Fresh bread and cookies from Hanna's home in El Castillo, Costa Rica

 Hannah is a local artist here in El Castillo, Costa Rica. What a great place to live.

'Tis the season to duck the municipal inspector

Deck the halls with boughs of holly and don't forget the chain saw. For it is the season to do all those construction jobs while municipal inspectors are on vacation.

This is the season to whack down that tree in the wrong place or put a quick addition on the home.

Municipal inspections are spotty at best, but this week in residential areas all over the country, homeowners are doing those jobs without benefit of municipal permits.

According to one set of instructions for what is called minor jobs, municipalities require permits for even painting a home. Also needed are permits for doing sidewalk reconstruction and rebuilding portons or those metal fences that protect most homes.

The permits even are required for construction of private mausoleums in cemeteries.

For even the most minor work some nine documents are required and special insurance is required after the permit is issued. So what is clear is why residents sidestep the law when the inspector is away.

Most municipalities this week are open for payment of bills or other indoor work. Meanwhile, outside, workers are feverishly mixing concrete, digging drain lines and chopping down trees.

Heaven help the homeowner who wants to do major work legally, such as add a carport. That requires far more additional paperwork, including disclosure of from where the money is coming to do the job.

So in keeping with the Costa Rican tradition that it is better to seek forgiveness than permission, the Christmas holidays and Holy Week are not vacation times for day laborers who mix the concrete, repair the roof or install a new porton.

The only danger is if an unhappy neighbor filed a complaint with the municipality when inspectors are again on the job. Still most understand that there is a big gap between the law and practice. They are likely to overlook the indiscretion if the work is done correctly.

Highway expansion will create delays in Peñas Blancas

Work to expand the access road to four lanes at the border crossing of Peñas Blancas will begin next week, and is expected to cause delays while the $1 million construction project continues. Work is expected to be complete during the first half of the year and will eventually reduce backups of 7 kilometers that often appear at the border.

Costa Rica exports the most pineapple in the world in 2011!!

Exports of the fruit totaled $743 million.

Costa Rica finished 2011 as the top exporter of fresh pineapple in the world, after increasing the value of its exports by 8 percent, according to a statement from the National Chamber of Pineapple Producers (Canapep).

Sales of the fruit generated a total of $743 million, including $63 million in concentrates and another $19 million in juice.

Pineapple production has been criticized for alleged environmental contamination of groundwater and rivers and streams due to the use of pesticides, the Canapep statement acknowledged. Producers are being trained in best farming practices to support sustainable agriculture, the statement said.

Executive branch pulls measure to tax corporations

Just 24 hours after including a proposed tax on corporations in the legislative agenda, Casa Presidencial inexplicably withdrew the measure.


The action means that owners of corporations will not face a $300-plus assessment in the first 15 days of January.


Casa Presidencial withdrew the measure Thursday by means of a decree signed by President Laura Chinchilla Miranda. The day before a similar decree added the proposed tax to the legislative agenda.


During periods when the legislature is not obligated to meet under the Costa Rican Constitution, the executive branch controls the agenda.