Government campaign will not raise enough funds for earthquake damage

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA – September 17^th, 2012 – The Costa Rican government believes it will be quite difficult to reach the 3 billion colones (about $6 million USD) goal that is required to cover all of the damage caused by the September 5^th earthquake with its “Fuerza Costa Rica” campaign.

Francisco Chacón, Communications Minister

Francisco Chacon, Communication Minister, said that the government is also working with the other ministries and public institutions in order to raise as much as possible.

“We will scratch the bottoms of all ministries and public institution’s (coffers), in order to cover the remaining portion of the costs … there are (also) several government loans that could come into place,” he said.

The minister also stated that they are counting on the honesty of those who collect funds for the campaign, so that they will arrive untouched into the appropriate bank accounts. “We trust the Guides and Scouts organizations, who have been a social organization for many years. The monies that they collect will either be deposited into bank accounts, or they will be directed to us…It is best if they are deposited directly into the respective accounts in order to have better safety in regards to the administration of such funds,” he added.