The U.S. pharmaceutical company Hospira Inc. announced yesterday it plans to invest $9 million to expand its operation in Costa Rica and create 200 new jobs, according to a statement from the company.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Approximately 135,000 residents in suburbs around San José including Escazú and Santa Ana, to the west, and Desamparados and Alajuelita, to the south, will be without water today as the National Power and Light Company (CNFL) cuts off electricity to a pump in San Rafael de Escazú, according to a statement from the National Water and Sewer Institute (AyA).

CNFL is doing routine maintenance work on electric systems that power the pump, which provides water to all these areas, explained AyA customer service director Roosevelt Alvarado.

The following Santa Ana areas will be without water from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, according to the statement: Gavilanes, Pozos, La Chispa, Concepción, Obando, the center of Santa Ana and Casa Blanca. The Escazú areas of San Rafael, Bello Horizonte, Anonos, Tena, Betina, Quesada, Vista Alegre, Maynard, Faroles, Tabas, Mirados, Alto Palomas, Miravalles, Matapalo, Guachipelín, Laureles, Trejos Montealegre, Calle Pilas and the center of Escazú will also be without water during these hours, as well as the Price Smart store and the Multiplaza mall.

In San Antonio de Escazú, Lotes Badilla, La Avellana, Corazón de Jesús, Alto Carrizal, Barrio el Carmen and Bebedero will be without water, and in Alajuelita, San Josecito, San Felipe, Tejarcillos, La Aurora, Concepción Agajok, the center of Ajajuelita and Concepción Arriba will have their water cut off. In Desamparados, San Rafael Abajo, Viscaya, Valencia, Treviso, Autofores, Maiquetía, Santa Cecilia, Los Angeles and La Florita will be affected.

Those living in these areas should store water in containers for use during the day, Alvarado said.

A sacramental relic stolen Saturday from the Los Angeles Basilica in Cartago, east of San José, was returned to its home Monday by the owner of a San José pawn shop, according to the daily Al Día.

The relic, called a custodia, or metal stand used to hold a bread wafer representing the body of Christ, was reported stolen by two women inside the church. The owner of the shop, who was not identified by the daily, brought the piece back to the church after seeing reports of it missing in local media.

The Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) are investigating the theft of the piece, worth about ¢400,000 ($776), the daily reported. So far, they know only that it turned up at the San José pawn shop.

Meanwhile, church officials plan to meet with the Public Security Ministry and a private security company to discuss how to reinforce security at the famous church, to which thousands make a pilgrimage every year to visit Costa Rica's patron saint, Nuestra Señora de los Angeles.

-Tico Times

The U.S. pharmaceutical company Hospira Inc. announced yesterday it plans to invest $9 million to expand its operation in Costa Rica and create 200 new jobs, according to a statement from the company.

These new employees will join the 2,000 people currently working in manufacturing, quality control and support for the company that produces medical products at its plant in Heredia, north of San José.

“We are very happy with the results we've achieved through our operations as well as with our employees' production, and both factors have driven the continued growth of operation,” said Jonathan Waldron, Hospira Latin America operations director, according to the statement.

-ACAN-EFE