Hotel owners, real estate developers, restaurants and other businesses raised $16,000 to repair the Calle Langosta road in Tamarindo, a beach town in the northwestern Guanacaste province, according to a statement from the nonprofit Pro Mejoras de Tamarindo Association. The money was used to repair 2.7 kilometers of the road, which runs from Tamarindo to the nearby town of Villa Real and is traveled by thousands of Costa Rican and foreign tourists daily, the statement said. The funds went toward 2,430 cubic meters of gravel to repair the road, and the Santa Cruz Municipality provided $10,000 for machines and labor, the statement said. Private donations were important in ensuring that the project continued as scheduled, said Jessica del Rossi, director of the association. “We found members of the community to be very cooperative,” Rossi said. “In general, we received a very positive response from our community.” Businesses that contributed to the road-repair project include Sueño del Mar, Iguana Surf, Tamarindo News, Villa Langosta Condo Association, ABC Real Estate and Restaurante Bistrot Langosta.

By Katherine Stanley, Tico Times Staff

Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias yesterday pointed to construction statistics from the Costa Rican Construction Chamber (CCC) as evidence of a strong economy.

According to the chamber, construction in 2005 totaled 3.6 million square meters. Construction for 2006 has already exceeded that mark with 3.9 million square meters, Arias said yesterday following the administration’s weekly Cabinet meeting.

Investment in construction from January to August this year increased 233.50% over the total investment during the same period in 2005.

Arias told reporters this shows increased investor confidence and reflects positively on the administration of President Oscar Arias, Minister Arias’ brother, who took office in May.

A little more than 2.7 million square meters, or 68.18% of the total construction this year, are new housing, the minister said. Increasing housing and eliminating slums has been one of the President’s top priorities since taking office.

Rodrigo Arias also touted the results of a recent World Bank study that ranks Costa Rica high on the list of Latin American countries in terms of fighting corruption, political stability, government stability and application of the law, among other factors.

The tourism minister wants no part of plans to set up promotional agencies in Guanacaste and in Limón.

The measure came up for a vote Wednesday in the Comisión con Potestad Legislativa Plena Segunda. Members affiliated with the Partido Acción Ciudadana wanted to postpone action on the measures, a move that might have meant killing them. The move failed. Both Guanacaste and the Provincia de Limón heavily supported Óscar Arias Sánchez in the last presidential election and led to his victory over the Partido Acción Ciudadana candidate.

Tourism operators on both coasts want the independent promotional agencies to focus on their own areas.

The tourism institute has been weak in the promotional department. A $840,000 Web page has generated few reservations. The page has a traffic ranking of 157,752 according to Alexa, the Amazon.Com company that provides such services. It has been as low as 228,254. By comparison, The Tico Times today is 114,092, A.M. Costa Rica is 43,806. and La Nación is 9,375.  Yahoo is the No. 1 most visited site and MSN is No. 2.

Benavides also told lawmakers in his visit last week he did not want any competition with the tourism institute.  The institute collects a tax on every tourism hotel bill and other tourist expenditures.

Monday is the 100th birthday of José Figueres Ferrer, the major figure in 20th century Costa Rican history.

He was the man who led the rebels in the 1948 civil war, ousted President Teodoro Picado Michalski and others loyal to Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia and abolished the Costa Rican army.

He was president of Costa Rica three times and his family continues to have strong political influence. He was the final architect of the state of rights in which Costa Ricans live today. Figueres died in 1990.

The Asamblea Legislative voted Wednesday to mark the birthday during its session Monday.

The Centro Cultural e Histórico José Figueres Ferrer in San Ramón de Alajuela, the birthplace of Figueres, will be finishing up a year-long series of events marking the birthday.