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19 Jan 2006 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 19, 2006
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San José Municipality Warns
Against Contaminated Bread
Sold in Streets
Homemade bread sold in the streets of San José was discovered to be contaminated with fecal matter and E. Coli and salmonella bacteria, among other harmful microorganisms, in an investigation conducted by the Public Health Ministry in conjunction with the San José Municipality, San José Municipality environmental instructor Gerardo Chacón told The Tico Times.
(Click for more)
Traffic Police Get Stricter
Along Tourist Routes
Since the beginning of the year, there has been an increased number of Traffic Police patrolling Costa Rica 's main roads to popular tourist destinations, and this will continue until the middle of February, according to a statement from the Public Works and Transport Ministry yesterday.
(Click for more)
Church Announces It's Not Neutral
In Politics and Calls for Debate
Costa Rica's Catholic Church called together the 15 presidential candidates in the Feb. 5 election yesterday for a public debate. The church believes it cannot be “neutral” or “indifferent” about politics.
(Click for more)
January 19
Men's Breakfast
Christian Fellowship hosts a Men's Breakfast every Thursday morning at 7 a.m. at Bagelmen's restaurant in Escazú. For more details and registration, contact Pastor Ken MacHarg, 221-7870, kmacharg@lam.org.
Theater Productions
Many San José theaters are now presenting new productions (all of them comedies in Spanish about Costa Rican situations). It's best to reserve early. Arriba Las Enaguas, Abajo los Pantalones, Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m., at Lucho Barahona Theater, Ca. 11, Av. 6/8, 222-8258. Los Amantes Callejeros, Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m., Teatro Chaplin, 823-2516, 823-6287. Papichulo, Thurs.-Sun., 8 p.m., Moliére Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 13, 255-2694. Parejas Desesperadas, Fri.-Sun., 8 p.m., La Máscara Theater, Av. 2/4, Ca. 13, 222-4574, 365-5368.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
San José Municipality Warns Against
Contaminated Bread Sold in Streets
Homemade bread sold in the streets of San José was discovered to be contaminated with fecal matter and E. Coli and salmonella bacteria, among other harmful microorganisms, in an investigation conducted by the Public Health Ministry in conjunction with the San José Municipality, San José Municipality environmental instructor Gerardo Chacón told The Tico Times.
Investigators bought three samples of “ pan casero,” or homemade bread, which comes in both salty and sweet varieties, and is sold by street vendors in various downtown locations. They took the bread to Lambda laboratory to be analyzed, along with samples of dough they collected from a bread factory operating out of a house in San José 's Barrio Mexico, where the majority of street vendors buy bread to sell.
Bacteria, fungus, fecal matter and microorganisms were found in both the dough and the bread, Chacón said, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting and dizziness and even fever and skin rashes in elderly people or those whose defenses are low.
National police and the San José Municipality are now taking actions to warn the public about the dangers of street food and to put an end to its sale by searching for more factories that could be sources of contamination. Selling any type of prepared food in the street is illegal, according to Chacón.
Also, San José mayor Johnny Araya told La Nación the municipality will analyze whether to hold vendors legally responsible. “They're compromising people's health,” Araya said.
However, street vendor Marlen Flores said she has sold homemade bread for six years and has regular clients, none of whom have ever gotten sick.
“The municipality wants to get rid of us,” said Flores.
Chacón added that contamination can occur with any type of prepared food, and that consumers should be especially wary of food and drinks commonly sold in the street, such as empanadas and juice.
“We recommend that people eat at sodas (traditional restaurants) rather than on the streets,” Chacón said. “ Sodas must adhere to health standards and there are bathrooms where people preparing food can wash their hands.”
Traffic Police Get Stricter
Along Tourist Routes
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Since the beginning of the year, there has been an increased number of Traffic Police patrolling Costa Rica 's main roads to popular tourist destinations, and this will continue until the middle of February, according to a statement from the Public Works and Transport Ministry yesterday.
The added vigilance is an effort to curb dangerous driving practices like drinking and driving, speeding, carrying too many passengers, failing to wear a seatbelt and driving while talking on a cell phone, said Transit Police Director Juan Manuel Delgado.
Extra traffic police are patrolling seven roads that experience a significant increase in traffic beginning in January, when the dry season lures more tourists to the country and more Costa Ricans travel because of school vacations.
These routes are: highways along Costa Rica's northern and southern borders; the highway from Puente Manolos, west of San José, heading northwest to Orotina, Liberia and the Nicoya peninsula in the northwestern Guanacaste province; the highway between San José and the Caribbean town of Limón; the highway between Cartago, east of San José, and Pérez Zeledón, in the southern region; and the highway from Valle de El General in the Southern Zone heading toward the border with Panama.
There will also be additional traffic police along roads leading to Palmares, a coffee town in the northwestern Central Valley which is holding its annual, two-week-long festivities, which draw visitors from around the country.
So far this year, 17 highway deaths have been reported, according to the statement. The main causes include speeding and alcohol consumption.
Church Announces It's Not Neutral
In Politics and Calls for Debate
Costa Rica's Catholic Church called together the 15 presidential candidates in the Feb. 5 election yesterday for a public debate. The church believes it cannot be “neutral” or “indifferent” about politics.
“The church cannot be politically neutral,” said Angel Sancasimiro, the Bishop of Ciudad Quesada, a crossroads town in north-central Costa Rica.
Sancasimiro, who is Spanish, said “the church has an obligation to offer spaces where those who aspire to power can expound their points of view.”
Sancasimiro reiterated the importance of exercising the right to vote and said “it's impossible that those who control the destiny of this country be elected by a minority of the public's votes.”
All 15 presidential candidates were invited to the debate, but the candidate favored to win in polls, ex-President and Nobel Prize winner Oscar Arias, did not respond to the invitation.
“It hurt me greatly that Oscar Arias has not told us anything (about the invitation), but we know he is not going to come,” the bishop said.
Arias, the National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate, is ahead of the second-favored candidate in polls, Ottón Solís, from the Citizen Action Party (PAC), by an average of 25%, according to the main polls.
Otto Guevara, the Liberation Movement candidate who is in third place in the polls, said he couldn't participate in the debate because of his schedule.
In the debate, which was held in two blocks due to the large number of candidates, presidential hopefuls spoke on various topics like family, education and immigration.
Participants in the debate were Solís, José Manuel Echandi, the National Union Party (PUN) candidate, Alvaro Montero, the National Rescue candidate and José Miguel Villalobos, the National Democratic Alliance candidate, among candidates from minority political groups.
-ACAN-EFE
