Drawing on Diversity: The green-and-black poison dart frog is among species that will have a home at the new Cariari biodiversity park to be built near the Caribbean city of Limón by the nonprofit National Biodiversity Institute (INBio), which runs INBioparque in Santo Domingo de Heredia, north of San José.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and representatives from Central American governments are analyzing the effects climate change could have on the health of Central Americans during a workshop being held in San José this week to reflect on this topic.

Tuesday Night Concerts
Featuring Syntagma Musicum, French music, 7 p.m., University of Costa Rica (UCR) Music School, room 107, San Pedro.

Costa Rica Jazz Festival
New York University (NYU) musicians, noon, Morazán Park, San José; University of North Texas (UNT) musicians, 7:30 p.m., Hotel del Sur, San Isidro de El General; “Jazz Studies at NYU,” lecture by David Schroeder, NYU Jazz Studies Director, 6 p.m., Mark Twain Library; NYU musicians perform, 8 p.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater.

By Blake Schmidt
Tico Times Staff | bschmidt@ticotimes.net

Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) President Pedro Pablo Quirós announced yesterday in a press conference that ICE is taking legal action against the French telecom giant Alcatel.

ICE has also decided to attach a civil complaint to the Chief Prosecutor's Office charges of aggravated corruption and illicit enrichment against former President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and 10 others accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from Alcatel in connection with a $149 million contract the company was awarded in 2001 for 400,000 GSM cell phone lines (TT, Aug. 3). This acción civil rearcitoria is a civil portion of the criminal lawsuit, in which ICE is seeking a total of $19 million in economic damages.

In a separate case, ICE is also demanding that Alcatel hand over $60 million to cover losses the institute took on when it had to cut short the contract.

In February, ICE announced that it would end its contract with Alcatel two years early, assuming operation of the 400,000 lines – an option stipulated in the original contract in the case that ICE was not satisfied with Alcatel's service.

Though part of the decision stemmed from widespread problems with coverage in the areas for which Alcatel was responsible, Quirós said the corruption allegations “weighed heavily” in the final decision to end the contract (TT, Feb. 9)

The Caribbean port city of Limón is about to get its own nature park modeled after InBioparque, run by the nonprofit National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) in Santo Domingo de Heredia, north of San José.

Inter-Institutional Coordination Minister Marco Vargas announced plans to build the attraction yesterday during a press conference.

The project, which involves restoring Limón's Cariari Park, will be designed by INBio and built with $3.5 million allocated by the World Bank for the project Limón Port City, which aims to improve the quality of life for the city's residents, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

Green-and-black poison dart frogs, sloths, several species of birds and coral reefs are among the natural attractions INBio hopes will draw visitors to the park, which will be designed to allow them to experience both land and sea, the statement said.

Cariari will include game and picnic areas, trails, an amphitheater for concerts and plays and classrooms for environmental education as well as a small dock from which boats will take visitors on trips through nearby Portete Bay to allow them to better see marine life.

The 14-hectare park is located five kilometers from the city of Limón on the highway heading to the port of Moín.

-Tico Times

The World Health Organization (WHO) and representatives from Central American governments are analyzing the effects climate change could have on the health of Central Americans during a workshop being held in San José this week to reflect on this topic.

The event seeks to draw attention to the “very important link” between the environment and health, explained María Neira, WHO director of public health and the environment.

“We are in a critical phase of modifying our lifestyles and making decisions about the types of energy and collective transportation we should use. If these decisions aren't taken into consideration, the impact on our health will be very big,” Neira said.

Representatives from WHO, the Pan-American Health Organization, the United Nations, the Red Cross and the Central American Integration System (SICA) are among participants.

In Central America, climate change has affected the population's health through hurricanes and droughts in recent years, according to Luis Galvao, WHO sustainable development manager.

Countries should take two actions to decrease long-term production of greenhouse gases: switching to cleaner energy sources and planning cities better, he said. In the short-term, countries should also improve their health systems to provide better epidemiological vigilance and improve access to water and food during and after disasters.

Costa Rican Public Health Minister María Luisa Avila cited outbreaks of dengue as consequences of climate change Costa Rica has seen in the last couple of years. The country had never seen this disease before now because weather conditions were unfavorable for the type of mosquito that transmits it, she said.

“This is a topic with important repercussions because during the 14 years since dengue was first registered here, we have seen serious economic and social costs and difficulty in controlling the disease,” she said.