephone: 2257-1433.

The National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) released inflation figures for October this week and, as seen throughout 2009, the price index continued to slow to an all-time low.

The inflation rate rose 0.23 percent in October and through the first 10 months of 2009, is at an accumulated rate of 3.16 percent, the lowest recorded total during that time frame since the Central Bank (BCCR) began recording the figure in 1977.

With two months remaining in the year, it appears inflation will stay below 4 percent, and is on track for the lowest rate ever recorded.

Over the past 12 months, the accumulated inflation rate is at 4 percent, which is the lowest 12-month span since 1978. A year ago at this time, the 12-month accumulated inflation rate – from November 2007 to October 2008 – was 16.30 percent.

“It is not only important to look at the figure, but the context of what is going on in all the economy,” said Eric Vargas, strategy director at the consulting firm Aldesa. “For example, if the economy was growing at a normal pace, the low inflation rate would be a very positive thing; it would indicate that we are keeping up with the increase in prices. However, in this situation, when the economy is in recession, the lowered inflation rate is an indication of the low level of economic activity. Though it seems the lowered inflation rate is a good result, really it means the economy isn't growing.”

Thus far in 2009, education, rent and living costs have seen the biggest price increases. Education costs have spiked 10.95 percent, followed by rent and living expenses, which have increased 10.75 percent.

Food and non-alcoholic drinks make up the only sector whose prices have seen significant decreases over the course of the year, falling 3.06 percent in the first 10 months of the year. The price of communications has fallen 0.09 percent this year.

Looking at October by sector, entertainment and culture saw the highest increase in price, rising by 0.50 percent. The price of food and non-alcoholic drinks rose 0.44 percent. The only price index that experienced a decrease was rent and living services, which dropped 0.51 percent.

Each month, INEC tracks the price variation of 292 products and services. The biggest price increases by specific item – from highest – were seen in milk, taxi transportation, corn, buses and tomatoes. The largest decreases in price were experienced in electricity service, car purchases, papaya, onion and washing machines.