Grande Seizures Won’t Solve Problem: MINAE

By Zoraida Diaz

The Ministry of Environment and Energy, enmeshed in a process to expropriate 56 beachfront properties in Playa Grande, admitted this week that may not be the way, after all.

“The law is clear and this is how the Attorney General’s office has interpreted it: it has ordered us to continue with the expropriations, while the current law exists,” the Vice-Minister of the Environment and Energy, Jorge Rodríguez, told The Beach Times.

“In my opinion, the expropriations are not going to solve the problem of the Leatherback turtle,” he said adding, “the solution has to be found by the hand of the neighbors (of Playa Grande), and if we expropriate, we will make enemies.”

The government claims that part of the properties to be expropriated are within Las Baulas National Marine Park. Playa Grande is one of three adjoining beaches which make up the main Pacific nesting site of the critically endangered leatherback turtle.

The debate over the popular surf beach dates back to June of 1995 when the Legislative Assembly, under pressure from environmental groups, passed a law declaring a 75-meter strip, beyond the maritime zone at Playa Grande, Ventanas, and Carbón to be national park land.

Mr Rodríguez says the real solution for protecting the Leatherback lies in acting out at sea, in protecting their routes, and is adamant the government cannot withstand the cost of expropriation.

“We have prepared a National Marine Strategy which contemplates joint actions with the Coastguard, with the Ministry of Public Works and with some NGOs such as Marviva.”

Mr Rodríguez was part of a commission that visited Playa Grande recently; the commission included legislators Lorena Vásquez, Jorge Eduardo Sánchez, José Luis Vásquez (PUSC), Salvador Quirós (Partido Liberación Nacional, PLN), and Andrea Morales who met with Playa Grande neighbors and landowners.

The Vice Minister called on the assemblymen to give precedence to a bill presented by the Christian Unity Party (PUSC) Assemblyman, Jorge Eduardo Sánchez, that would strike down the expropriations processes, and change the coordinates of the park.

“We owe $150 million in back payments for Parks and Wildlife Reserves,” said Mr Rodríguez, “and we’re paying that sum $2 million per year.

© Beach Times Files

INSPECTION: A commission of Assemblymen, high MINAE officials, landowners and neighbors of Playa Grande, including Independent Assemblywoman Andrea Morales and Vice Minister Jorge Rodriguez, walk on the beach at Playa Grande, one of the Leatherback turtle’s primary nesting sites on the Pacific. The government continues to expropriate, but admits it may not be the way.

“This means it will take some 70 years to meet all payments.”

Mr Rodríguez says he believes the study President Arias ordered from the environmental initiative Paz con la Naturaleza, on the Playa Grande issue, has been completed, but admits, it has not yet been presented to the President’s office.

When asked if MINAE still had dealings with the Leatherback Trust, Mr Rodríguez answered emphatically: “Yes, of course we have contact.

“The situation is clear. While there isn’t an alternative law, we have to continue with the processes (expropriation).”

“Our point of view is that if there is a bill passed that would help us not to pay, the money could help us in more conservation efforts,” he said.

The commission that visited the Park appreciated the efforts made in conservation of the Leatherback, such as the building of barriers against the light, said Mr Rodríguez.

“We concluded that we should take action in Tamarindo to handle the light (pollution) and to regulate it.”

Mr Rodríguez said the State’s electric company could be regulated, and even the private sector could be convinced to reduce the amount of light visible on the beach.

The government’s wavering stance pushed Playa Grande owner Reinhard Unglaube to seek international arbitration. He and his wife filed an appeal before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank arbitration court established in 1966 to address disputes against States.

The Unglaubes say their project — a 34-hectare (84 acres) property, comprising 60 houses, four hotels and a market begun in the 80s — has been on hold for more than five years.

“We have to continue with the expropriation of the 7000 meters within the park,” said Vice Minister Rodríguez, “the other 19,000 meters are outside the Park and they (the Unglaubes) can do what they consider necessary to advance development within the regulations of the area.”