The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 2, 2004

HIGHER learning: The University of Costa Rica campus in San Pedro, east of San José, came to life yesterday on the first day of the 2004 school year.
Tico Times / Jeffrey Arguedas

Study: Country's Mangroves
At "Point of Collapse"
Costa Rica's delicate mangrove systems are at the "point of collapse," according to a new study conducted by Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia.
(Click for more)

Borrowed Cranes Make Short Work
Of Traffic Light Repairs
The Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) has repaired about 80 streetlights in and around San José since last Thursday, according to Junior Araya, director of transportation engineering.
(Click for more)

March 2

Art Conference
Blanca Gutiérrez Galindo, an art expert from Mexico, will discuss whether painting is an art in danger of extinction (in Spanish), 7 p.m. at the Mexican Cultural Center, 250 m. south of the Subaru Agency in Los Yoses, east of San José.

Live Trova Music
Humberto Vargas and Allan Guzmán perform Trova music, 9:30 p.m. at the Jazz Café in San Pedro. Info: 253-8933.
Music Lessons
Learn classical and popular music, flamenco guitar, music reading and Latin percussion with members of the Guitar Orchestra, at the Escuela Superior de Guitarra, 100 m. south and 100 m. east of the San Pedro Church, in front of Plaza Roosevelt in San Pedro. Info: 225-5040.

Return To Top Of Page

Study: Country's Mangroves
At "Point of Collapse"
By Steven J. Barry
sbarry@ticotimes.net

Costa Rica's delicate mangrove systems are at the "point of collapse," according to a new study conducted by Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia.

Scientists, investigators and students begin a two-day workshop today to help find solutions to the problem.

The study, completed about two weeks ago, revealed that the mangroves are deteriorating as impoverished residents exploit the rich natural resources they provide.

Mangroves, which line the coasts and contain unique plants that thrive in salty conditions, are the natural habitat for a number of species of aquatic wildlife sold commercially, such as shrimp, fish, mollusks and crustaceans. Residents of areas with mangroves, according to the UNA study, harvest these animals for sale as well as personal consumption. They also cut down trees to use as firewood, the study found.

Coupled with urban and agricultural expansion, the consequences have become "worrisome," according to Juan Bravo, who headed the study and is calling for the development of measures to protect mangroves.

Lilliana Piedra, a scientist at UNA who worked on the study, said drastic measures are necessary if the country's mangrove systems are to survive.

"Of course recuperation is possible," Piedra said. "But if we don't remove the causes of [damage to the mangroves], it'll be nearly impossible."

This week's workshop aims to identify those causes and discuss methods of controlling them, she said.

UNA will distribute published copies of the study to administrators of areas containing mangroves in about a month and half, she added.

Return To Top Of Page

Borrowed Cranes Make Short Work
Of Traffic Light Repairs
By Robert Goodier
rgoodier@ticotimes.net

The Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) has repaired about 80 streetlights in and around San José since last Thursday, according to Junior Araya, director of transportation engineering.

The last of the repair crews' cranes had gone out of service in mid-February, so the number of broken traffic lights had kept growing until repairs began last week.

Araya told The Tico Times yesterday that by Thursday of last week, the Ministry had caught up on the light repairs in Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, and by Saturday it had made the rounds in San José.

In an emergency effort to fix the lights and reduce the increasing number of traffic accidents, the office of the Ministry of the Presidency's announced last week it would aid the repair process by helping MOPT borrow the cranes it needed from other government institutions.

Presidency Minister Ricardo Toledo said the Public Services Company of Heredia, the Administrative Committee of Electric Services of Cartago and the National Power and Light Company each lent cranes to the cause. Now, traffic light repairs should be completed daily, Araya said, adding that two of the broken MOPT cranes have been repaired and are back in service.

La Nación reported last Wednesday that the newest of MOPT's cranes is 10 years old and others are 14 years old. Araya told The Tico Times that the ministry had ordered new cranes last year, and he expects them to arrive within a month and a half.

Costa Rica has approximately 2,500 traffic lights, 2,000 of which are located in the San José area. La Nación reported last week that the broken lights were responsible for between four and six additional collisions per day, according to Ignacio Sánchez, director of the Transit Police.

MOPT announced in January that it plans to connect all the traffic lights in San José's system under one computerized network. Araya said MOPT expects to contract a company to install the new traffic-light system in September or October, and the project should be finished by the second half of 2005.

"The modern system will have the lights timed to accommodate traffic depending on the time of day and the number of cars waiting to cross," Araya said (TT, Jan. 16).

Return To Top Of Page

Study Calls ICE a Model for
Latin American Countries

A new report issued by the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) called Costa Rica one of the countries with the greatest advances in electrical production in the region.

The advances are attributed to long-term planning and the constant construction of new power plants throughout the country, according to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE).

According to the CEPAL report, since the end of the 1980s, the region's energy providers have faced serious deficiencies. However, Costa Rica has continued to improve in terms of quality of service and total coverage.

At the start of the 1990s, Guatemala and Honduras had electrification rates of 33% and 38%, respectively. Nicaragua, Panama and El Salvador's electrification rates ranged from 47% and 59%. Costa Rica, on the other hand, had a 90% electrification rate.

Today, Costa Rica's electrical grid reaches 97% of the country's homes. Overall, Costa Rica ranked number two in the region in terms of electrification, surpassing 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Costa Rica was highlighted as an example to follow in terms of electrical generation using renewable resources. The National Electrical System (SEN), which includes ICE, the National Power and Light Company (CNFL), regional public services companies and privately run electricity production cooperatives, currently produces 98% of its electricity using renewable resources, according to ICE.

According to the study, electrical consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean has been growing by 5% each year. Costa Rica's electrical supply has been growing by 6% a year.

The country was also congratulated for being self-sufficient in its electricity production as well as for being an innovator in the use of new technologies. Costa Rica is the region's leader in the use of wind power. As of December 2003, the country's wind power plants produced 62.25 megawatts of electricity, roughly 3.5% of the country's total electrical output.

Costa Rica, which sells its electricity at cost, is the country with the lowest electrical prices in the region, the report stated.

Return To Top Of Page

Wednesday October 26, 2005