Cost To Repair Road
Network is Estimated at
¢2.5 Billion; Another
Tropical Wave Forecast
For the Weekend
The heavy rain and
flooding that has caused
disasters in the
province of Guanacaste
and the Central Pacific
region has come with a
high price tag for the
Consejo Nacional de
Vialidad (Conavi), as it
estimates that it will
cost ¢2.5 billion
colones for road
repairs.
The money to repair the
damage caused by the
heavy rain of the past
11 days will have to
come from funds destined
for new road
construction, Conavi
officials say.
The Conavi says it has
to give attention to
some 200 kilometres of
road across the country,
basically to clean the
debris left behind and
re-open some blocked
roads.
Conavi says the majority
of the repair costs if
clean up the mudslides
and repair or replace a
number of bridges
damaged from raging
currents.
And that is only for the
major arteries. If the
damage to secondary and
rural roads were to be
included in the
calculations, Conavi
estimates some 3.500
kilometres of road have
been damaged.
Conavi officials say
that the magnitude of
the damage could be even
higher, as many roads
are still under water
and the rain has yet to
cease.
The executive director
of Conavi, Alejandro
Molina, said yesterday
that the majority of the
repair work will begin
in the last week of
October as that is when
the forecast is for the
rain to subside.
Following the emergency
repairs, in November the
Conavi will begin
repairing all the damage
roads, according to
Molina.
Some ¢18.5 million
colones will come from
the Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)
as part of a trasnfer to
the Comisión Nacional de
Emergencias (CNE) that
is permitted under the
"emergency declaration"
by the government
earlier this week,
according to the MOPT
minister, Karla González.
The minister added that
she sees it doubtful
that all the damaged
roads can be repaired
within a year, damage
that has been far worse
than that caused by a
hurricane, according to
Conavi and MOPT
officials.
"It (the current damage)
is worse than a
hurricane, because when
a hurricane hits it is
only over a part of the
country, however it is
now raining all over the
place and worse yet the
rain continues to fall",
said González.
The heavy rainfall
during the past 11 days
has been due to low
pressure systems and
tropical waves that have
affected just about
every part of the
country, from the north
to the south and west to
east, though the eastern
coast of the Caribbean
has only received light
rain.
And another tropical
wave is forecast for
this weekend which is
expected to dump even
more rain and cause more
flooding and damage.
In addition to the cost
of road repairs, the
heavy rain has left 18
people dead and more
than 2.000 in shelters,
affecting thousands of
people all over the
country. |
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