Illegal Costa Rican developments halted

Country:  Costa Rica

15 August 2008

The Environmental Tribunal in Costa Rica announced last week that it had ordered the closure and temporary halt to 16 housing or tourism development projects, because they defy environmental laws along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

Over 40 projects are currently under investigation by the Tribunal, which is part of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). They have so far ordered the closure of seven schemes, while constructed work on 10 further projects has been ordered to stop.

Around 70% of these schemes represent housing or tourism development projects, while others are complexes consisting of condominiums, along with hotels, commercial centres and golf courses.

The closings included the projects Hermosa Vista in Playa Hermosa, Costa Montana in Tarcoles, Hills of Esterillos, Costa Sol in Esterillos, and a partial closing of the pool of the Hotel Villas del Caribe.

Of the projects given cautionary measures to halt work, ten are in Guanacaste and one is in Playa Dominical in the South Pacific, due to over destruction of forests, razed mountains, construction in protected areas, invasion of riverbeds and maritime zone violations.

“The cases detected during the environmental sweeps are just a sample of the environmental problems that are happening in the country and constitute an alert to carry out a control effort that reverts this tendency,” said José Lino Cháves, President of the Environmental Tribunal.