Teen Body Recovered
Poás de Aserrí woke up Sunday morning with a silence following the news
that ocean had returned the body of 15 year old Kendy Ballestero Barboza,
one of three youths who had been swallowed up by the under currents at
Playa Bandera, in Parrita.
The bodies of Shirley Ballestero Barboza,21, and Cinthya Sánchez
Cerdas, 23, were recovered shortly after the fatal accident.
The three young girls were part of a group or family and friends
travelling from Poás de Aserrí, San José to the beach area for the
beginning of the mid-season school break.
The accident occurred before noon on Saturday following warnings by
local residents of the high tide and strong currents.
The three girls, along with a group of fours others, did not heed to
the warnings and enter the waters.
The ocean almost claimed a fourth victim,
Manuel Jesús Cubero, who
managed to break free and swim back to shore with the others.
Revenue Minister May be Charged
News comes that the Revenue Minister (Ministro de
Hacienda), Alberto Dent, may be charged with failing to complete his
duties.
Pablo Álvares, president of the Unión Nacional de Gobiernos Locales
(Ungl) says that he is preparing a formal criminal charge against
Dent over irregularities with respect with 11.300 million colones
that belong to local municipalities.
Dent says that he cannot distribute the funds unless the new tax
plan is approved. However, Álvares claims that the monies have to be
paid, as the government is daily collecting tax that belongs to the
municipalities and not paying them.
Álvares says that the Hacienda collects a tax that is imposed on
gasoline and that it is to distribute a portion of that tax to the
local governments, however, this is not the case.
Ley 8114
de Simplificación y Eficiencia Tributaria places a tax of 37.8% on
the price of gasoline. By law, 30% of the revenues generated by this
tax is to paid to the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi) that is
used to better road systems, which is turn over 25% of this income
to the local municipalities.
In simpler terms, 7 colones of each 100 colones paid for gasoline is
supposed to end up in Municipal coffers.
This morning a group of lawyers are meeting to discuss the legal
course of action against Dent and will be presented formally later
in the week.
Commission to Look
Into Solís Affairs
With the refusal of Comptroller Alex Solís Fallas refusal to resign,
a Legislative commission will convene today to look into the affairs
of Solís with the intention to remove him from the recently
appointed post as Contralor General de la Republica.
Federico Vargas who is heading the commission says that the role of
the commission is to investigate if Solís is capable of completing
his duties honourably as Comptroller.
The commission will be looking into the allegations against Solís
after 40 of 48 legislators voted to send him a letter to
resign his post.
Solís made it clear that he will not resign. He is determined to
stay in his post and do the job to the best of his abilities and is
confident that any investigation will exonerate him.
The commission should take about 20 days to complete it's work and
make a recommendation to the legislature. However, Vargas, said that
the commission to take a little longer than that.
Downtown San José Without Traffic Lights Sunday Morning
From about 8am to a little after 12 noon, downtown San
José became a traffic nightmare as both pedestrians and drivers
dueled for their right to cross an intersection as all the traffic
lights were stuck on either green or red.
This was a typical traffic signal failure as the problem continued
for hours as engineers worked to find the cause of the problem and
restore the system to full working order.
At major intersections, the light was either red or green at all
times and drivers with the right of way did not yield to crossing
traffic. Miraculously no accidents were reported, other than frayed
nerves and the exchange of expletives.
One pedestrian who was almost struck by a bus, unaware of the light
failure, stopped traffic for a few moments as the two exchanged
angry words. A Municipal police officer was seen shouting at drivers
who were not stopping for a red light at the pedestrian crossing on
the Boulevard (Avenida Central) unaware that the traffic signal was
not changing.
The problem was centered in the downtown area only. Calls to the
engineering department at the Ministry of Transport went unanswered
as offices were closed on Sunday.
Several traffic system workers who were questioned refused to
comment on the source of the problem other than to say the system
would be restored at any time.
Migrant Smuggling Suspect Arrested at Miami Airport
One of the most-wanted suspects in an international human
smuggling operation that allegedly brought migrants from the Middle
East to Latin America and then the United States has been captured
in Miami.
Federal officials in Washington on Friday announced that an Egyptian
national had been arrested earlier in the day by Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents on charges stemming from his role in the
alleged conspiracy to smuggle undocumented foreign nationals into
the United States.
Ashraf Ahmed Abdallah, 34, was arrested at Miami International
Airport, during a stopover en route from Ecuador to Egypt,
authorities said.
Abdallah's arrest stemmed from an investigation in which he
allegedly was identified as the principal in the alleged conspiracy
to smuggle migrants, particularly citizens of Egypt and neighboring
countries, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement said.
The statement also said that the indictment alleged that Abdallah
and associates directed migrants to Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
and other Latin American countries, and from there to Guatemala,
allegedly the staging base for the smuggling operation.
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