Limón Slowly Getting Back To Normal
The Limón docks returned to what could be pretty normal yesterday following the police intervention on Thursday, and producers are scurrying to get their products loaded and to market avoiding further losses.

Slowly, the docks will regain its momentum before the "work to rule" that began on Monday and quickly escalated to a slow down or Tortuguismo that almost paralyzed the dock operations at both the Puerto Limón and Moín, as union leaders pressed the government to back down on privatization of the docks.

The work to rule began just before the government announced that it had found the money to pay the workers of JAPDEVA their due based on a collective agreement signed by former president Pacheco last year. The workers were owed ¢470 million colones and had threatened to shut down the docks if they weren't paid.

Following Monday's announcement that workers would be paid as the government had found the funds in a JAPDEVA surplus fund, leaders of the workers union, Sinjatrap, announced that they would keep the work to rule unless the government put a stop to the plans to privatize the docks, a similar action taken last month at the docks of Caldera on the Pacific coast.

President Arias stood firm, saying he campaigned on the basis that Limón would be revitalized and part of the development plan for the region was to modernize the docks through concessions. Arias was firm in his statement on Thursday that the docks would not be sold, as the unions claim, but that private companies would operate the docks under a government concession.

Arias was emphatic that for Limón to develop economically, the docks have to be modernized and the government just does not have the money to do it. The union is against the government plan. President Arias, on national television reminded the union leaders that it is not they provide jobs in Limón, but the exporters and growers of the area.

The only act of violence registered during the confrontation between the union, the workers, the government and the police, was a molotov cocktail launched at police at the entrance to the port. The cocktail, fortunately, did not reach its mark and no injuries were reported.

In an unrelated incident, a traffic accident caused a power shortage when a vehicle slammed into an electrical post. Electrical power was restored quickly and all was back to normal.

Producers like Dole report that they couldn't load some 250 containers during the three days of tortuguismo, though Dole officials did not say what the financial loss was.

Currently there area number of ships waiting to be loaded or unloaded as movement on the docks is moving much faster than in the last couple of days.