Costa Rica News – I do not fear much in Costa Rica. I am not afraid of getting bit my a shark or eaten by a crocodile. I am not afraid of being a victim of a violent crime. I am not afraid of being attacked by a puma or ocelot. The only thing that worries me is contracting one of the mosquito carried viruses that are found in Costa Rica.
The two I speak of are the Chikungunya. virus and the Dengue Fever virus. Both are carried by the same mosquito which uses standing water as a breeding ground.
We’ll soon see what the new government will do with the proposal to impose economic sanctions on property owners who fail to comply with keeping their properties free of conditions that attract mosquitoes.
The idea came about last April, and the Agricultural Affairs Committee and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund agreed on it, as it is essential to the fight against Dengue and Chikungunya.
These diseases must be controlled in order to not become a country-wide epidemic. The fines will focus on owners of lots and farms, which are most often full of health violations, due to the size and type of activities.
The amount of the sanction could range from 10% to 50% on the owners’ base salary.
Failure to comply with health laws will now be serious amounts. Health orders, as they are now, are only about 400 colones, the amount needed to notify someone of the charge.
The question is will these sanctions become more than an idea and actually be implemented as law? It is up for debate right now with the Costa Rican deputies.
If this sanction is not passed we really need to look at why not?
