Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, May 09,  2003

Dole Food CEO Presents
Ambitious Population-Relocation Plan
Dole Food Company yesterday presented President Abel Pacheco with plans to invest $20 million to relocate the population of Valle la Estrella to a single city, while rehabilitating the company's banana plantations in the evacuated area, company chairman and chief executive officer David Murdock said.
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Peace Corps celebrates 40th year in Costa Rica
The U.S. Peace Corps reached a landmark anniversary this month, with 40 years of service in Costa Rica.
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Firefighters Contain New Fires in Northern Zone
Firefighters this week put out three new brush fires intentionally started last Friday in the Caño Negro National Wildlife Reserve, near the northern border town of Upala.
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Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of England
Terrific charity bash Sat., May 10, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., at the residence of the British Ambassador near the Laureles Shopping Center in Escazú. All proceeds from the event, which will have entertainment, goodies and games, go to needy schools. Info: 258-2025.

Maná in Concert
Chart-topping Mexican pop-rock, Sun., May 11, 6 p.m., Polideportivo Monserrat, Alajuela, behind Mall Internacional, tickets on sale at Arenas Sport and Surf Stores. Info: 233-0808, 234-2889.

Romeo y Julieta, Un Amor con Piruetas
A funny story about love and friendship with a happy ending, May 11, 3 p.m., Teatro Moliére, south side of Plaza de la Democracia, 50 m. south. Info: 357-0462.

Dole Food CEO Presents
Ambitious Population-Relocation Plan
By Brian Harris
bharris@ticotimes.net

Dole's Murdock (L) shows Pacheco the plan TT/ Julio Lainez

Dole Food Company yesterday presented President Abel Pacheco with plans to invest $20 million to relocate the population of Valle la Estrella to a single city, while rehabilitating the company's banana plantations in the evacuated area, company chairman and chief executive officer David Murdock said.

Speaking to The Tico Times after his meeting with the President, Murdock said the plan is designed to move the towns -- inhabited almost exclusively by company workers -- scattered about the valley to a centralized town located outside of the flood plain. The company also plans to re-plow its farms up to three meters below the current surface to rehabilitate production, something the company says it has not done in "30 to 50 years."

Pacheco said the plan was "marvelous," but did not say if the government would be able to contribute the funds for housing and infrastructure that Dole said the plan is contingent on.

In March, Murdock completed buying the remaining 75% of Dole that had been traded publicly, taking the company off the stock market. Locally, Dole operates by its original name, "Standard Fruit Company," and is the second-largest volume exporter of Costa Rican bananas.

"(Dole) is private, so we can do many things differently because we are a private company," Murdock said.

He said the company would build the new housing and then finance its sale to employees, as well as reorganize the banana production scheme in the area.

According to the company's Rick Harrah, current production in the valley is roughly 2,400 40-lb. boxes of bananas per hectare, slightly above what is considered profitable, but well below the 3,000+ boxes per hectare the company hopes to attain by renewing the soil through deep plowing and topsoil renewal.

Murdock also said that by re-plowing, the need for pesticides will decrease, as diseased soil will be buried deep below where plant roots can reach it.

Several thousand people live on Dole's plantations in Valle la Estrella, about 30 kms. south of the Caribbean port of Limón, scattered about the vast area in a series of settlements. Under the Dole plan, they would all move to a single town slightly uphill from the valley floor, rather than live adjacent to the plantations as they currently do.

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Peace Corps celebrates 40th year in Costa Rica
By Jon Gambrell
Tico Times Staff

Peace Corps Vásquez (L) and Ambassador Danilovich welcome new volunteer. TT/ Susan Hollis

The U.S. Peace Corps reached a landmark anniversary this month, with 40 years of service in Costa Rica.

The anniversary was celebrated here yesterday with a visit by Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vásquez and the inauguration of 21 new volunteers, who will be working with the Costa Rican National Direction of Development of the Community (DINADECO).

Later in the day, Vásquez met with Costa Rican President Abel Pacheo.

Vásquez said the mission of the Peace Corps has not changed since the organization began: it still strives to aid developing countries and spawn a better cultural understanding between the United States and the rest of the world.

However, she noted, the types of development aid need by other countries has changed over the years. The Peace Corps now focuses more on small-business development and information-technology training, Vásquez said, adding that the Costa Rican government has shown interest in initiating similiar projects here.

"Our long-term goal is to sustain a viable presence in Costa Rica and offer programs that have a lasting impact on people's lives," Vásquez said. "That has been the mission of the Peace Corps since its inception, and we are committed to that."

The Peace Corps will also double its size from 7,000 to 14,000 over the next five years, Vásquez said. The U.S. Congress has budgeted a record-amount of funding for the Peace Corps to support its growth.

"We are on a track to expand and grow not only worldwide, but to also grow in Costa Rica," Vásquez said. "Central America has always been a priority."

The Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to aid and support the cause of peace in the developing world. Since its conception, more than 168,000 Americans have served overseas in 136 countries.

All Central American countries have Peace Corps programs, and U.S. Ambassador John J. Danilovich said that embassy will continue to support the organization's efforts here.

Commending the work of Jim Criste, director of the Costa Rican Peace Corps effort, Danilovich said the group is doing a "tremendous job."

"I think it helps humanity by having the Peace Corp in Costa Rica," the Ambassador stressed. "I think they are the best."

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Firefighters Contain New Fires in Northern Zone
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

Firefighters this week put out three new brush fires intentionally started last Friday in the Caño Negro National Wildlife Reserve, near the northern border town of Upala.

Last month, fires consumed over 4,000 hectares of the 9,900-hectare reserve. After four weeks of unsuccessfully fighting the fires, a drop in temperatures and heavy rainstorms allowed firefighters to finally extinguish them on May 1. However, arsonists started new fires the following Friday.

Environment Ministry officials claim they have strong evidence indicating the fires were intentionally started by organized groups of local hunters and possibly farmers opposed to new restrictions on fishing and the recent crackdown on the poaching of endangered crocodiles in the reserve's wetlands (TT Daily, Jan. 22, April 24, 30).

Over the weekend, firefighters struggled to control a blaze that threatened to consume 1,000 hectares of primary forest composed mainly of María cedars, a native tree species on the brink of extinction.

"The emergency is over, but additional personnel will remain in the refuge just in case," Luis Diego Román Coordinator of the Environment Ministry's (MINAE) Forest and Brush Fire Control Division told The Tico Times. "It's been raining since Monday. This eliminates the possibility of new fires."

"Two underground fires persist three or four meters below the surface of the Playuelas sector," he added. "We tried using powerful hoses underground to fight them but had no results. Luckily, since they are located underground and the surface is wet, there's no threat of they will spread. We will have to wait until the rains cause the Frío River and Caño los Patos to overflow."

Vigilance at the reserve has been increased. Patrols leave each morning and visit every section of the reserve before returning in the evening. Additional patrols will continue until the rainy season gets into high gear, he said.

Officials are also taking the steps to identify and prosecute those responsible for the fires. MINAE and the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) have strong evidence linking five local residents, one of which was already being investigated in relation to crocodile poaching, with the fires.

A local farmer will also be prosecuted for planting pastures in areas that were cleared by fires, Román said.

Over the last five weeks, fighting the Caño Negro brush fires has cost the government over $500,000.

In nearby Ciudad Quesada, a group of neighbors, the local Catholic Church, public employees and conservationists have started a national campaign to collect funds to fight future fires, continue patrolling efforts and protect the remaining wildlife.
For more information or to make a donation, contact the Arenal and Huetar Norte Conservation Authority at 460-1412.

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