Improvements to Educational Facilities Underway in Carrillo and Samara
By Arianna McKinney
Major construction has been taking place at two educational institutions: the rural high school in El Torito of Samara and the school in Carrillo.
The high school, which has about 160 students, will have 5 new prefabricated classrooms, including a classroom for computers, a library and a room for the school’s direction. Leda Maria Espinoza Matarrita, president of the board of education, indicated that it has taken three years to get approval for this project with funding of 208 million colones ($416,000) from the Ministry of Education. Construction finally got underway in February and should be completed by mid-May. The Omar Dengo Foundation has promised to donate laptop computers for the children’s studies.
In Carrillo, the situation has been difficult as lunches had to be cooked in the community hall, and students had to walk over to the community hall to go to the bathroom as well. That will no longer be the case now with a new dining room, bathrooms and an entrance for disabled people. Grace Herrera, president of Carrillo’s board of education, said the construction project began the middle of last year; however it was delayed due to problems with paperwork and drainage. The cost of the Ministry of Education project is 41,953,000 colones ($83,900). |
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New classrooms High School El Torito |
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New dining room Carrillo School |
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Anti-tobacco Law Now In Effect in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Joins More Than 60 Countries That Form the Group of Tobacco Smoke-Free Nations
The new Anti-tobacco Law establishes that smoking shall be categorically prohibited both in private and public establishments, be it hospitals, taxi and bus stops, bars, restaurants, educational, cultural or athletic centers or workplaces.
In addition, the law prohibits selling cigarettes individually or at retail as well as packs that contain less than 20 cigarettes. On the other hand, manufacturers should include messages and graphic alerts about the harmful effects of tobacco that cover 50% of the external surface of the packs.
This law also considers the specific tax of 20 colones (4 cents) per cigarette, cigar, handmade cigars and tobacco by-products. Some 60% of the money collected is destined to the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (Costa Rican Social Security program) to carry out diagnostics, treatment and prevention of illnesses associated with tobacco use.
In addition, 20% will be destined to the Ministry of Health, 10% to the Instituto sobre Alcoholismo y Farmacodependencia (Institute for Alcoholism and Drug Dependence) and another 10% to the Instituto Costarricense del Deporte y la Recreación (Icoder: Costa Rican Institute of Sports and Recreation).
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More Community News
Nosara Neighbors Organize a Street Clean-Up Around the Dumpsite
This Saturday, April 21st at 7am, the Nosara Recycling Association has organized a street clean up around the Nosara dump and they encourage community support and participation in this event.
Volunteers Encourage Visitors to Recycle
• MINAET closed vehicle entrance to Pelada beach
Nosara’s volunteer firefighters, red cross and others spent Semana Santa doing something a little different: at the five corners near Pelada beach, they stopped passing vehicles to distribute more than 1,000 biodegradable transparent trash bags to encourage visitors and locals alike to recycle and keep Nosara clean.
Fiestas in Samara Were Action-Packed
This year, the fiestas held in Cangrejal of Samara from Thursday, March 29 to Monday, April 2 to support the EBAIS clinic were full of action. Aside from the normal excitement of nightly bull-riding, with one seriously injured rider, this year there was the added excitement of a fire.
Changes in Samara Development Association's Board of Directors
Effective March 8th, some roles have changed and some new members have been added to the board of directors for the Samara Development Association.
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