Costa Rica News – Well with the fact that the road to Arenal is a ticking time bomb getting ready to collapse at any time, the road to the Carribbean has already collapsed, and we have seen the failures of the Costa Ricans to actually be able to construct their own roads in and around San Jose; there was an obvious need for someone else to step in and take over for the incompetence of Conavi and MOPT, the two Costa Rican government entities that are responsible for building and maintaining the infrastructure in CR.
Who would have guessed that the obvious substitute to take over was…….drum roll please……China.
The renovation and expansion of a key 107-kilometer road connecting Costa Rica’s capital to the Caribbean coast could begin as early as next month, after a Chinese bank agreed to provide $395 million in financing.
The renovation and expansion of Route 32 will improve the connection between San Jose and the province of Limón, the key link to the Caribbean coast.
As part of the deal, China’s Harbour Engineering Company LTD will serve as the lead construction company, a familiar model for Chinese financing deals. The Export-Import Bank of China worked a similar deal linking financing and construction for the Baha Mar project in the Bahamas.
China money is flowing into projects around the world. It was announced this week that China is backing the Manchester Airport City development in the U.K.
The Costa Rica deal was first announced in June when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the region. But President Laura Chinchilla signed the deal last week, the Tico Times reports. The financing deal was for 20 years at a 3.5 percent interest rate, with a grace period of up to four years, according to the paper.
The loan will help pay for finance the $485 million expansion of Route 32, the road connecting San Jose to the Caribbean coast, which is under-developed compared to the popular western coast. The road will also expedite the flow of goods from the Limón port.
Construction could begin as early as next month, if the Costa Rica legislature approves the deal.
The Costa Rican deputies and government officials probably just need to find out how much of the money is going to go into their pockets.
Pretty amazing that Costa Rica still does not have the competence to build their own roads.
From worldpropertychannel.com, edited by Dan Stevens
