DRIVERS Take Note: This screen on the east side of La Sabana park, west of San José, is one of four the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) is installing around the city to send messages to drivers about road safety and traffic conditions. “We're improving your quality of life,” the screen reads.

The Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) yesterday installed the first of four monitors around the San José area to inform drivers of traffic conditions as they make their way downtown.

Acoustic Guitar
Mario Tanzi plays at the Juan Bansbach store in Multiplaza Escazú, west of San José, 7 p.m., free.

National Symphony Orchestra Concert
Performing Senju's Fanfare, Beethoven's Violin Concerto, Brahms' Symphony No. 2, conducted by Dr. Chosei Komatsu and U.S. guest violinist Kurt Nikkanen, 8 p.m., National Theater, San José. Tickets: 221-5341, www.teatronacional.go.cr.

Protest against War in Iraq
Groups including the Friends' Peace Center and League of Women for Peace and Liberty are holding a protest in light of the 4th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, organizers are asking anyone interested to wear white and bring a candle, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Parque Morazán, San José. Info: 222-1400 or 233-6168. 

Francophone Festival
Including films, exhibits and conferences such as “Teaching French in Costa Rica, Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Liceo Franco-Costarricense, Tres Ríos, east of San José; Francophone fairs, March 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Modern Languages School, University of Costa Rica (UCR) in San Pedro, east of San José and at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José March 23-25. For more information, call 222-2283 or 234-4167.

Motorcycle Fair
With exhibit, parts exchange and concert by Blues Devils, 4 p.m., Motorpsychos Bar, Restaurant and Shop, Santa Ana, west of San José. Info: 203-8361.

Hike in Monteverde
Today and tomorrow, leaving at 5:30 a.m. from the National Theater. Info: 223-8509, 248-9470.

Octavia
Performing jazz, pop, 10 p.m., Jazz Cafe, San Pedro, east of San José. Info: 253-8933.

Basketball Tournament
Three-on-three tournament, 9 a.m., La Sabana Park, west of San José, info: 228-6760, 228-8241.

The United States has agreed to exchange $12.6 million of Costa Rica's $93.1 million debt for projects to protect the environment, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

The U.S. Treasury Department has deemed Costa Rica eligible for the Tropical Forest Conservation Act, a law that allows countries with significant amounts of tropical forest to exchange their debt to the U.S. government for efforts to protect forests.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and Finance Ministry now have the task of defining how this money will be spent, the statement said.

Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno said he is “doubly pleased” with the U.S. decision, “in the first place, because Costa Rican is once again being a part of international cooperation, and also because the U.S. decision confirms the leadership of the country in conservation and the protection of nature, especially forests,” the statement said.

The $12.6 million is a “significant amount” that can go toward programs including President Oscar Arias' Peace with Nature, which promotes the efficient use of energy and the creation of alternative energy, the statement said.

President Oscar Arias asked U.S. President George Bush to consider forgiving Costa Rica's debt during a visit to the White House in December (TT, Dec. 8, 2006).

-Tico Times

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

Yesterday was International Consumers' Rights Day, and one group seized the occasion to call for reforms to Costa Rica's Law for the Promotion of Competition and Consumer Defense.

This law, which went into effect in 1996, fails to adequately protect the Costa Rican public, said Erick Ulate, president of the organization Consumers of Costa Rica.

All consumer complaints must be presented to the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC), and processing them takes an unnecessarily long time, Ulate said, explaining that his organization is proposing reforms to the law that would create a separate government office to handle consumer issues.

His group has cases that have been pending with the ministry for as long as two years.

“The slowness of this process worries me because our organization is presenting cases that affect the community in general,” he said.

Ulate's group has drafted a bill that would reform the existing law to better protect consumers' rights and is pushing for MEIC to present it before the Legislative Assembly during the extraordinary session now under way. Several legislators have also expressed interest in presenting the law in case the ministry doesn't come through, he said.

Also in light of International Consumers' Rights Day, representatives from MEIC yesterday were on hand at the Culture Plaza to give citizens information about how to protect their rights.

Last year, 27,300 people filed complaints before the ministry, 18,000 of them regarded a failure to comply with guarantees or contracts for cell phones, home appliances, vehicles, houses, clothes and other goods, according to the daily La Nación.

On average, between 60% and 80% of complaints the ministry receives are resolved by phone between businesses and consumers. If this fails, these parties enter a process of intermediation and then proceed to the National Comsumers' Commission if the complaint is still not resolved, La Nación reported.

Consumers can report complaints to the ministry at 800-266-7866, and more information is available at www.consumo.go.cr

The Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) yesterday installed the first of four monitors around the San José area to inform drivers of traffic conditions as they make their way downtown.

These screens, measuring about 4.95 meters wide by 1.22 meters tall, will be programmed with 15 slogans from the ministry's roadway education campaign designed to curb the increasing number of highway deaths.

Costing $40,000 each, these monitors are part of a Roadway Safety Council (CONSEVI) plan to install a centralized traffic light system downtown, and once this system is in place, these messages will be substituted for updates on traffic jams, accidents and alternative routes drivers can take to avoid them, according to a statement from MOPT.

The ministry plans to install three more monitors at other main entrances to downtown in the northwestern district of La Uruca; Guadalupe, northeast of San José; and near the newspaper La República's office, on the northern edge of the city.

These are “strategic points” with high-volume traffic; for example, an average of 32,000 cars pass through the eastern side of La Sabana every day, the statement said.