The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 06, 2003

HOME SWEET HOME: New building codes for public housing will make homes, like this one destroyed by heavy rains in Desampardos last September, more resilient to natural disasters.
TT/AFP

Trial Date Approaches in Martin Murder
Nineteen months after the brutal stabbing death of University of Kansas student Shannon Martin, Prosecutor Erick Martínez told The Tico Times yesterday that the long-awaited murder trial will begin sometime in the next six weeks in the southern Pacific port town of Golfito
(Click for more)

U.S. Fugitive Arrested, Facing Extradition
U.S. citizen Thomas Patrick Rosemberger, a nine-year resident of Costa Rica, was arrested during a joint police operation yesterday afternoon and faces extradition to the United States, where he faces wire-fraud charges in Florida Central District Court.
(Click for more)

Government Unveils Building
Codes for Public Housing
To improve the quality of low-income housing, President Abel Pacheco and Housing Minister Helio Fallas this week announced a new public-housing building code to provide construction companies with technical specifications for homes built with taxpayers' money.
(Click for more)

February 06

Love Concert on the Beach
Reserve your room today at the five-star Villa Caletas Hotel and enjoy with your loved one a sunset concert by Adrián Goizueta on Sat., Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. The hotel is 3 km. further from Punta Leona entrance. Info: 637-0505.

Shaggy is Coming
Famous pop reggae singer will be performing the best of his repertoire on Wed., Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at Palacio de los Deportes in Heredia. Don’t miss it and get your tickets today at Credomatic before they are sold out. Info: 234-6266.

Longo Mai Arts Festival to Hit Southern Zone
Looking to spend a nice weekend out of San José? Go to Longo Mai in Volcán de Buenos Aires and don’t miss the festival, on Fri., Feb. 14 visitors and residents can enjoy the play "Cocorí" at 4 p.m., the play "Mamita Yunai" at 6 p.m., the rock concert by Don Nadie group at 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 15, activities for children and teenagers in the morning, followed by the French movie "The Red Baloon," (10 a.m.); a poetry and story telling presentation (2 p.m.); documentary "Los Hijos de Cuasrán" (4 p.m.); Costa Rican movie "Password: Una Mirada en la Oscuridad," with a forum (5 p.m.); workshop by the Teatro Ram Wirt from Austria (7 p.m.); circus presentations (9 p.m.), music by Los Tucanes and international artists (10 p.m.). On Sunday, people can enjoy of the play "The Musician," (10 a.m., a dance show (2 p.m.) and the play "Los Gritos del Silencio," (4 p.m.). For more information: 771-4239, nueva@racsa.co.cr

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Trial Date Approaches in Martin Murder
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

Martin Memorial Cross in Golfito
TT/Tim Rogers

Nineteen months after the brutal stabbing death of University of Kansas student Shannon Martin, Prosecutor Erick Martínez told The Tico Times yesterday that the long-awaited murder trial will begin sometime in the next six weeks in the southern Pacific port town of Golfito.

Although no exact date has been set, the trial will have to begin before March 20, the longest that suspect Katia Venessa Cruz, a 27-year-old Tica arrested in November 2001, can be held under a preventive prison sentence without being charged.

A second murder suspect, 47-year-old Rafael Zumbado -- known by the street name "Coco" -- was arrested in Golfito Monday night for his alleged involvement in last Sunday's shooting death of a 27-year-old Tico, Jorge Altamirano. Considered to be one of the main suspects in the Martin murder, Zumbado was arrested last July and held in jail for five months preventive prison before being let out last December.

It is not clear if this week's murder of Altamirano is in any way connected with the Martin murder.

Alberto Castro, a 38-year-old Tico known as "Caballo," is considered the third suspect in the Martin case. Castro also served a five-month preventive sentence before being conditional freedom along with Zumbado.

Prosecutor Martínez this week said the three original suspects will be tried in the coming month.

The decision to go to trial came one week after KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway wrote a letter to President Abel Pacheco to press all appropriate authorities to "pursue every available legal avenue" to bring Martin's murderers to justice. Three U.S. congressmen from Kansas also recently got involved in the case (TT Daily Page, Dec. 20).

"I had not given up hope, but I was very concerned that there was a chance the murder would not be solved after so much time had passed," Jeanette Stauffer, Martin's mother, told The Tico Times yesterday from Topeka, Kansas. "Now, I can concentrate more on doing something positive in memory of Shannon by opening the Shannon Lucile Martin English Center in Golfito."

Martin, a 23-year-old biology student, was visiting Golfito in May 2001 to collect fern samples as a follow-up to a research project on plant synthesis, which she had started here while participating in a KU spring 2000 study-abroad program.

She was stabbed 15 times in the early morning hours of May 13, 2001 along a dark airport access road, 30 meters from her family's home, and 250 meters from the Jurassic Bar, where she had been dancing shortly before.

Stauffer, who has visited Golfito three times since her daughter's murder, said she will travel back to Costa Rica for the trial.

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U.S. Fugitive Arrested, Facing Extradition

Thomas Patrick Rosemberger
Photo/ Security Ministry

U.S. citizen Thomas Patrick Rosemberger, a nine-year resident of Costa Rica, was arrested during a joint police operation yesterday afternoon and faces extradition to the United States, where he faces wire-fraud charges in Florida Central District Court.

Rosemberger, who lived in the luxury condo near the Lomas de Cariari residential complex, is wanted in the United States for allegedly authoring a contract fraud between a U.S. computer distributor and a Russian buyer. The suspect reportedly was fronted a large some of money from the buyer, before canceling the contract and disappearing with the loot, according to a Security Ministry press release.

Rosemberger was also involved in a construction company here that is reportedly building a $50 million condominium complex for vacationers.

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Government Unveils Building
Codes for Public Housing
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

To improve the quality of low-income housing, President Abel Pacheco and Housing Minister Helio Fallas this week announced a new public-housing building code to provide construction companies with technical specifications for homes built with taxpayers' money.

The new code includes a section that defines design templates for various parts of the country, adapting the homes to each region's specific needs and seismic building codes.

Public housing in Costa Rica is based on a system of bonos de vivienda (building bonds equal to the price of building a house). In theory, the government issues these bonds to the country's poorest citizens who use them to hire private construction companies to build homes for them.

By submitting homes to strict and specific building guidelines, the government hopes to guarantee that poor families receive high-quality, long-lasting homes.

"This is the first time the government has established public housing building codes that clearly spell out all the technical specifications that each house must follow in terms of size, materials used, disaster prevention, and overall design," Fallas explained. "Just because these homes are for the poor does not justify them being built with poor materials."

The new code calls specific regulations for areas prone to flooding, such as the eastern province of Limón, and for hot and dry areas, such as the North and Central Pacific. It also calls for specially adapted homes to fit the cultural traditions of certain groups, such as the indigenous populations of Talamanca, urban homes for San José and the Central Valley, and specially modified homes for the handicapped.

Homes in areas prone to flooding will be built on stilts, while homes in dry areas will be built with additional ventilation to keep them cool during the summer.

Fallas assured the new regulations will not raise construction prices.

To guarantee the quality of these homes, the Housing Ministry will conduct inspections and visit new homeowners twice a year. Companies that fail to meet the requirements will not be allowed to build public homes.

"Costa Rica's fight against poverty is destined to fail if we continue to build homes that are washed away as soon as rivers overflow," Pacheco said. "As long as we continue to build homes using cheap materials that attract termites, we're headed for disaster.

"These new regulations will solve these problems and will guarantee that the homes we give too poor families will last," he added. "That way, they won't have to come back a few years later to ask for another one."

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