Subscribe to our Daily News RSS feed.

Read the Daily News on your mobile device.

“Violence, Crime and Development” Forum
July 7, 8 a.m., LANAMME auditorium, Ciudad de la Investigación, UCR, San Pedro. Info: 2511-3298, www.ucr.ac.cr/foro-institucional.

3rd International Marketing Conference
July 7-8, Cariari Country Club, Ciudad Cariari, Heredia. Info: 2291-8832, www.congresoscr.com.

Costa Rica's Public Works and Transport Ministry is predicting the Caldera Highway could open as soon as this weekend, if the results of a technical study prove positive.

The new highway from San José to the Pacific coast was shut down June 11 after engineers determined the threat of mudslides and falling rocks made it unsafe for drivers.

The highway was one of former President Oscar Arias' signature projects, as his administration was able to complete a road that was 35 years in the making. The project cut driving time from the capital city to the coast down to 45 minutes, compared with almost two hours before.

But some accused him of inaugurating the project too quickly, as the onset of rainy season brought issues of mudslides and falling rocks –some causing fatal accidents.

President Laura Chinchilla was forced to close the roadway following a report by the Costa Rican Association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) that said the 5-month-old highway needed “urgent intervention.”

“There have been important advances,” said Francisco Jiménez, public works and transport minister, during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “We will redo an inspection on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning … if this investigation proves there are acceptable conditions, we can reopen the route this weekend.”

Business survival sometimes requires that bigger companies devour smaller ones. In the upcoming months, Internet provider and telecommunications company Radiográfica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA), a subsidiary of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), could be absorbed by its mother company. ICE has overseen RACSA since its creation in 1964.

In a surprise announcement late last week, the general manager of RACSA, Alberto Bermúdez, resigned from his position after extensive meetings with the ICE Board of Directors and ICE's executive president, Eduardo Doryan. According to a statement released by Pablo Ureña, a member of RACSA's Board of Directors, Bermúdez's resignation is an indication that RACSA will soon be downgraded from an autonomous telecom company to the status of “a simple customer service company” under ICE that will “no longer offer its own services.” Currently, RACSA provides internet access to over 100,000 clients in Costa Rica.

During a press conference Tuesday, Doryan vehemently denied that any decision had been made regarding the absorption of RACSA and indicated that Bermúdez's resignation was a personal decision. Doryan also repeatedly said that any decision made by ICE regarding a change in the status and functions of RACSA would be made to strengthen both companies.

“I want to say very clearly with all my conviction that I came to ICE to strengthen each and every one of its parts,” Doryan said. “ICE represents an important part of the national heritage and RACSA, as part of ICE, is an integral part of the national heritage that we are going to defend and strengthen.”

Doryan explained that, since the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the U.S. (CAFTA) opened the telecom and cell phone markets, ICE has had to adjust several of its practices in preparation for competition, including redefining the role of RACSA. Prior to Jan. 1, 2009, when CAFTA came into effect, ICE (including RACSA) had been the sole Costa Rican telecommunications provider – save for Amnet, which has ICE's authorization to provide Internet service.

“We have never had to be marketers or salesmen or promoters,” Doryan said. “We are experts in telecommunications but we have a lot to learn about marketing and sales. In times like these, there will be many technological, regulatory and personnel changes.”

For more on this story, see the July 9 print or digital edition of The Tico Times.

Juan Santamaría International Airport's new operator announced this week the completion of several expansion works and plans to continue improving the airport's terminal and other facilities.

The operator, Aeris, is a conglomerate of Canada's Airport Development Corporation, the U.S.-based Houston Airport System Development Corporation and Brazil's Andrade Gutierrez Concessôes.

To date, Aeris has completed long-awaited works such as doubling the immigration lanes in the arrival area from 14 to 28, finishing the departures hall, and adding a new security area that doubles the capacity of the previous facility. The immigration area where exit documents are reviewed, has also been expanded.

The construction in the first phase also includes a diplomatic hall, a new boarding area, a new boarding ramp, a mechanical support building, completion of the new east terminal, and an electrical substation.

In an e-mail communication to The Tico Times, Aeris said, “For the July vacations, we have increased the number of check-in counters from 58 to 78, which will speed up check-ins.”

The expansion's second phase includes two additional boarding areas with ramps, a remote hall, and taxi ramps for two planes, and will be finished no later than Dec. 31. However, Aeris said they are “hoping to finish by the beginning of the 2010-2011 high season, somewhere between Oct. 15 and Nov. 15.”

Aeris estimated the cost of the work finished in April at $30 million, and that of the additional work to be completed by the end of this year at $10 million.

Two additional expansion phases are in final discussions and the plans for these will be submitted to the Civil Aviation Technical Council (CETAC) by Aug. 31, said Aeris.

Preliminary conclusions show that if all four planned expansion phases are completed, the airport will have the capacity to handle the increased demand and passengers from now until 2029, when an estimated 12 million passengers per year are expected. The projection is based on an annual estimated growth rate of 5.2 percent, said Aeris.