The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, May 15, 2003

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: PANI has five days to report on Dundee Ranch Academy, a controversial behavior-modification program in Orotina.
TT/Julio Lainez

PANI Given Five Days
to Report on Dundee Ranch
The Ombudsman's Office yesterday gave the Child Welfare Agency (PANI) five days to issue a report on its four-month-old investigation of the U.S.-run behavior modification program Dundee Ranch Academy, located on a secluded farm in the central Pacific town of Orotina.
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Environment Ministry Issues
Proposal to Reform SETENA
Environment Minister Carlos Manuel Rodríguez this week unveiled the results of a year-long study of the strengths and weaknesses of the Environment Ministry's (MINAE) National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA). The study's findings will be used to reform the institution, increase its efficiency and make it more cost-effective, the Minister said.
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May 15

Charity Bingo
The Asociation of Diplomatic Women of Costa Rica invites everyone to Bingo,
with the chance to win plane tickets, electric tools, etc. Benefits are used
to help abandoned old citizens, and support children. Tonight at 6:30 p.m.,
at Salón El Greco, at San José Palacio Hotel, on the Inter American Highway,
500 m. east of Irazú Hotel. Reserve your bingo cards at 231-4294, 272-7854
or buy it at the entrance of the hotel for ¢4,000.

Seminar - Workshop "How to Educate Stable and Happy Children"
By Dr. Alvaro Malaver Torres, at 5:45 p.m., Best Western Hotel. Info:
827-4749, 390-6838.

Art Show Opening
The University of Costa Rica invites everyone to the opening of the photo
exhibit "Deshabitados," by Ma. Gabriela Calderón at the Rectory. Info:
207-4271.

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PANI Given Five Days
to Report on Dundee Ranch
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

The Ombudsman's Office yesterday gave the Child Welfare Agency (PANI) five days to issue a report on its four-month-old investigation of the U.S.-run behavior modification program Dundee Ranch Academy, located on a secluded farm in the central Pacific town of Orotina.

Following Wednesday's article on Dundee Ranch in the daily Al Dia, Mario Alberto Viquez, director of the Defensoria's Children and Adolescents Office, asked the PANI to inform the Ombudsman's Office on what steps it has taken to guarantee the protection and rights of the teens living at the academy.

The PANI's investigation of Dundee -- home to 200 wayward teens, mostly from the U.S. -- began last January, in response to a report last year in The Tico Times, "Tough Love Teen Facility Under Fire" (TT, Oct. 25, 2002).

Academy Dundee Ranch, the newest affiliate of the Utah-based WorldWide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP), has been criticized for taking its tough-love tactics to extremes. Advertised as a "Paradise for Change" for teens with severe discipline and drug problems, Dundee owner Narvin Lichfield claims his academy is a last-stop option for troubled youth (TT, Jan.17).

Despite the criticism, Dundee's attendance has grown by almost 30% since last October, and the academy is currently in the process of opening another campus in Heredia, in the Central Valley.

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Environment Ministry Issues
Proposal to Reform SETENA
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

Environment Minister Carlos Manuel Rodríguez this week unveiled the results of a year-long study of the strengths and weaknesses of the Environment Ministry's (MINAE) National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA). The study's findings will be used to reform the institution, increase its efficiency and make it more cost-effective, the Minister said.

SETENA's main function is to conduct environmental impact studies and issue operating permits for a wide range of development projects. The institution has been heavily criticized in recent years for taking too long to perform impact studies and delaying numerous development projects (TT, Dec. 6, 2002).

The last two government administrations have been unsuccessful in their attempts to modernize the institution's outdated operating guidelines. President Abel Pacheco promised to modernize SETENA last May.

"The Environment Ministry has spent an entire year studying SETENA's problems, and today (Tuesday) issued a report detailing the essential reforms needed to improve the way it functions," Rodríguez explained. "We tried to create simple and clear operating guidelines that would help establish a balance between protecting the environment and stimulating investment and economic growth."

The reforms will revolutionize how environmental impact studies are performed, he said.

"Practically every project proposed in this country, everything from opening a small soda to building a giant resort, requires an environmental impact study," he explained. "This system is so complicated and cumbersome that it has become one of the main obstacles for the country's growth and development."

To reform the system, the Environment Ministry consulted with more than 100 specialists and groups, asking for their input on how SETENA should operate, Rodríguez said.

"We spoke to everyone, including companies, land developers, farmers, and environmentalists," he said.

The study serves as the basic framework for SETENA's new operating guidelines. The new plan, once implemented, will decrease the number of requirements necessary for environmental impact studies by 70% and will reduce the time it takes to conduct the studies from 200 days to 45, he said.

Projects will be sorted into five categories depending on size and location, allowing the Ministry to quickly assess which projects require an impact study and which don't. The new guidelines also call for increased coordination with other institutions.

The study also addressed SETENA's need for additional funding and recommended that those who require impact studies pay for resources, Rodríguez said.

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CA Business Leaders Denounce CAFTA Talks

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) -- Central American business leaders yesterday denounced the free-trade talks with the U.S., claiming that Central American trade negotiators are not taking seriously the private sector's concerns.

"The trade negotiators [of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica] have ignored 46% of the proposals made by the private sector," charged Antonio Saca, president of the Central American Business Counsel (CECA).

"We want the governments to open the process more because with [CAFTA] we are playing with the economic future of Central America, our people and our businesses," Saca said.

Meanwhile, a group of 30 Guatemalan union activists protested outside the hotel hosting the fourth round of trade talks yesterday, holding signs saying the free-trade agreement "will bring more poverty to Central America with the U.S.' neoliberal policies."

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