Down with the Dump: After years of trying, the Costa Rican government yesterday made good on its promise to close down Río Azul landfill, southeast of San José, which has long been decried as a public health nightmare. Authorities yesterday closed and chained the gate leading to the dump, a move protested by trash pickers, or buzos, who make their living scavenging the mountains of trash for recyclables. Meanwhile, municipalities are scrambling to find somewhere else to dump their trash. See this Friday's print or electronic edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

This month marks the celebration of the ninth annual Black Culture Festival in honor of Black Culture Day, Aug. 31.

Sushi Night with Bob Benjamin Zúñiga
Music on the beach at 6 p.m., The Beach Club, Playa Panama . Info: 672-1364. Also tomorrow at Best Western Tamarindo with Brian Burback and BB Zúñiga, 6 p.m. Info: 653-0114.

Free Film Showing
“Calle de los Poetas,” directed by Diego Torres, Bolivia, 1998, in Spanish, 7 p.m., San José, Sala Calle 15, Ave. 2, Calle 13/15.

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

Costa Rica is in the technological dark ages in terms of cell phone service, according to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP), which is suggesting prepaid cell phone service as one way of getting the country on the right track.

“Every inhabitant of the country should have a cell phone at their disposition, and that's why we're proposing a prepaid system,” said Regulator General Fernando Herrero, according to a statement from ARESEP.

Cell phone users in Costa Rica now pay at the end of each month for the minutes they talked. The prepaid system would allow them to buy a card that allows them to talk for a set number of minutes for 30, 45 or 60 days.

Depending on how much users talk, the service could work out to cost less than the current system. For example, ARESEP estimates that cell phone users pay an average of ¢8,150 ($15.67) per month; under a prepaid system, they would pay ¢2,500 ($4.80) per month at ¢40 ($0.08) per regular minute, ¢32 ($0.06) per reduced minute and ¢1.7 (less than $0.01) per text message.

Those with limited economic resources as well as tourists are among those who could benefit from this system, since it allows users to stay within their budget and does not require setting up an account, said ARESEP spokeswoman Carolina Mora.

The prepaid system is used around the world, and in other Latin American countries it has made cell phones more accessible and generated revenue.

It would be up to the country's state-run telecommunications monopoly, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), to switch to this system, Mora said.

The institute is in the process of analyzing how the new system could work here, and public forums will be held around the country on the matter beginning Sept. 11.

Special GSM cell lines would be necessary for the prepaid system, and ICE plans to include some of these lines in the next batch of 300,000 lines it makes available, Mora said.

Dozens of Costa Rican business owners yesterday participated in a seminar to prepare them for a commercial mission to China in October.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaoyuan attended the activity and motivated the business leaders to get to know the Chinese market, which he says has “opportunities for all products,” especially near the country's coastline, where there are higher per-capita incomes.

Costa Rica and China established diplomatic relations June 1 (TT, June 8), a move President Oscar Arias has said was partly aimed at increasing trade with this Asian giant.

Another key factor in increasing commerce with China is carrying out “good promotion so that consumers get to know Costa Rican products and accept them,” he said.

Finally, the ambassador said it is fundamental to “cultivate a relationship of friendship and trust between businessmen from both sides,” and that forums and commercial missions are a way to achieve this.

Sergio Nava, Vice-president of the Chamber of Exporters (CADEXCO), said exporting goods to China is a difficult challenge and that the chamber will step up its efforts to support local businesses.

Although the Chinese market will not be open to the entire range of Costa Rican products, there are opportunities for products such as coffee, banana and pineapple, Xiaouyuan said.

Also, because of its geographic positioning, Costa Rica is an attractive destination for Chinese investors who aim to sell their products to the rest of the world.

China is the second largest trading partner with Costa Rica; last year, it exported $1 billion worth of goods to China and imported $600 million from that country.

-ACAN-EFE

Mike Faulk
Tico Times Staff | editorial@ticotimes.net