Health Ministry Adamant
To Close Allegro
Papagayo Hotel For
Contamination
The ministra de Salud
(Health minister), María
Luisa Ávila is adamant
that she will close down
the Allegro Papagayo
hotel, in Playa
Manzanillo, Guanacaste,
for contimanting a
nearby river with
sewage.
According to Ávila, she
has the support of Costa
Rican president, Oscar
Arias, to carry out the
closure of the luxury
hotel, unless there is a
court order not to.
Ávila explained that the
owners of the hotel had
the right to present a
plan to correct the
problem and avoid the
closure, but as of
yesterday they had not
done so.
"In the area we have
sent out some 80 orders
for closures, but none
have been as big or from
such a large operators
as this", said the
health minister.
Eva Chávez, assistant
manager at Allegro
Papagayo, said that the
company has received no
such order and will
continue to operate
normally.
"We do not have any
document that is being
published in the media.
All I can say is that we
are working normally and
we have no problems with
the guests, nor have any
cancelled their
reservations", said
Chávez.
According to the Health
ministry, the hotel had
hidden sewage pipes that
dumped waste water into
the river.
Minister Ávila confirmed
that there have been no
reports of people being
affected by the
contamination, but if
the situation is allowed
to continue, the river
cannot be rescued.
The Allegro Papagayo
hotel has 300 rooms and
is operated by the
Occidental hotel chain
that operates a number
of other hotels in
Guanacaste and other
parts of the country. |
|
