Government Announces $200M Plan for Guanacaste

By Ralph Nicholson and Zoraida Diaz

Water, Regulatory Plans and More Power to Municipalities

Costa Rica’s central government last week unveiled a major strategic plan aimed at tackling Guanacaste’s infrastructure and development for years to come.

Water, garbage collection and disposal, regulatory plans and increased autonomy for the region’s municipalities are all included in a strategy outlined by President Oscar Arias’ cabinet, meeting in Nicoya on Friday.

The initiatives have a total investment of more than 114 billion colones, or about $209 million.

A diverse, seven-person commission has been set up under the Minister of Planning, Roberto Gallardo, to oversee the strategy and ensure its implementation.

Chief within the strategy is the issue of Guanacaste’s fragile water supply.

“Today we are presenting a plan of action for Guanacaste that, among other things, will finally take care of supplying water to the inhabitants of this province,” President Arias told about 150 invited guests.

“While I am President, each drop of water will continue to be Costa Rican, and I will not rest until each Costa Rican has access to the water they need. Guanacaste will no longer be a province that thirsts…”

Mr Arias made clear bringing progress to the province was an effort, often stalled within a quagmire bureaucracy, a legislative assembly that made progress difficult, and resources that were almost never enough.

“And it depends, more than anyone thinks, on the international context,” he added, warning hard times loom ahead.

“The world faces a period of economic difficulties that will affect every country. Some more than others.”

The Minister of Environment and Energy, Roberto Dobles, outlined the project to supply potable water to the western banks of the Tempisque River, originating from the Arenal drainage system, which will bring 1000 liters of water per second.

The project will use the western irrigation channel that crosses the agricultural lands of CATSA’s cane fields and the rice and tilapia farms of El Pelón de la Bajura. From that point the State-run water and sewerage authority, the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos Y Alcantarillados (AyA) will take the water to a water treatment plant on the Tempisque.

© Zoraida Diaz

ROAD GANG: President Oscar Arias and the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Karla Gonzalez, took time out from Annexation celebrations last week to get a first hand look at work on the road between 27 Abril and Paraiso in Guanacaste. The Minister said the 14-kilometer section is on target to finish by the end of the year.

The initiative is slated to be finished by 2010.

Further, a ground-breaking accord has been signed between AyA and the Universidad Nacional (UNA) to advance hydrological and population studies along coastal Guanacaste to determine the best sites for desalination plants, and what technology and financial requirements are needed.

Local government will be given more power under a new law to be presented by President Arias in Limón next month.

“The proposed law, which will be presented on August 31, will allocate greater resources to implement the transferring of competences in a coordinated way,” said the Minister of Planning, Roberto Gallardo.

Along with the plan to hand over power, Guanacaste’s municipalities will receive nearly 17 billion colones (or about $31 million) in 2008.

“Of this, eight billion colones (about $14.7 million) is destined for municipal works, such as aqueducts, bridges, roads, sports complexes and schools,” said Fabio Molina, Executive President of the Instituto de Fomento y Asesoría Municipal (IFAM).

“These works will start in the second half of this year,” said Mr Molina. “Some 50 per cent of the moneys have already been allocated. The rest will be disbursed at the end of the year.”

Devolving power from San José to municipalities comes as something of a surprise, particularly given some of the harsh criticisms leveled at local government.

“The maritime zone, national heritage of intrinsic value, faces situations of irregularities and a lack of control which overwhelm the capacity of weak municipalities that in some cases aggravate the situation,” reads the annual State of the Nation report.

The Comptroller General’s Office has been equally damning.

“Carrillo, Santa Cruz and Liberia have the greatest surplus (over 20 per cent of allocated budget not spent),” said the Comptroller General about municipal efficiency in 2006.

However, the Minister of Tourism, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, defended the decision.

“I think more and more good people in the communities are getting involved in municipal government,” Mr Benavides said. “I am watching people with better education trying to be mayor or councilors, and it is because now they know the municipalities really have power.”

© Zoraida Diaz

President Oscar Arias signs a letter of understanding, between the government and Guanacaste’s municipalities, to provide funds to help modernize the cantons. He is watched by Santa Cruz Mayor, Jorge Chavarria (left), and Liberia Mayor, Carlos Luis Marin. At right, is the Minister of the Presidency, Rodrigo Arias.

Regulatory plans, effectively blueprints for what kind of building and development will be allowed in and around municipalities, are to be prioritized under the Guanacaste strategy.

“Through the program BID - Catastro, we are compiling information for each canton to determine which regulatory plans are a priority, and how to better apply the maritime public zone laws,” said Mr Gallardo.

The National BID - Catastro plan is a $92 million project which aims to map and control the country’s urban development by modernizing the property and catastro (or land) registries, and organizing the country’s territory.

The program, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been slow in execution.

When first announced about 12 months ago, one of the program’s primary goals was to secure a strong legal framework that would guarantee the legality of real estate transactions. According to the Executor Unit that is administering the program, there were then close to one thousand real estate fraud lawsuits filed before the Public Ministry.

“The regulatory plans have great support, for we don’t want any more construction in risk areas,” said IFAM’s Molina.

“We want respect for the maritime zone and the environment protected. For instance, we don’t want construction in the aquifer recharge zones; we want to recover control over the roads and we want an orderly development.”

The strategy also calls for more support for local business and agriculture.

“It is important to promote projects that add to the local economy, are a source of additional jobs and offer increased wages,” said Minister Gallardo.

“The productive activities need greater support in technical assistance, credits and training to increase competitiveness,” he said.

A seven-member commission was sworn in Friday to oversee the government’s plan for Guanacaste. It includes church and tourism industry leaders, agriculturalists, university professors and municipal councilors.

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