Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 16,  2003

THE GLAMOUR OF BUS TRAVEL: Commission looks to reform senior citizen bus-pass program. TT/Julio Lainez

Colorado Man Killed
in Motorcycle Accident
An morning motorcycle tour ended in tragedy yesterday for a 60-year-old Colorado native Gregory Smith, whose dirt bike collided with a coffee transport truck at a dangerous bend in the highway through Río Grande de Atenas, west of San José.
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New Bill Targets Aguinaldos
Labor Minister Ovidio Pacheco announced Tuesday the government would submit a bill to Congress to eliminate Christmas aguinaldos (Christmas bonuses equal to one month's salary) for members of autonomous institutions' boards of directors.
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Senior Citizen Bus Passes
Under the Microscope
Responding to numerous complaints about the year-old senior citizen bus-pass system, Ombudsman José Manuel Echandi yesterday announced formation of an inter-institutional commission to study ways to improve the program.
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Radio Celebrates with a Fiesta and New CD
Radio Activa "was born" in 1998 with a full Latin music repertoire, the first one in this gender. Tonight the radio will present its first CD "Música Radioactiva," which contains the best songs of artists such Gilberto Santarrosa, La Marka, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Chichi Peralta, Elvis Crespo, Huey Dunbar, Grupo Niche, Victor Manuelle, Rey Ruiz and Las Ketchup with its hit Aserejé.

The Fiesta is at 7 p.m., at Huakas, 400 m. west of Coronado School. Don’t miss it staff will be heating up the environment with contests, and awards. Info: 283-6106.

Nocturnal Festival of Lights, Waterfalls, and Canopy Tour
With music by Pimenta Negra. Don’t miss this adventure, dining and dancing. Sat., Jan. 18 from 6:30 to 2 a.m., only 10 minutes out of Jacó. Call 643-3322 for reservations.

Colorado Man Killed
in Motorcycle Accident
By David Boddiger
dboddiger@ticotimes.net

An morning motorcycle tour ended in tragedy yesterday for a 60-year-old Colorado native Gregory Smith, whose dirt bike collided with a coffee transport truck at a dangerous bend in the highway through Río Grande de Atenas, west of San José.

Smith died upon arrival at Atenas Hospital from injuries sustained during the accident, which occurred at 7:30 a.m., a police spokeswoman said. Smith, vacationing from the U.S., was on a guided motorcycle tour with friends when the accident occurred, according to local television news reporters.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy confirmed Smith's death, and said the embassy is making arrangements with the family to return the body to New York.

Smith was the second foreigner to die this week in a highway accident here.

On Sunday, 34-year-old Canadian citizen Jeanette Marchena was struck and killed by a passing motorist as she was walking with her husband and a friend in Ciudad Neily, near the border with Panama, according to police. A second Canadian citizen was also struck and suffered light injuries.

The hit-and-run motorist, 47-year-old Alberto Delgado, sped away from the scene of the accident and was killed moments later when he lost control of his pickup truck and struck a tree.

New Bill Targets Aguinaldos
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

Labor Minister Ovidio Pacheco announced Tuesday the government would submit a bill to Congress to eliminate Christmas aguinaldos (Christmas bonuses equal to one month's salary) for members of autonomous institutions' boards of directors.

Traditionally, the directors' received aguinaldos under a law that allows institutions running a surplus to decide whether to hand out bonuses. However, Labor Minister Pacheco and President Abel Pacheco consider the time-honored practice to be an excessive privilege at a time when government institutions must do everything possible to limit superfluous spending.

The bill would reform various articles of 1954, 1955 and 1959 laws that guarantee that all public and private employees receive aguinaldos.

The Labor Minister argues that directors shouldn't be eligible for bonuses because they don't work set schedules, are not contract employees and are paid on a per diem basis.

By eliminating the privilege, government institutions would save ¢5 million ($13,500) in 2003, he claimed.

"The money is not really the issue here," Ovidio Pacheco argued "It's a moral and ethical dilemma; we hope Congress will approve the bill before next December."

Last December President Pacheco requested that all board members who had received aguinaldos return the money. Members of every institution, except of the National Insurance Institute (INS), returned their bonuses.

Senior Citizen Bus Passes
Under the Microscope

Responding to numerous complaints about the year-old senior citizen bus-pass system, Ombudsman José Manuel Echandi yesterday announced formation of an inter-institutional commission to study ways to improve the program.

Established at the beginning of 2002, the bus pass program allows anyone over the age of 65 to pick up a booklet of free bus tickets at any Social Security System (Caja) office.

Although the program was enormously popular when it began -- as evident by the long lines of senior citizens lined up at the Caja to get their bus tickets -- many users are now complaining of verbal harassment from bus drivers and instances when bus drivers outright refuse to accept the tickets.

"We have almost completed a year of the program and we have already seen that it is not the best option," Echandi said in a press release. "It is time to revise the program; but first we need to evaluate what would be of the greatest benefit to our senior citizens."

One of the options the commission is studying is to implement a scanner system that could read the magnetic strip on cedulas (state-issued identification cards).