It has been announced that starting from August 20 companies interested in developing an environmental feasibility study for the new Metropolitan Airport of Costa Rica, to be built in Orotina, may present their proposals.
Civil Aviation Authorities reported that the reference value for the environmental feasibility study of the air terminal is $1.1 million.
In order to resolve the problem of delays in approving environmental impact permits, in Costa Rica industrial sector employers support a proposal for the National Technical Secretariat to intervene.
Arguing that "it affects them negatively", the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica (ICRC), supports the intervention of the National Technical Secretariat (Setena) requested last Wednesday by the Christian Social Unity Party (PUSC).
The Setena plans to amend regulations in order to reduce the timescale for ruling on studies for projects with high environmental impact, to 5 months.
At the moment the National Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA) is takes between 6 months and a year to analyze and decide whether or not to grant permission for construction projects with high environmental impacts.
The Public Prosecutor has initiated criminal proceedings against representatives of the spanish chain RIU for alleged environmental damages generated in the construction area of the hotel it operates in Guanacaste.
Representatives of the hotel company state that all logging jobs in the area where the hotel was built in Matapalo beach, were performed with possession of permits issued at the time by the institutions.
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.
A group of U.S. investors is suing the state for $70 million alleging violation of DR-CAFTA preventing the development of real estate project Las Olas in Puntarenas.
The lawsuit filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) by a group of investors led by David Richard Aven notes that "... national authorities treated them unfairly, in relation to a real estate development project in the Esterillos beach area in the Central Pacific. They also claim that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with their country was violated. "