Alma Continues To Affect
the Cerro de La Muerte
The effects of tropical
storm Alma in the Cerro
de la Muerte has had
catastrophic effects not
only to those directly
affected by the
landslides and mud, but
also to the business
people in the area,
losing revenue for the
complete closure of the
Interamericana Sur for
13 days and the
continuing restricted
hours of use.
The Spanish daily Al Día
reports many of the
local businesses have
suffered great losses
due to the closure of
the highway. And even
though the highway is
opened - during daylight
hours only from 5am to
5pm to avoid accidents -
the losses to local
businesses continues.
Pedro Castro, the vice
minister of the Obras
Públicas (Public Works)
says that the partial
closure will continue
for at least another
month. Originally the
closure was to have been
less than a week.
Suffering the most are
local area restaurants.
The kitchens are all
fire up, but their no
one at the tables. Some
of the restaurants had
to left go staff
temporarily.
Other area businesses
affected by Alma are
local fruit and flower
stands, businesses that
depend on passing
traffic on the
Interamericana Sur,
people going to or
coming back from the
Southern Zone,
The buses to and from
Pérez Zeledón are yet
another victim of the
tropical storm, as the
Musoc bus company that
operates 18 trips
between Pérez Zeledón
and San José daily has
its vehicles parked and
drivers waiting for the
roadway to be cleared
before being called back
to work.
Castro added that the
cost of the clean up so
far has set back the
Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)
¢400 million colones and
that is only to clean up
the debris and mud from
the roadway. Castro did
not say what the final
bill that would include
the reconstruction would
come to.
In the meantime one
thing is for sure, the
area had never seen
anything like it before.
There have been
landslides and partial
closures of the
Inteamericana Sur and
the Cerro de la Muerte
has seen its share of
problems related to the
rainy season weather,
but never to the extend
of Alma. |
