With an investment of $460 million, the Van Oord-BAM consortium will be responsible for the construction of the container terminal in Limon, Costa Rica.
In a press release, APM Terminals, the global concessionaire of the project, reported that the new terminal will handle 80% of maritime trade in Costa Rica, and will generate 400 new direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs.
About 25 construction projects are stalled because the Environmental Technical Secretariat does not have enough personnel to carry out environmental studies.
These projects have been lodged with the Environmental Technical Secretariat (Setena) since the first half of this year "... without having been even given a the green light to go ahead with the study on environmental impact," noted an article in Elfinancierocr.com.
The Bellavista mining company has gone to the Administrative Court seeking permission to reactivate gold mining activities in Puntarenas.
According to the general manager of Metales Procesados MRW S.A., Donald Brown, the suit against the Costa Rican government was filed last May but the information had not been released until now. The official says they are not seeking any compensation, the intention is only to be allowed to reactivate operations.
The Costa Rican environmental authority has only 5 technicians to analyze the feasibility of billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects.
Construction of the new container terminal at the Port of Moin can not begin because the environmental feasibility study has not been approved, because it has been delayed due to lack of staff in the Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA).
A large scale theme park would be located in Guanacaste, on an estate measuring more than 900 hectares, with hotels, shops, offices and function rooms.
The project, developed by Sun Ranch calls for investments of $1 billion over 15 years and the use of 578 hectares.
The complex would be located about 9 kilometers from the city of Liberia, near the Daniel Oduber Airport.
The government has denied a Canadian company a license.
The Costa Rican authorities in the mining sector have declined the request to reopen the Bellavista gold mine by the Canadian company B2 Gold, arguing that the act would be contrary to the national moratorium on mining.
The firm aims to revive gold mining in the area, which was suspended in 2007 after a landslide polluted the surrounding waters, reports Nacion.com.
The Supreme Court has admitted an appeal against a government decree that prevented oil exploitation concessions for 3 years; Mallon Oil may be able to force the government to sign the contract.
The Sala IV, Costa Rica’s Supreme Court, suspended president Laura Chinchilla’s decree, which prevented the exploitation of hydrocarbons and the granting of permits for three years, until a constitutional complaint made by the Association of Geologists is resolved.
The Constitutional Court has dismissed an appeal brought by the oil company Mallon Oil which requested its contract for oil and gas exploration be signed.
In its ruling, the Constitutional Court informed Mallon Oil that the process they must follow is to make its request via a contentious trial.
"Meanwhile, the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA) dismissed the appeal for reversal that Mallon Oil filed last July against a resolution asking them to specify in which sites they would initiate the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons ", reported Nacion.com.
Mallon Oil Company has filed an appeal in an attempt to get a contract signed for the exploitation of oil and natural gas.
In the appeal to the Constitutional Court, the company is demanding that the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (Minaet) sign the contract for oil and natural gas exploitation in the south, having one a concession for it in a competitive tender eleven years ago.
The National Assembly has approved amendments to Law 7744, extending concessions to 35 years and reducing the associated red tape.
The new law, which has been in discussion in Congress for more than three years, reduces procedures for concessions to 12 months.
The director of the Inter-institutional Commission on Marinas and Wharves, Oscar Villalobos, said the environmental assessment conducted by the Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA) is essential to get a marina concession.
The Canadian mining company is looking for new land for the installation of a processing plant.
Production at the mine has been paralyzed since 2007, when a landslide caused damage to the gold mining zone and affected the factory’s processing.
Donald Brown, Bellavista mine manager and representative of Metals Processed M.R. W., B2 Gold’s Costa Rican partner, indicated that it is negotiating the purchase of some 75 hectares of land, in order to install the plant.
For the end of this year, "Portafolio Inmobiliario" is planning to start works on "Plaza Lincoln", located in Moravia, San José.
With 180 stores, three level parking for 1.200 vehicles and a food court for 16 restaurants, Plaza Lincoln will become one of the three biggest malls in Costa Rica, with a total 90.000 square meters.
"After overcoming municipal obstacles that impeded its planned start for 2008, the developers of the new mall [Portafolio Inmobiliario - Pinmsa], expect to open it in 2011", published ElFinancierocr.com.
The construction of the project that includes a convention center, 2 hotels, offices and a commercial center will begin in 2010, and it will last 4 or 5 years.
In fact, the investment made by the Spanish group “Feria de Valencia” together with the Costa Rican company “Feria de Costa Rica,” was programmed to begin in 2008, but it was postponed due to the global economic crisis.
The end of a mining moratorium that was imposed by the Government of Abel Pacheco and which ended last July, caused a rush of miners to the country.
Between July and September 2008 there were at least 203 requests for exploration permits above ground and and 14 below.
In three months, the number of exploration requests to exploit mining areas for limestone, construction gravel or metals on Costa Rican soil reached 203.
Costa Rican legislators will son be presented with a bill that proposes to extend concessions for tourist marinas to 35 years from the 20 years at present.
The bill proposes a 15-year minimum with extensions of 10 years at a time.