[Scurrie]

I too have looked at the reforestation programs and have been a little skeptical. Is this really a legitimate government endorsed program? It seems that the land is usually located in a remote part of the central valley and has no real accomodation or a maybe a small tico home if you are lucky. I love trees and would be very interested in investing in such. But it also depends on what exactly they want reforested.Some of these websites want you to grow ebony trees but they have to be grown in the right environment and take a while to mature. But this is looked on as a cash crop. Reforestation should be about bringing back the local indigenous forest for the benefit of the environment and the wildlife that depends on that.

[Scurrie]

I started this thread to gripe about how badly the Canadian dollar was performing and that this would have a direct impact on how or if I could possibly invest in real estate in CR. But I see now it has morphed into a discussion on the state of health care?
Let me just clarify what appears to be some confusion about what kind of health care we are actually receiving in the great white north. Yes, it is publicly funded and available to all residents of Canada.
But it is also true that because of political interference and large scale budget cuts it is a poor imitation of what it used to be. Here in Alberta there is a chronic shortage of hospitals (in Calgary we demolished one and replaced it with high end condos – sound familiar). We have not built another since ( excepting the new childrens hospital). This at a time when Calgary’s growth is off the scale.
The result of this. Not enough health care workers and not enough beds to put the sick in. It is the norm now in this city to expect waits in any hospital emergency room of over 8 hours before you will be admitted. Then you can expect to lie in a gurney in some hallway while they wait for some space to become available.
I had the misfortune of having my appendix rupture this year and while I sat in the emergency waiting room for over 4 hours to be admitted I had more than enough time to reflect on this wonderful health care that Americans think we have.
This is an illusion. The political tinkering has left us with inadequate care facilities and a mass exodus of care workers heading to places where they are better compensated and do not have to put in double or triple shifts because noone else is available.
I think if you ask anybody within Alberta you will not receive one vote of confidence in regards to the state of our health care. I guess you can always say something is better than nothing. But the mothers who have had miscarriages in the emergency rooms and the sons who have died with something as treatable as appendicitis while they were shuffled from one hospital to another because noone was available to treat them might tend to strongly disagree with this.

[Scurrie]

I had included a link to the article “Private Help for a Public Woe” in yesterdays Tico Times and I see that has been removed from my post. If this is in violation of the rules of the forum I apologise. I was hoping to have some feedback in regards to the topic of the article in question. Crime itself and Costa Rica’s ranking in the global community does not give me any cause for concern.

I live in a North American city where rapid growth and financial opportunities have contributed greatly to the rise in crime.Stabbings, shootings and gang warfare are now considered common place in a community where 30 years ago we used to leave our doors unlocked. It seems that every day there is another victim in the hospital or the morgue. Only last week we had a student from Brazil become the latest victim of an errant bullet that resulted in the loss of both his eyes. My God! In broad daylight and in the center of downtown. This happened to a visitor who, some would say was visiting from a country where this would be more likely to happen. Dream on. Crime and violence are an inherent human condition. The haves and have nots will always be in conflict.

What I would like to know is are there really any locally hired vigilante patrols actively working out there and are they as prevalent as this article would have you believe. Although it sounds like they have not had a high degree of success. Or conversely the ones that did have success could not be sustained. As alluded to in the article once the crime rate dropped no one saw the need to finance the service.

I found this quotation interesting “(The police) weren’t doing their (expletive) jobs,” he said. “The cops have always been crooked there. This is the kingdom of corruption.” Doesn’t sound good for Puerto Viejo.

Cheers
scurrie

[Scurrie]

Which begs the question what is the local brew in CR and is it any good? Or do they import from Mexico? A light beer in a hot climate is very refreshing. But nothing beats a fine amber ale with creamy head. I was in Victoria last week and had the good fortune to visit one of the oldest microbreweries in Canada. They had a Scottish Pale Ale that was the best I have ever tasted anywhere and that includes all over Scotland.

Why has it been years since you have visited a bar Scott? Something wrong with the Pubs?

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