Changes have been made to river protection zones in Limon, which now includes the site where filler material was to be extracted for the new container port.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Water and Sewerage Authorities say the decision to modify the Banana River protective zone in Limon is not due to any reason other than "... the responsibility of the institution to supply water to the population," said Yamileth Astorga, AyA's executive president.
The site at La Asunción is where material was to be extracted for the construction of the port terminal being built by APM Terminals in Limon.
Nacion.com reports that "... Wílliam Lizano, Representative of Lemon Stone, one of the companies that own's the site, criticized the resolution by the Water Authorities. 'The new protective zone of Banana River was modified slightly. The only they added the entire site into the new protective zone ...It is clear, there is an environmental movement, the hard-line kind, against the site being exploited.'"
"... The environmental sustainability study was filed a few weeks ago, by the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA), as developers of the site failed to demonstrate ownership of the land. Freddy Bolanos, Setena's secretary general said that if the owners want to go back to processing the environmental viability, the new protective zone would be taken into account. "
The pit that was supposed to provide filling for the works of APM Terminals complies with environmental standards but its permission was denied after being unable to prove ownership of the land.
Lemon Stone, one of the owners of Tajo La Asunción announced it will sue the State of Costa Rica for $400 million for having banned the exploitation of the quarry to supply material to Van Oord Bam, the constructor of the new container terminal in Moin with whom it has a $350 million contract to supply 7 million tons of stone.
The Environmental Technical Secretariat of Costa Rica has suspended works in the pit which was to provide material to APM Terminals to build the port in Moin.
On top of the long list of obstacles that have impeded the progress of the construction of the new port in the Costa Rican Caribbean, the Technical Environmental Secretariat has stopped work on the the pit in La Asuncion, in response to a request by Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) for a revocation, claiming that "... the expropriations in the Banana River, located near the Cerro La Asunción, threaten the water supply in the province of Limón."
The delay in permits for a new container dock in the Caribbean side of Costa Rica could lead to increases in the cost of the project and in the rates.
The final approval for the beggining of the construction of Mega Port by in Moin APM Terminals will be left for the next government, a delay which could cause an increase in the cost of the project and in the rates.
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).
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