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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
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COSTA RICA NEWS
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Monday 01
November 2010 |
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Caldera
Was An
"Experiment"
Says
Former
MOPT
Minister
Karla
González,
the
former
ministra
de Obras
Públicas
y
Transportes,
said the
charging
of the
tolls on
the San
José -
Caldera
should
have
stopped
in May,
citing a
clause
in the
concession
contract
that was
signed
by the
Arias
administration
with the
Spanish
consortium,
Autopistas
del Sol.
The
former
minister
is of
the
opinion
that if
the road
does not
work,
the
tolls
should
not be
charged.
González
is
perhaps
the most
definitive
voice of
what
really
happened
in the
concession
contract
process,
in its
award
and the
construction
of the
road,
for it
was
during
her
tenure
as
minister
of the
MOPT
that the
"experiment",
as she
calls
it, was
made.
"Worldwide
there
are
concessions.
The
country
had to
take
that
step and
Caldera
was like
the
experiment,
from it
the
country
must
improve",
explained
González.
The
former
minister
added
that
when she
took
over the
portfolio
(in
2006)
the MOPT
was a
mess,
"almost
paralyzed",
she is
being
quoted.
González
added
that the
country
had to
start
investing
in
infrastructure,
for that
is what
funds
are for.
During
her
tenure
of
almost
four
years at
the MOPT,
stepping
down
with the
fall of
the
Turrucares
bridge
that
claimed
five
lives,
the
government
approved
a us$850
million
dollar
loan
from the
Banco
Interamericano
de
Desarrollo
(BID)
near the
end of
its
term.
"What is
happening
with
this
money?
If only
we had
had that
money
available",
said
González.
The
legislative
commission
looking
into the
Caldera
situation
has yet
to
decide
if they
will
call on
González
to
testify.
González
said she
welcomes
and is
awaiting
the call
for she
has a
lot to
say and
more
important
to clear
things,
like the
problems
with the
hiring
of the
IMNSA to
oversee
the
project
and
their
failure
from
almost
the
beginning.
"We had
the luck
to
prepare
the
contracts
and hire
the
supervisor
for the
work and
it was
when we
started
that we
realized
they (Imnsa)
were not
the most
adequate
for the
job",
said the
former
minister.
Her
remarks
are
aimed at
the
Imnsa
president
testimony
before
the
commission,
blaming
the
Arias
government,
especially
former
president
Oscar
Arias
and
former
minister
González,
for the
problems
of the
road.
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