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San José-Caldera
Continues Stalled
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Pedestrian Boulevard
Nears Completion
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In Brief... |
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San José-Caldera
Continues Stalled
The construction of the
San José-Caldera will
continue stalled as
representatives of the
banks financing the
project and the
construction company
have yet to reach an
agreement and as such
the government is
extending the start of
construction date while
the two parties
continues negotiations.
The project has been in
the works for the last
two decades and recents
starts were stalled or
halted as the government
and various
constructions awarded
the contracted came to a
stalemate. The latest
round of stalls is just
another in a long list
of stalls and stopped
work.
Karla González, the
current minister heading
the Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT),
assures that the work
will commence before the
year is over.
Notwithstanding, the
minister, said that the
government has to
respect the process and
the requests made by the
creditors of the
construction company.
The discussion between
the construction company
and the banks is complex
as the financiers are
demanding guarantees
from the Autopistas del
Sol over the cost of the
work before handing over
us$200 million dollars.
So, the road to Calera
is stalled and with no
definite start date in
sight.
Minister González was
emphatic that the
government was punctual
in its commitment and is
not the cause of the
latest delay.
The San José - Caldera
project is only 77
kilometres from an idea
that began three decades
ago to built a highway
that connects capital
with the Pacific port
town.
The road weaves through
Santa Ana, Cuidad Colon,
Atenas and Orotina that
would cut travel between
San José and Caldera in
under one hour from the
current almost two hours
it takes using the
Interamericana or the
road known as el Monte
Aguacate.
The construction of the
road includes the
widening of the San José
- Santa Ana, which has
been completed for some
time and the
construction of a series
of bridges, also buildt
and which for the most
part are decaying due to
lack of maintenance and
victims of vandalism.
The section of the
highway between Orotina
and Calera has also been
repaved and in some
areas widened. The
section between Piedades
de Santa Ana and Orotina
is the primary missing
section of the highway.
The completion of the
San José-Caldera will
also greatly reduce
travel to Jacó and
Quepos/Manuel Antonio,
as the highway intesects
with the Jacó exit at
Orotina, reduing San
José - Jacó travel to
under 45 minutes rather
than 90 plus minutes it
takes now.
For the time being, the
MOPT is analyzing the
possibility of fining
Autopistas del Sol for
the delay. HOwever, the
government cannot
obligate the banks to
lend the money and much
less to force the
construction company to
finance the project,
said minsiter González. |
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MOPT
minister González says the government
cannot force the banks to lend the
construction company money to build the
San José-Caldera highway. |
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