The president of the Corte Suprema de Justicia told lawmakers Thursday that terrorism requires a reform of the country’s laws but that the changes should be made with the guaranteed rights of defendants in mind.

The court president, Luis Paulino Mora, said that he has a certain reticence to special legislation addressing terrorism, narcotrafficking, money laundering, human trafficking and domestic violence.

He said Costa Rica should learn from the experiences of other countries.

In a clear reference to the United States and its terrorism prisoners in Guantanamo, Cuba, Mora said that he did not want the high court to have to point out to a sitting president of the country that a certain group of prisoners did not have the advantage of all their rights in a judicial process.

Mora said that in the 1980s the penal code was changed to give law enforcement better ways to attack the problem. But such laws are a double-edged sword, he said. The new methods can overshadow the rights of the accused. He was appearing before the Comisión de Narcotráfico.

The head of the sewer and water company was back at it Thursday trying to convince a legislative committee that they should let his organization accept a $127 million low-interest loan from Japan.

The man, Ricardo Sancho, executive president of the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillado, has been trying to get legislative approval for months. Japan already extended once the deadline for Costa Rica to agree to accept the money.

Sancho was a bit more graphic in his presentation before the Comisión Especial de Ambiente as he referred to the populated area of the central Valley as a big septic tank. He said that half the sewage of San José and the neighboring cantons is discharged into the streets, gutters and right into the cities.

There is no treatment for sewage here, and the pipes eventually end in a stream that carries the aguas negras, as it is called in Spanish into the Río Tarcoles and then the Gulf of Nicoya.

He said new sewers and a treatment facility would be a boon to the environment and human health.

The government has to put up $100 million of the amount needed, and legislative deputies have been foot-dragging.  The loan approval has been placed on the special agenda that the executive branch provides lawmakers during this period when the president controls what may be discussed. The Japanese are expected to lose their patience by Aug. 31.

Sancho said the project has been 20 years in the planning and that by 2013 some 65 percent of the population would be on the new sewers. By 2025 some 85 percent would be covered.

The loan terms are for an interest rate of 1.2 percent with seven years grace on starting repayment. The loan term is 25 years.

The regulatory authority has approved the eighth increase in gasoline prices this year. The increase is about 4 percent for super gasoline. The price goes from 575 colons to 597 colons per liter. regular goes up 23 colons or 3.2 percent from 550 colons to 573. There are 515 colons to the U.S. dollar at the current rate.

Diesel is going up just 3 colons a liter, from 380 to 383, said the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos.

Jet fuel, aviation gasoline, kerosene and liquid petroleum gas are going up, too.

The increases are based on a formula that takes into account the costs for production and distribution for the  Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo, the national monopoly.

Airport operator Alterra Partners yesterday announced it is evaluating whether to continue a project to renovate Juan Santamaría International Airport, northwest of San José, after the Comptroller General’s Office Tuesday rejected an addendum to rectify an alleged financial imbalance.

Alterra Executive Director Mónica Nágel told Radio Monumental yesterday the company could terminate the multimillion-dollar, 20-year contract.

Disputes between Alterra and the government have been ongoing throughout the project, whose work was paralyzed in 2003.

The project costs $160 million, $90 million of which is financed by banks and $40 million from Alterra’s investors. According to Alterra, the company does not have the remaining $30 million.

“Facing this situation, there are two things that could happen: the termination of the contract … or stockholders providing the remaining resources, but this is difficult because they already don’t believe in the project and in the country,” Nágel said.

Work on the airport will continue as normal, Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias said yesterday at President Oscar Arias’ weekly Cabinet meeting, while Public Works and Transport Minister Karla González said dealing with addendum approvals is a normal part of any project.

“The government is analyzing options so that the airport’s users do not suffer in any way because of the Comptroller’s decision,” said a statement from Casa Presidencial.

-ACAN-EFE and Tico Times