Guanacastecans and government will meet today to seek agreement

March 20th, 2013 (VoiceofNosara.com) Under the threat of protest by different sectors in Guanacaste, the central government organized a roundtable to dialogue with members of the negotiating commission of the Frente de Lucha Guanacasteco (Front for the Guanacaste Struggle) today, in the Presidential House.

Wilmar Matarrita, member of the Guanacaste commission, explained that they received a call from the Ministry of the Presidency to meet in San Jose instead of carrying out the manifestation that was scheduled for Tuesday, the 19th, that aimed to stop traffic from entering Guanacaste at the intersection in Limonal of Abangares.

The proposal of the government is to sit together to dialogue and offer solutions to the list of 15 petitions sought by the different sectors of Guanacaste. The petitions include pavement of the road between Samara and Nosara, the creation of the new medical tower of La Anexion Hospital, the approval by the Legislative Assembly of the Coastal Territories Law Project (TECOCOS), and not authorizing or using transgenic seeds in Guanacaste, among others.

Syndic and president of the Nosara Development Association, Marcos Avila, also a member of the Guanacaste commission and representative of the coastal sector of Nicoya, mentioned that they have noted good signs from the government regarding some of the petitions.  For example, since Monday, March 18, the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) is working on paving from Nosara to Esperanza. In addition, he mentioned that the works also include paving the center of Garza.

For his part, Matarrita is optimistic that a solution will be given for at least 10 of the petitions in the short term. “We are not going just to talk but to see real advances in these projects. We want to see official documents and establish the corresponding timeframes for them to really be carried out,” he commented.