Atenas residents to march today over lack of water

October 6^th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) Atenas residents plan to march beginning at 9 a.m. today, demanding a solution to constant water shortages that have plagued the community for months.

A $5.6 million plan to pipe in water from neighboring Tacares de Grecia has been approved by the Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA), the Association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA), the Public Ombudsman’s Office, and the Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA) after a lengthy disagreement with the latter agency.

However, a group of Tacares residents, who are opposed to the plan, have been blockading the campuses of MECO, the contractor behind the project, making it impossible to move machinery to the area and begin work on the project.

The residents say the plan violates the rights of their local “Asada,” or water management association, which is independent of AyA.

The mayor of Atenas says that over 60% of the population is affected by constant water shortages.

In August, it was reported that some 21,000 Atenas residents were being forced to adapt to living with just three hours of water per day, between the hours of 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

Atenas residents complain that authorities have done nothing to solve the canton’s water problems, despite “several years” of complaints.  Even former president Laura Chinchilla had declared a health emergency due to Atenas’ water shortages during her administration.

The lack of water has also forced public schools in the canton to regularly suspend classes, and educators say there has been an increase in absenteeism because parents and children have no water to bathe or wash their school uniforms some mornings.