At Last, Potholes To Be Filled In, Outgoing President Announces
Yesterday, the official government newspaper, La Gaceta, published the details of 22 contracts aimed are repairing 4.500 kilemtres of the national road system over the next three years. Seven contractors were awarded the work, but will not begin until March.

The repair work is president Abel Pacheco's attempt during his final days in office to repair the roads that have fallen into disrepair and become a national shame. Dodging potholes has become a national pastime and has left many a tourists shaking their head as to how a such a beautiful country can have such roads.

The work can only begin once the Contraloría General de la República (Comptroller's office) has given the green light and that isn't exptect until March.

The announcement was made yesterday at Casa Presidencial by president Pacheco, with Ministro de Obras Públicas y Transportes, Randall Quirós, the executive director of Conavi, Alejandro Molina, and the president of the the Comisión Nacional de Emergencia, Luis Diego Morales, at his side.

For Pacheco, the potholes have been a thorn in his administration, as during the last fours years the national roads have gone from bad to worse. Tourism operators have been complaining for a long time and had almost given up hope on the government, who with promise after promise, nothing was ever done.

Minister Quiros assures that his office has been working with Conavi so that once and for all the roads will get repaired and end the "emergency" as he called it, taking advantage of the dry season to make all the repairs necessary.

Conavi's Molina said that the contracts will ensure that the roads in the six regions and 22 areas affected will be repaired and stay that way for some time, though he was short on the specifics.