A few months ago, President Rodrigo Chaves announced a plan to build a new marina and cruise dock in the province of Limon. The $854 million project would feature a building to serve cruise passengers, local businesses, restaurants, a handicrafts market, hotels, parking lots, and urban integration zones.
At least eleven international companies would be interested in developing this marina megaproject. Interested companies include infrastructure giants such as China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), in charge of the Route 32 extension; also interested are Global Ports Holding Plc, one of the world’s largest cruise port operators, with an established presence in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Asia-Pacific; and Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME), an international group of companies specializing in the field of capital dredging and maintenance, as well as land reclamation and port infrastructure development.
In addition to these large corporations, there are other companies and consortiums, some with Costa Rican shareholding, such as Platinum World CR Sociedad Anónima, Consorcio Maritime Policy Bureau Corp, and Constructora Meco S.A.
“We are talking about a major project that would involve an investment of millions of dollars and in which Costa Rica would provide the land through Japdeva, and the investment would be private. All this investment translates into jobs and productive linkages,” said Susy Wing Ching, executive president of JAPDEVA.
The megaproject is considered strategic by the Rodrigo Chaves government to bring economic development and job opportunities to the Caribbean population. It would also boost tourism and help the recovery of Limon.
Business owners in the province, government authorities, and other experts stress the importance of generating jobs in the area to prevent people from falling into the clutches of the illicit businesses that abound in the area.
“The thousands of jobs that would be generated will solve a pressing need in a region full of a lack of opportunities and whose expectations of peace and healthy coexistence are diminishing every day. This is one of the projects with the greatest impact for Limón in the last 10 years. We ask the deputies to support the initiative and go for a public-private alliance,” mentioned Ana Matarrita, Mayor of Limon.
