Costa Rica Week in Review

Week in Review: Updated every Friday.

From nacion.com posted by: www.bolsadeempleo.info

Top banana productivity Last year, Costa Rica harvested an average 2,524 boxes of bananas per hectare (2.471 acres), thus retaining the first place in banana productivity per area. Colombia placed second, at 1,724 boxes, and Ecuador third, at 1,400 boxes. Weather and soil, excellent labor and, particularly, technology combine to achieve the first position in the globe. That leadership was strengthened in 2006 with the production for the year, when 107.4 million 18.14-kilo (39.4-lb.) boxes were sold abroad. In 2005, exports had suffered a heavy blow and dropped to 88.7 million boxes. If this indicator were used, then the hike in 2006 was 21 percent. Sources at the National Banana Corporation, the top organization in the field, pointed out that the local labor is at the core of the success, and added that banana workers here enjoy several pluses, that make their conditions of living the best, by far, for farm workers. Also, they are constantly trained, another of the facts that account for the highest banana yield in the world.

Dependence on foreign investment
In an increasing fashion, the economic stability of Costa Rica depends on direct foreign investment. Every year, the funds from that source cover a larger chunk of the current account deficit, which is the difference between the amount the country pays for imported goods and the income from sales and services abroad. In 2006, the amount paid for imports was $1,088 million higher than the one of the goods and services sold abroad. The difference was equal to 5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, the second highest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Without the dollars from direct foreign investment, there would have been pressure to further devaluate the colon, analysts say.

Improved security for cruise ships
Minister of Security Fernando Berrocal announced that the number of police officers and patrol cars will be double at the ports of Limon and Puntarenas when cruise ships call. This will be so in order to improve the security for visitors. Recently, three men tried to rob13 tourists from a cruise ship, while riding a van in the Limon area. In the struggle, a tourist killed one of the attackers, but authorities let the visitor go back to the boat and continue his cruise. This is the sort of events that must be prevented, Minister Berrocal said.

Peaceful rally
Unarmed policemen were in charge of security of a rally staged in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, by those who oppose the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). While thousands marched in the downtown area to gather in front of Congress, they sang and shouted against the Agreement, which they consider will be highly negative for Costa Rica, particularly for small farmers, while benefiting only U.S. corporations. While the other Central American nations did not question the conditions of the CAFTA and ratified it, many Costa Ricans believe the deal is not a positive one for their country and have reiterated their decision to keep on fighting it.

First smart city
The city of Heredia, some 6 miles north of San Jose, will be the first in Costa Rica to be digital, thanks to a cooperation agreement with Ariel, a smart city in Israel. The chairman of the Heredia city council, Manuel Zumbado, and the Mayor of Ariel, Ron Nachman, made the announcement. “Through this initiative, in the mid term, we plan to have digital cameras in every corner in Heredia, in order to control traffic, and also to prevent crime,” Zumbado said. An intranet, Internet by telephone, and many other features are part of the project, according to the Israeli official.

50 percent less leatherback nests
The last nesting season of leatherback turtles at the Las Baulas National Marine Park in Guanacaste, on the Costa Rican northwestern Pacific, is a source of worry for environmental authorities and organizations, since the number of arrivals decreased by 50 percent, as compared to the preceding season. Wardens counted only 58 individuals of the endangered species, while in the preceding season there had been 124 sightings. The worries can be fully understood when one takes into account that this is the most important leatherback spawning site in the Eastern Pacific and the fourth worldwide.

5.5 million trees will be planted
Costa Rica is going step by step in her efforts to fight global warming, said Roberto Villalobos, the coordinator for the Climate Change Program at the National Meteorological Institution. Among the measures, Villalobos pointed out that 5.5 million trees will be planted throughout the nation. “We are not rushing, in spite of the urgency,” the official added.