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.
Monday, September 28, 2015
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 National Environmental Technical (Setena) Secretariat approved the environmental feasibility for the exploitation project in July 2013. However, it made the process conditional until the company credited the ownership of the property. Setena took a year to complete this requirement. "
The decision (to sue the state) comes after the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) declared void an appeal filed by "... Eco Proyecciones del Nuevo Milenio, a partner of Lemon Stone to revive the quarry. "
Nacion.com reports that "... Roger Barboza, a lawyer for Eco Proyecciones del Nuevo Milenio, said the resolution by the Minae is incorrect. "The resolution is contrary to all logic and all legal reason; that decision is motivated in an uninteligent approach, since the ownership of the property has been demonstrated from the beginning '... 'They are wrong. The Attorney General's Office confirmed it: one of the requirements for environmental sustainability of a project is to demonstrate that the investor owns the land. '"
Although "... The National Environmental Technical (Setena) Secretariat approved the environmental feasibility of the project for exploitation in July 2013.... it conditioned the process until the company credited the ownership of the property ... "taking a year to complete the requirement.
From the beginning the Tajo La Asunción operation has faced opposition from the Union of Japdeva (Sintrajap), and environmentalists from Limon.
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.
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.
There are so many obstacles faced by the project being run by Dutch APM Terminals that it begs the question as to whether the Costa Rican government really wants it to happen.
Since it was awarded construction of the New Mega Port for specialized container ships in Moin, the Dutch company APM Terminals has faced dozens of lawsuits and other legal measures in the courts, which has maintained continuous doubts about the realization of the project.
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.
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.
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