Poverty And Lack Of Opportunities Main Problems in Limón
Poverty and lack of opportunities are the principal problems that afflict the resident of the Caribbean coast area of Limón, said the president of the Japdeva, Walter Robinson, during the celebration of the Día de la Cultura Afrocostarricense, a national celebration since 1979.

"We have to first to attend to the problem of poverty. It is not possible that we continue to accept that in the 21st century that so many children born in the province of Limón will not have the opportunity to an education. It is absolutely inadmissable in Costa Rica", said Robinson.

The Japdeva head added that is important that people have access to education, a bridge that has to be assured. Another bridge to be built is to provide opportunities for the development of people. On one side jobs have to be created, on the other side business opportunities must be built.

"We are not just talking about getting people jobs, those that want to be employed, fine, but we also need to delevelop small, medium and large sized business projects. We need to create opportunities, both educative and economic", said Robinson.

Robinson met with president Oscar Arias with his proposals. The Japdeva head said the conversation was natural in respect with the problems facing "limonenses". The meeting was informal, with various sectors present, that included discussions on local issues to move ahead with an agenda for "African Costa Ricans" and the province of Limón as a whole.

Limón continues to be a time-bomb for the government as residents of the area continue with their frustrations of being left behind, not keeping pace with the rest of the country. Robinson added that the frustrations will continue as long as Limón does reach its potential.

According to Robinson the difficulties that have always existed can be overcome and Limón can reach its full development potential.

Japdeva - the Junda de Administración Portuaria y Desarrollo Ecomómico de la Vertiente Atlántica - is the autonomous government agency, created in 1963, with its main functions to build, administer and operate the port of Limón, as well as the other ports in the Atlantic coast.

Japdeva's mission is to guarantee port services, in terms of efficiency and quality - which many feel that is not and has never been the case - that  contribute to the economic development of the Atlantic coast.