Disputes At MOPT Leaves
Bridges Unrepaired
A dispute between officials of the
Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)
and Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi) is
the reason for poor state of repair and lack
of attention to the country's bridges.
The La Nación reports that the two
government agencies - actually the Conavi is
under control of the MOPT - are in dispute
as to who is responsible for the maintenance
and repair.
The dispute has intensified since last
October when the hanging bridge over the
Tarcoles river gave way under, killing five
and forcing the resignation of MOPT
minister, Karla González.
The Conavi has registered at least 266
technical reports for various bridges across
the country, however, the MOPT has evaded
the responsibility to prioritize which works
are more urgent and how to address them and
blames it all on the Conavi.
Intenal memos revealed by the daily, like
DVOP-346-10, dated January 28, reinforces
the disputes that include the vice-ministe
de Obras Públicas, Pedro Castro, allegeing
that Convai is directly responsible for the
national road network, "including the
bridges along the roads".
Meanwhile, Conavi diresctor, Alejandro
Molina, says that his reports are returned
without answers. And so the paper trail
between the departments and their heads
continues.
The current MOPT minister, Marco Vargas,
says his doing "his best" to modify the
Conavi budge and turn over to the department
¢12 billion colones to make repairs on the
bridges for this year.
Vargas, however, did not say where the money
is going to come from.
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