Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 14,  2004

DETERMINED: IMAS President Fernando Trejos lauded the institution's progress in "the fight against poverty" in 2003. TT/Jeffrey Arguedas

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Celebration of the Santo Cristo de Esquipulas
The saint is honored in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, with a fair, mass and processions. Believers in San José can participate in the pilgrimage that is leaving at 7:30 p.m. from Parque Central to Alajuelita. Archbishop Hugo Barrantes is holding a especial mass Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. at Alajuelita Church.

The Neotics
The Neotics perform tonight at 10 p.m. at the Jazz Café in San Pedro. Info: 253-8933.

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IMAS President: Major Victories
In Country's War against Poverty
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

The Mixed Institute for Social Aid (IMAS) last year spent ˘8.06 billion ($19.2 million) in programs designed to provide assistance and funds to more than 156,000 Costa Ricans living in poverty and extreme poverty, IMAS Executive President Fernando Trejos announced during yesterday's Cabinet meeting.

"The institution's 2003 budget was ˘8.41 billion ($20 million)," Trejos said. "We were able to allocate 95.6% of it through programs specifically targeted toward helping the poor. This marks an important accomplishment."

Under Costa Rican law, budgeted funds not properly allocated by an institution before the end of the year are taken back by the central government.

The biggest portion of IMAS's budget, ˘3.16 billion ($7.5 million), was spent on programs aimed at strengthening the country's families. These programs provided assistance to 29,199 families. IMAS also transferred ˘57 million ($136,000) to the Costa Rican Red Cross.

The institution spent ˘1.58 billion ($3.77 million) to provide assistance to 30,716 of the country's children and adolescents, including the creation of 41 community homes throughout the country. It also provided financial subsidies to poor families with children and adolescents attending school.

An additional ˘807 million ($1,92 million) was spent on programs that provided integral assistance and counseling for 7,000 women and teen mothers.

The institution spent ˘986 million ($2.35 million) on programs that sought to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods, including building aqueducts, remodeling of public-interest houses and awarding land to poor families.

Among those projects, Trejos said awarding land is a particularly defining step in the fight against poverty. People who own homes and land are much more likely to successfully apply for bank loans and eventually overcome poverty, he said.

With that goal in mind, Trejos announced the long-awaited ˘1.1 billion ($2.62 million) joint trust fund run by IMAS, the International Bank of Costa Rica (BICSA) and Banco de Costa Rica would begin operating by the end of next month. After it is up and running, the fund will be used to provide low-interest loans to farmers, women entrepreneurs and other people in need.

IMAS also increased sales at its duty-free airport shops by 45% compared to 2002, resulting in an additional ˘2 billion ($4.76 million) for the institution.

"In summary, IMAS directly attended to the needs of 156,000 Costa Ricans and indirectly assisted many more through programs aimed at improving living conditions at various communities," he said. "IMAS is one of the government's most flexible institutions and among the first on the scene whenever there is an emergency. The institution's accomplishments are part of a larger effort conducted by the government through its Social Council."

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National Emergency Commission
Helped 10,000 Tico in 2003
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

SAFETY FIRST: National Emergency Commission president Luis Diego Morales said preparation helped authorities head off some of the effects of natural disasters in 2003. TT/Jeffrey Arguedas

The National Emergency Commission (CNE) last year spent ˘1.63 billion ($3.88 million) in emergency relief and prevention efforts that benefited 10,000 people throughout the country, Commission president Luis Diego Morales announced during yesterday's Cabinet meeting.

During 2003, Costa Rica faced more than 50 natural disaster-related emergencies, including floods, avalanches, landslides, earthquakes and volcanic activity - practically every type of the disaster the country could face. Disasters affected 40 of the country's 81 cantons.

Morales noted that preventive efforts on the part of the National Emergency Commission and local emergency commissions to prepare for foreseeable emergencies were greatly successful.

"This administration has committed itself to improving the response capacity of the CNE and other institutions in charge of providing emergency relief, particularly since most disasters affect poor and at-risk people," Morales explained. "Important advances were made towards accomplishing that goal last year."

For example, in the eastern province of Limón, the Council had its warehouses stocked with food, cots, blankets and emergency supplies well before the rainy season began. This allowed it to care for the hundreds of refugees that flocked to temporary shelters following the floods that ravaged the province in December.

Similar efforts took place in Orosi, where emergency personnel suspected mudslides would occur during the rainy season. They prepared accordingly and damages were reduced, he said.

However, before the Commission can continue its transition from a reactive institution to a preventive one, Morales said, Congress must approve a proposed bill aimed at increasing the institution's administrative flexibility.

This would allow the CNE to spend a greater percentage of its funds on prevention and mitigation of disasters. This in turn would significantly reduce the damage caused by natural disasters and lower the number of victims affected.

"In the future, we'll have to be attentive of emergencies," Morales said. "Not all of them give us advanced warning. This especially applies to tremors, such as the ones that have taken place in the Southern Zone and Nicoya."

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