Road Paving Will Only Last One Winter, Constructor Says
The construction company with the contract to pave the Atenas - Orotina - Caldera highwway, Meco, says that the work will only last one winter. A Meco representative told the Spanish language newspaper Diario Extra, that the surface paving - plugging up the holes - is not what the road needs and won't last.

The cost of the repairs being currently carried out is ¢150 millin colones (us$305.000).

Max Sittenfeld, project director for Meco, said that there has been no major repairs to this road for the last 20 years and what the road needs is a major overhaul, especially with the increased number of vehicles in the last three years.

The Atenas - San Mateo - Orotina - Caldera is in the worst of conditions. The drive from the peak of the mountain in Atenas to San Mateo is just the worst, as drivers have to swerve from one pothole to another, to avoid damage to their vehicles or worse.

The road was constructed almost 20 years ago.

Sittenfeld added that the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (CONAVI) has made requests for better and longer lasting materials in the road construction bids and is doing more inspections and rigorously checking the work.

Alejandro Molina, director of CONAVI, defends his agency's position, saying that the work being carried out on the 644 kilometres of roadway across the country is only emergency work and hopes to have the budget next year for 21 bids to make more permanent and lasting repairs.