Help for the Poor: President Oscar Arias yesterday visited the Pacific port of Puntarenas, where he inaugurated a new branch of the Mixed Institute for Social Aid (IMAS). Here, he checks out a plaque with his name as well as the names of the center's directors. This office will attend to the needs of Puntarenas' poor through an agreement signed yesterday by IMAS and the Dioceses of Puntarenas.

During the next few weeks, residents in Costa Rica will see a 5-8.5% increase in their electricity bills thanks to a rate increase approved yesterday by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).

Free Film Sceening
Documentary “Cerro Patacón,” (Panama, 2005), documentary about the lives of people who work in landfills. “Tocar y Luchar,” (Venezuela, 2005), the story of six children who made their dreams come true, 7 p.m., Sala Calle 15, San José, Ave. 2, Calle 13/15.

4th Guancales Dance Festival
Music, dance, crafts, food, today through Saturday, 8 p.m.-5 a.m., Santa Bárbara, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste.

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

National Registry Director Dagoberto Sibaja and his office are advancing on a project that no government institution has ever taken on before – creating a comprehensive land registry of Costa Rica's entire territory.

This “very ambitious and very important” project involves using aerial photographs taken in 2004 by the U.S. Air and Space Administration (NASA) to create a detailed map of the country and then send topographers out to measure every property in Costa Rica to make sure it matches National Registry records.

“Nothing like this has ever existed in Costa Rica. The benefits are multiple, and the most fundamental one for (the National Registry) is legal security,” Sibaja said, explaining that a national land registry would make it impossible for land to be bought and sold fraudulently and prevent other inconsistencies. Additionally, the completed land registry would be available to all government institutions and municipalities to use in planning for public services and taxation.

A $92 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (BID) is financing the next phase of the project, which involves sending topographers to most of the Caribbean province of Limón; Heredia, north of San José; Cartago, east of San José; and the northwestern Guanacaste province.

The surveying of these areas is expected to start at the end of July. Sibaja did not have an estimate of when the entire project will be finished.

The National Registry does not have funds secured for the next phase -- surveying of the rest of the country -- and it is considering asking for another loan from an international agency, Sibaja said.

See The Tico Times Real Estate and Construction Supplement in July's print and electronic editions of the newspaper for more on this story and other issues related to real estate.

Costa Rica hopes that by Friday a timeline will have been set for negotiations on an association agreement between Central America and the European Union, Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said yesterday during a press conference.

On Thursday and Friday in Brussels, ambassadors from around Central America plan to present E.U. representatives with a legal framework for the long-time-coming Customs Union, which would unify customs taxes within the region. This framework is what's missing for negotiations to begin.

“There is a meeting Thursday with Central American ambassadors and E.U. high-level authorities to review this document, and if it meets expectations, details to begin the negotiations in October will be defined at a meeting Friday,” Ruiz said.

Central American ambassadors have requested that negotiations begin after Oct. 7, when Costa Ricans will vote on a referendum on the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA).

Costa Rica is the only Central American country that hasn't approved CAFTA and the only country in the region that hasn't signed onto the Customs Union, since a “no” vote in the referendum could mean the Costa Rican people disagree with the synchronization or elimination of taxes, one of the components of the E.U. association agreement.

In the event the treaty is approved in the referendum, Costa Rica would "immediately" sign on to the Customs Union, Ruíz said.

In 2005, Central America exported $2.2 billion to the European Union and imported $3.2 billion from the region, according to the Central American Integration System (SICA).

Costa Rica exported $1.14 billion worth of goods to the European Union during this time, about 50% of Central America's total exports to the region.

-ACAN-EFE

During the next few weeks, residents in Costa Rica will see a 5-8.5% increase in their electricity bills thanks to a rate increase approved yesterday by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).

The amount of the increase depends on each user's electricity provider. For example, those who receive power from the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) will pay 7.92% more while those who receive it from the National Power and Light Company (CNFL) will pay 6.97% more.

In rural areas including Los Santos, south of San José; San Carlos, in north-central Costa Rica; and parts of the northwestern Guanacaste province, users of cooperative energy providers will pay 5.4-7.9% more.

ARESEP sent these new tariffs yesterday to the National Printer, and they will go into effect as soon as they are printed in the official government daily La Gaceta.