WORKING Toward a Walkable City: Engineer and project supervisor Ana Elena Salas recently surveyed progress made on the construction of a pedestrian walkway in downtown San José that will extend from La Soledad Church west to La Merced Church. The project is part of the “ San José Posible ” project to revitalize the city by adding green space and making it pedestrian-friendly.

By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff | lbaxter@ticotimes.net

Government inspectors yesterday began an operation to review all of Costa Rica's 346 gas stations. This is the first time, as far as the officials could remember, that the government has done such a sweeping investigation.

Officials with the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE), Public Health Ministry and National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) began their inspections with the Gasolinera Servicentro Tournon gas station, in northern San José, following a press conference. The inspections will focus on the stations' safety, infrastructure, mechanical operations, spill control and the training of their employees, said Oscar Porras, head of MINAE's General Administration of Hydrocarbons.

Gas stations must have drain and channel systems that keep oil, gasoline and other chemicals from leaking into city drains or local aquifers. Businesses that have small errors or faults will be allowed to remain open for one month while they correct them, Porras said. Those with serious problems, which Porras defined as “something that puts people's or the environment's health at risk,” such as a lack of a drainage system or emergency shutoff switch, will be ordered to close.

Thirty officials will follow five routes throughout the country, stopping to inspect every gas station in Costa Rica. Yesterday, officials set out on the first three routes; today they were scheduled to begin the fourth, and tomorrow they plan to begin the fifth. A final analysis of the national inspection is expected after Feb. 28, Porras said.

“We foresee that in the future, security norms are going to be much stricter,” Minister of Environment and Energy Roberto Dobles said at the press conference.

The operation comes exactly three months after two children were burned to death inside their mother's car when the gas pump they were parked next to exploded (TT, Nov. 3, 2006). Investigations into the Oct. 29, 2006 accident revealed the fire was likely caused because an employee was changing a filter in the same pump from which a vehicle was being fueled. The station was not equipped with a required emergency shutoff switch (TT, Nov. 10, 2006).

By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

Volunteer computer teacher Kurt Raihn found an unpleasant surprise Sunday at the small public elementary school in Esterillos Oeste, on the Central Pacific coast: the school's 18 computers, a precious resource for the small fishing village, had been stolen during the night. The community, left with just over a week until the 2007 school year starts Feb. 7, is now scrambling to replace the equipment.

Raihn, a U.S. citizen who moved to Costa Rica three years ago with his wife, Kristy, and two children, told The Tico Times yesterday he was at the school to help build a new septic system when he discovered the loss. Someone apparently broke a glass panel in the door and cut the locks; some neighbors told Raihn they heard a noise at about 4 a.m. that morning, but that no one had been in sight when they went to check it out.

“All the kids are asking me, ‘What are we going to do?'” he said.

“It's just a little two-room school – they don't have anything, hardly any books,” said Kristy Raihn, a psychologist who works as a volunteer English teacher at the school. “To have these computers was such a gift for these children.”

The Public Education Ministry did not immediately respond to phone calls from The Tico Times yesterday regarding the possibility of replacing the computers – originally provided by the ministry – through another government donation. The couple is seeking private donations to get a head start on the project. To reach the Raihns, call 778-7111 or e-mail tranquilo_costarica@yahoo.com.