The Minister of Agriculture of Costa Rica, Javier Flores, thanked his fellow ministers from the Americas.
Montego Bay, Jamaica, October 30, 2009. The Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas approved the donation of five hectares of land for the construction of new hospital in Turrialba, Costa Rica.
The ministers have been in Jamaica participating in the Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas, that finished today, October 31.
The donated land, which belongs to the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), was given in usufruct to the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE).
The original request was presented to the Governing Council of CATIE by the Government of Costa Rica. It was brought to the attention of the IICA Executive Committee in July of this year and was finally approved by the IABA at its meeting in Jamaica.
The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Javier Flores, thanked his colleagues for approving the request, which will do much to improve the quality of life in Turrialba and the surrounding area.
The IABA made it clear that the land was to be used exclusively for the construction and operation of a hospital or medical centre. The resolution indicates that the land will revert to IICA if the hospital/medical centre is not built and operational within five years of the date on which the rights to the use of the land are transferred.
The Director Generals of IICA and CATIE, Chilton Brathwaite and Jose Joaquin Campos, respectively, noted that both institutions are working on behalf of the development of needy and vulnerable communities in the city of Turrialba is one “A ways of showing that support\, they said, is to donate this land.
Turrialba, located 60 kilometres from the capital of Costa Rica is inextricably linked to agriculture of the Americas. It served as the first home for IICA and is now home to CATIE. The first stone was laid by then Costa Rican president Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia and Vice President Henry Wallace of the United States.
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