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 -Published: Monday, October 21, 2019- University
members announce march Tuesday to protest
$60 million plus reduced from budget
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The administration of the University of Costa Rica announced support for the students and employees who plan a march, organized for Tuesday, in protest against the reduction of the budget made by Congress. According to the university authorities statement, the march will start at 9 a.m.from the University Rodrigo Facio in San Pedro and will move towards Presidential House in Zapote in San José. "All university authorities of academic and administrative units are called upon to promote and organize activities related to these issues," said the university in its statement. "Employees and students who participate in the march of Oct. 22 have the corresponding permission throughout the day, to attend such activity." In addition, during Tuesday and Wednesday, there will be at the University of Costa Rica forums for analysis and reflection on the defense of the budget for public universities, the university said. The marcher want to the Ministry of Finance to make adjustments and send back to the budget that was approved by the deputies last week. The budget of the universities is known as the Special Fund for Higher Education or FEES for its acronym in Spanish. The origin of the protest is due to the fact that last week the Committee on Tax Affairs of the Legislative Assembly reduced the budget from about $120,779,680 by half, which is approximately $60,389,840. Friday, students protested within the facilities of two public universities, the University of Costa Rica in San Pedro in the province of San José, and the National University in Heredia. According to the police report, on Friday, students from the University of Costa Rica put graffiti on the walls of the Faculty of Social Sciences building in protest and stopped the traffic in front of the university for several hours. University authorities announced that they will begin the process of evaluating the facilities for damage caused by the students. The authorities of the university confirmed that the building is not owned by the university because it was built with a loan from the World Bank that was handled through the Bank of Costa Rica in 2011. "The Faculty of Social Sciences, this building belongs to the UCR-BCR 2011 Trust (between the university and the Bank of Costa Rica), so it is not owned by the University of Costa Rica," said the university in its statement. "The administration announced that it has already received a trust application for the respective valuation, which will be made as soon as possible." According to Jeffrey Dimarco, head of the University General Services Office, which is currently a tenant of the building, "the institution is committed to protecting and, in case of damage, to repair them." According to the authorities, there are other buildings that also belong to the same trust, such as the facilities of the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Engineering and the Plaza de la Autonomía. University of Costa Rica Rector Henning Jensen said he understood the students' reactions. "I may differ in the ways that annoyance is expressed, but I consider their outrage legitimate." Regarding the government's response to the protests, Víctor Morales-Mora, minister of the Presidency said that government authorities and universities authorities are in negotiations to reach a solution around the $60 million plus that was reduced from the budget. ------------------------ Should university authorities fine students for causing damage to university buildings? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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