Guanacaste, Costa Rica Last Updated: Friday, May 09, 2008  
















Friday, May 09, 2008

Environment Tribunal Backs Down On Closures By Ralph Nicholson and Zoraida Diaz

Embarrassing Turn-Around After Threat To Coastal Projects

Confusion reigned among builders and developers in Guanacaste this week, as the Ministry of Environment and Energy first announced it would shut down projects worth nearly a billion dollars, but 24 hours later had backed down.

The embarrassing about face began Wednesday when the Administrative Environmental Tribunal, a decentralized department within the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAE) issued a press release saying it was closing down so-called “mega-projects” in Tamarindo, Brasilito, and Playa Potrero.

It listed six projects, which included the $300 million-dollar Hyatt Hotel development, the $500 million Canyon Ranch project, the Hotel Bahía del Sol, in Playa Potrero, and a condominium project on Punta San Francisco, which is part of the development known as Tamarindo Preserve.

The Administrative Environmental Tribunal said in its release closures would begin at 9am Thursday.

“We have done environmental sweeps and when we find projects that are not meeting environmental law, as a cautionary measure we close the project,” José Lino Cháves, President of the Tribunal told The Beach Times, Wednesday.

 

 

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LUCKY ESCAPE: Alonzo Arrieta Ballejo, from Hernandez, is passed from the ring to waiting Red Cross medics. They treated him for a deep gash in his left cheek and a suspected broken jaw. An executive decree signed this week says the organizers of the fiestas must insure riders and bull-runners. The Instituto Nacional de Seguro (INS), is rushing to tailor an insurance policy that covers the sometimes gruesome injuries sustained by the riders. In previous INS proposals the only liability was death, in which case, the policy covered the funeral. (You can read more about the coast's cowboy culture in this week's Feature.)
The Beach Times / Zoraida Diaz