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30 Nov 2005 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, November 30, 2005
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Alterra Ordered to Restart
Airport Renovation
Airport operator Alterra Partners has been ordered to restart the renovation of Juan Santamaría International Airport ; the project has been suspended for nearly three years because of a contract dispute.
(Click for more)
Costa Rica Doubles Preventive
Measures Against Avian Flu
The Costa Rican government has doubled measures to prevent an eventual outburst of avian flu, according to Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Rodolfo Coto.
(Click for more)
Government to Save $1.2 Million
In End-of-Year Recess
When Costa Rica 's public employees go on their vacation this Christmas season from Dec. 19-30, they will save the country $1.2 million.
(Click for more)
November 30
Academia de Música
Moderna Concert
Tonight at 8 p.m. at the National Auditorium, Children's Museum, end of Calle 4.
Jean-Michael Byron in Concert
Performance by lead singer from the band Toto, tonight and tomorrow night at Tokú, Escazú. Info: 228-4091.
Roundtable: “State and Culture in Changing Times”
With the participation of the candidates for the vice-presidency of three political parties, Laura Chinchilla (PLN), Lilliana Salas (PUSC) and Epsy Campbell (PAC), accompanied by Amalia Chaverri, Vice-Minister of Culture, Carlos Ovares, director of the National Dance Company, and moderator Edda Rodríguez, of the Giratablas Cultural Association, today at 2 p.m., at Teatro de la Danza, CENAC, Av. 3/5, Calle 11/15, 221-2154.
Edited By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
Alterra Ordered to Restart
Airport Renovation
By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
Airport operator Alterra Partners has been ordered to restart the renovation of Juan Santamaría International Airport; the project has been suspended for nearly three years because of a contract dispute.
Minister of Public Works and Transport Randall Quirós announced yesterday that Alterra would have 30 days to restart the more than $100 million renovation. The announcement followed a decision Monday by the Comptroller General's Office that the government must order the renewal of the project.
Despite the decision, Executive Director Mónica Nagel reiterated Monday that Alterra will continue remodeling the airport only when financial equilibrium for the project has been established, suggesting that the conflict between Alterra and the government that began in March 2003 will continue.
Alterra has held a 20-year contract to operate and renovate the airport since 2001. Construction was halted in 2003 when the comptroller issued a scathing report regarding the airport's financing, particularly questioning the fees Alterra could charge airport users.
In response to this report, issued in March 2003, the International Financing Corporation (IFC), the financing arm of the World Bank, announced it would freeze financing for the airport's renovation, suspending the final $30 million of Alterra's $120 million loan until the dispute was resolved. According to an Alterra statement, the comptroller's report changed the financial conditions of the contract, creating uncertainty as to whether Alterra would be able to make timely payments on the credit it had already received.
For the past two and a half years Alterra and government officials have been in and out of arbitration and rounds of negotiation. They finally announced earlier this year that they had reached an agreement to bring financial equilibrium to the controversial contract. That agreement was recently reviewed by the Technical Council of the Civil Aviation Authority (CETAC) and still awaits necessary approval by the Comptroller General.
All along, Minister Quirós and Alterra officials have said that airport construction would restart once the agreement was given the thumbs-up by the Comptroller.
However, the office's recent order changes that timeline.
The decision is based on an arbitration court's Nov. 2 ruling that Alterra did not follow established procedure that allows the project to be suspended. Furthermore, the fact that Alterra does not have funds to continue renovation is Alterra's problem and is not just cause for halting renovation, according to the comptroller's office.
The comptroller's office has also asked CETAC to determine the people responsible for the suspension of the works, Quirós said.
Quirós said he is confident Alterra officials will show the “good will” to restart the works while the comptroller reviews the contract agreement establishing financial equilibrium, instead of waiting until it has been approved, as previously planned.
But Nagel said “it will be the investors and the international bank who finance the project who will decide whether to continue the works without financial equilibrium – which is a constitutional right of the company – without an addendum approved by the Comptroller and without legal security that, this time, agreements will be respected.”
For more on Alterra and the Juan Santamaría renovation, see this week's print or online pdf version of The Tico Times.
Costa Rica Doubles Preventive
Measures Against Avian Flu
The Costa Rican government has doubled measures to prevent an eventual outburst of avian flu, according to Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Rodolfo Coto.
“We have doubled control at airports and ports to avoid entry of live animals from any country where any suspicion of avian flu has been detected,” Coto told journalists.
The Agriculture Minister said that as part of its set of preventive measures, the government has quarantined merchandise coming from these countries and controls quality in avian product plants.
Authorities have trained specialized staff, who even had an avian flu drill simulating an outbreak in Costa Rica, to measure their capacity for response, Coto said.
The minister added that these preventive measures have support from the International Regional Agricultural Sanitation Organization (OIRSA).
“Everything we have done is preventive, and not because avian flu has appeared in the country,” he declared.
Public Health Minister Rocío Sáenz said that even though “no cases in humans have been reported in the American continent, we consider it important to continue preparing with these processes.”
The minister said a national committee and extended committee are working to avoid an eventual pandemic, or worldwide epidemic, and a “national plan” is ready and posted at the Health Ministry Web site, www.ministeriodesalud.go.cr.
According to the World Health Organization (OMS), China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia are, at the moment, the only countries in the world where avian flu has been detected in people, with a total 132 cases, of which 68 people have died.
--ACAN-EFE
Government to Save $1.2 Million
In End-of-Year Recess
When Costa Rica 's public employees go on their vacation this Christmas season from Dec. 19-30, they will save the country $1.2 million.
This estimate, according to Labor Minister Fernando Trejos, is based on the average daily consumption of power, water, telephone, Internet and transportation costs by public institutions.
The recess was formally approved at President Abel Pacheco's Cabinet meeting yesterday, the minister said.
-- ACAN-EFE
