President Solis has personally announced that the environmental impact study for the expansion to four lanes of Route 32 to Limon has now been approved by the environmental authority.
Almost two months after the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA) rejected the study as "flawed and incomplete", the institution has now granted the approval, according to President Luis Guillermo Solís through his own social networks.
The stagnation of the refinery project could be the reason for China's loss of interest in Costa Rica, after having stopped the disbursement of a $24 million "freebie", the purchase of $1 billion worth of Costa Rican bonds, the development of an industrial pole, and the extension of a road.
EDITORIAL
The diplomatic shift from Costa Rica which privileged mainland China over Taiwan - in contrast to all of its Central American neighbors- held the promise of an injection of Chinese investment and development in the country, in public infrastructure, energy, and manufacturing centers.
After overcoming several bureaucratic obstacles the grain terminal with capacity to accommodate PostPanamax vessels became operational in the Pacific port of Costa Rica.
From a statement issued by from the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT):
The new multipurpose dock at Caldera Port, has now been inaugurated, improving Costa Rica's competitiveness and international trade logistics, in addition to promoting development in the province of Puntarenas.
The Solis administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to begin studying the feasibility of setting up a special economic zone in Costa Rica for enterprises from China.
As part of the agreement signed between the two governments, feasibility studies will be started along with defining where the zone will be sited.
Although in court the strike was declared illegal, the government compromised on not discounting from wages for the days not worked by the strikers in return for lifting of the strike.
After managing to avoid wage deductions for having been absent from their duties for 15 days, the Workers Syndicate of Japdeva (Sintrajap) agreed to suspend the strike and resume duties as normal today at the ports of Limon and Moin.
Once again conservationism is at the service of sectoral interests, paralyzing investment in infrastructure which is essential for halting the deteriorating competitiveness of the economy.
EDITORIAL
In Costa Rica an investment of billions of dollars to build a container port has been held up by six years of legal proceedings, and added to this will be a further 5 months due to maneuvers made by uncompromising conservationists in league with unionists.
The Santa Fe Bridge, built in Nicaragua over the San Juan River, 5 kilometers from the border with Costa Rica, will not be opened as long as the confrontation between the two governments continues.
362 meters long and 40 meters high, the Santa Fe Bridge required a $30 million investment donated by the Government of Japan.
At the same time as constructing the bridge, Nicaragua also built a road along the south coast of the river ending up on the border with Costa Rica, which will facilitate exports from the central region travelling to Puerto Limon in Costa Rica and also help the flow of Nicaraguans entering and exiting the border with their southern neighbor.
The Presidential candidate Luis Guillermo Solis has promised to respect the contract with the Dutch company APM for the construction of a new container dock at Moin.
The likely winner of the presidential election has backtracked on his campaign ads which stated he would "review the ports concession contracts."
During a meeting with members of the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (Cinde), Luis Guillermo Solís, presidential candidate of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), said that a new government would respect the contract that was signed two years ago with the Dutch firm APM Terminals to build a new container dock in Moin, Limón, with an investment of $1 billion.