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Wildlife

Proper Road Maintenance Too Costly for Nosara

By Emiliana Garcia

Road maintenance between Samara and Ostional is at a standstill. The National Roads Authority (Conavi) is responsible for ongoing maintenance to Route 160 between the two villages but is facing a question of quality versus financial and legal obsticles.

Leveling of the route is badly needed, and should be relatively easy for Conavi. However in order to make the roads safe and to provide the best maintainance Conavi faces costs that exceed its budget, forcing the authority to resort to more thrifty options.  

 


During the rainy season which runs until the end of November, road conditions are at their worst.  There are several critical points along the route that pose potential dangers to drivers.  At these points ballast is needed to fill in the holes. Ballast, a dense soil and rock sediment taken from the base of rivers is the safest fix for the points along the road that need maintanance most.
           
Carlos Vilalobos, presendent of Nosara’s Red Cross took to VON’s facebook page to alert drivers in the area. “All drivers must be careful on the road and drive slowly, [because] no material is being poured, letting the road become muddy and slippery. God willing, this time they will throw ballast in those parts at least” said Vilalobos.

Concerning the recent road work completed on August 11, VON consulted Miguel Arroyo, Regional Director of Conavi in Guanacaste. Arroyo said ballast was not used in the recent road repair because the cost of retrieving authorized ballast was simply too high.

Arroyo explained Concave is only authorized to extract ballast is in Nicoya. The cost to transport one load, 10 cubic metres, of ballast from Nicoya to Nosara is 400 dollars. More than one thousand cubic meters of ballast is needed for the bad points, Arroyo said, explaining the cost is very high.

For Miguel Arroyo, the solution is simple. Removing the material from the Nosara and Montaña rivers would decrease the cost substantially. However, Conavi is not authorized to use the sediments from these rivers as a concessions has been granted to  the Montaña river and two concessions are on hold in the Nosara river.

According to the bylaw the National Emergency Commission can authorize the sediment removal and use from the two closer rivers during an emergency, as they did during the month of June, when the route was almost impassable.

As for the much awaited bridge over the Montaña river engineers say the bridge has been approved, paid for and the major structures are in place.  Construction crews are holding off for permission from the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications to remove two Guanacaste trees that are preventing from further construction. 

 

More Regional News

Police Continue Investigation of the Poisoning Death of a High School Student

A bizarre and saddening incident has shocked the community of Nosara. Tuesday August 23, 17 year old Hernandez was intercepted by two men on his way to school. The victim explain to the judicial police that a man allegedly assaulted him with a gun, forced him to drink poison and then robbed him of 50 000 colones and his cell phone.

Man in Samara attacks mayor over property dispute

As Mayor Marcos Jimenez was visiting Samara on Tuesday, August 23, Manfred Spitzbarth struck him twice with a club, according to witness Oscar Aquilino Baltodano, first in the stomach and then in the arm. He also hit another municipal official in the shoulder, Collection Agent Steven Alfaro Arnáez, collection agent, who then took the club away from him.

Busy Week for Samara Police
One man stabbed in front of police station and two detained for fighting at a bar 

The Samara Police (Fuerza Publica) dealt with two incidents of aggression last week. As a result two men were detained and another man is, in effect, banished; he is restricted from coming within one kilometer of Samara. 

Lightning Strikes Killing American Woman

Thirty six year old, Jenifer Faith King, of Los Angeles, California was pronounced dead after being hit by lightning. The accident occurred in Ostional Beach, 11 kilometers from Nosara town, between three and four p.m. Thursday August 11.

Samara Police Proud Owners of Patrol Vehicle

Patrolling Samara and the surrounding communities just got easier for the public force with the addition of a valuable new resource: a pickup-style truck fitted with a topper to detain and transport suspects. 

Pilgrimage to Los Angeles: A Journey of the Heart

Each year, on August 2, Susana Rivera makes her way to the hilltop village of Los Angeles, Nosara, Guanacaste. This year, like years prior, Susana along with hundreds of Nosarenos make the pilgrimage to the top of San Juan Mountain to show respect to La Virgen de Los Angeles (the Virgin of the Angels), patroness of Costa Rica.

Domestic Violence
Trying to Break the Cycle
Woman discusses her ongoing battle with spousal abuse

They had been married about 6 months the first time it happened. He came home drunk and she asked him for the money she had earned at her job. They started fighting and he knocked her down the stairs of the two-story house they lived in. She tried to defend herself with a broom, but he cut the broom into pieces and cut her, leaving a permanent scar along her neck.

Nicoya Takes Step to Begin the Process of Closing Garbage Dump

Various people from Nicoya and Samara know that the colonial city's garbage dump collapsed 12 years ago. Efforts to solve the "stinky" problem didn't work and the Ministry of Health has closed the dump twice. However, it appears that this time the Municipality of Nicoya is looking for a final solution. The Municipality decided to begin the technical closure to diminish the environmental impact, and to create a recycling center to reduce the quantity of refuse that is sent to the dump.

Association Will Seek Concession Over the Nosara River

The Nosara Development Association wants material from the Nosara River to benefit the community and expects that the Ministerio de Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones (Energy and Telecomunicatin Minister), through the Dirección de Geología y Minas (Geology and Mines Department), will take them into consideration, granting them a concession to exploit the river's materials.

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