Just hours after President Luis Guillermo Solís stalled 19 bills to prioritize the passage of one, lawmakers on Tuesday evening approved a bill that authorizes reconstruction of a highway between San José and San Ramón.
The cost of mandatory technical vehicle inspections in Costa Rica will remain unchanged for the next 12 months, as the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) on Tuesday evening rejected a rates-hike request of up to 202 percent, depending on the type of vehicle.
RITEVE says vehicle inspection rates haven't increased in 10 years, and blames the Public Works and Transport Ministry for failing to issue a methodology to calculate them.
The Finance Ministry and the Inter-American Development Bank have been trying to speed up the implementation of more than $1.7 billion worth of development loans in energy, infrastructure, security, education and other strategic sectors. Costa Rica has struggled to complete its public works projects in the past, including those with IDB funding, on time and on budget, according to Casa Presidencial.
MEXICO CITY – Mexico abruptly withdrew a multi-billion-dollar deal Thursday with a Chinese-led consortium to build the country's first bullet train after concerns were raised about the bidding process.
Costa Rica will send China a new proposal by the end of the month for a revised contract to expand Route 32, which connects San José with the country's Caribbean port city of Limón, Public Works and Transport Minister Carlos Segnini said Tuesday.
MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaraguan writer and Catholic priest Ernesto Cardenal this weekend blasted plans for the construction of a massive interoceanic canal, calling it a "monstrosity" that would split the country in two and irreversibly damage Lake Cocibolca, the biggest freshwater lake in Central America.
A solid majority of Limón residents say that a $1 billion APM Terminals port project will be a positive thing for the impoverished region, according to a survey from Borges y Asociados. The poll results came out soon before the government announced it would restart negotiations with striking dockworkers on Thursday morning.
Starting this week, legislators will discuss proposals for an expansion of the Florencio del Castillo Highway, the main route connecting the eastern sector of the capital with the province of Cartago.
Since leaving office, former Public Works and Transport Minister Pedro Castro no longer enjoys impunity from prosecution. Tatiana Vargas, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor’s Office, told The Tico Times in an email that the documents would be sent Wednesday morning to the Deputy Prosecutor for Probity, Transparency and Anti-corruption for review.
