Calendar of Events and Posts
Feb
20
A view from the Marina Meeting
February 20, 2008 | Tags: Economic Development, Government and Politics | 9 Comments
There’s no other issue that’s raised as much interest in the community as much as the proposed marina. That is evident from the overflow crowd that showed up on Feb 12th for the meeting about the marina. It’s also evident on this site where the vast majority of comments on the posts have been about this issue or about the issue or about the issue of what economic development model our community should follow. Check the Recent Comments stream on the left for some of the recent comments about this issue — the last 12 comments on the Talamanca News were all about this issue.
I wanted to share another view from the marina meeting. After the acrimony of the meeting, Alaine Berg of ATEC has written an opinion piece which calls for a solution to bring the community together to come to a consensus rather than pull us apart.
You can find it here: Greencoast News: OP.ED Marina New World “What Now?”
Feb
14
Marina Meeting Ends in Acrimony
February 14, 2008 | Tags: Local Business News, Tourism | 1 Comment
The meeting Tuesday at the Casa de Cultura on the proposed marina between community members, the developer and the local municipality erupted into high emotion and ended early with the mayor threatening foreigners wouldn’t be allowed into any future such meetings.
 The Casa de la Cultura in Puerto Viejo on a calmer day |
Around 300 people came to hear the debate about the controversial “Marina Ecologica New World” planned for Playa Negra, a beach that extends north from the center of Puerto Viejo. The crowd spilled out onto the streets as Walter Coto, lawyer for the developers Grupo Caribeño Internacional S.A., opened the meeting at 10 a.m.
Community members had sent two letters to Rugelis Morales Rodríguez, mayor of Talamanca, requesting a meeting with municipality members. They hoped that the municipality would be able to answer questions, mainly surrounding concerns that the marina project would have adverse effects on the marine life and coral in two national parks near to the chosen development site.
Coto explained that the company he represents is still in the stage of compiling the pre-project report, and therefore no technical details for the “Marina Ecologica New World” are confirmed. “Mayor Rodríguez and Paola Mora also gave speeches after Coto,” said Jose Guido Bizet, the opposition’s general coordinator. “They were very vague and did not tell us what we wanted to hear.”
After the official speeches, the audience was informed that only three people from the community would be allowed to speak. Chosen to speak were Guido, Mauricio Salazar, a representative of the Alta Talamanca region who works in ecotourism, and Guillermo Quirós, an oceanographer.
“The municipal lawyer replied to our questions, asking how the area could develop without investments like the marina,” said Guido. “She cited the drug problem here, and also said that the community had no right to express concern about
the coral reefs off the shore while the hotels and restaurants are contaminating the waters with their waste and sewage.
“I replied that the prospective 400 extra boats that could dock here would most likely increase the problem of drug trafficking rather than decrease it, and that it is the job of the municipality to organize programs for recycling and cleaning up the town.”
The municipal lawyer, Ms. Mora, then said that the organizers of the meeting were lying to the community by inflating the number of boats proposed for the marina. She said that the number of yachts the project proposes is closer to 100 than 400. But the third speaker, Quirós, referred to pre-project plans secured from the Comision de Marinas y Atracaderos Turisticos, which show that the pre-project plans do indeed state that the marina would hold 398 boats.
“Quirós said that it was actually the municipality that was lying to the people. Then George Brown, the municipal president, started shouting that they would have to close the meeting early,” said Guido. The meeting was brought to an end amid disapproving chants.
“The mayor was escorted out of the Casa by police,” said Alaine Berg, who works for Asociación Talamanqueña de Ecoturismo y Conservación and attended Tuesday’s meeting. “I don’t know why. I didn’t see anyone making threats to him. It was very emotional. There were people crying in the streets.”
Guido added that Brown made a demand that in future no foreigners would be allowed into similar meetings. Guido said that the community would fight against this decision, as there are many foreigners who legally own businesses in the area who should be able to have a say in developments.
With reporting from: A.M. Costa Rica: Marina meeting in Puerto Viejo upsets residents
Feb
5
Puerto Viejo Satellite Visitors Through the Roof!
February 5, 2008 | Tags: Site news | 9 Comments
 Website traffic for Apr 07 through Jan 08. The red bars are unique visitors to the site, the blue line is pages viewed on the site. If you can’t read the graph, check the advertising information page for a larger version. |
Many local business owners have said January was one of their busiest months ever, with a whole new type of visitor discovering the South Caribbean. Well the Puerto Viejo Satellite and Talamanca News websites also had an amazing month too (perhaps we can take a little part of the credit for some of those visitors?) with 7,700 unique visitors coming to the website in the month of January!
And February is turning out to be a great month too. Yesterday was the best ever single day with 344 unique visitors to the site.
So if you know of a local business that’s not yet listed on the site, let them know that they’re missing out on a huge readership!
Feb
1
Municipality Announces Marina Meeting for February 12
February 1, 2008 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News | 1 Comment
| February 12, 2008 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 1:00 pm |
The municipal government has responded to the letter signed by over 200 local residents asking them to hold a public audience in Puerto Viejo in order explain the proposed Marina project to the community (The Talamanca News, Jan 23, Court Action Threatened to Block Marina).
 Ol’aba Dance Group performing after the Paddleboard race that was held on Saturday the 26th to raise awareness about the concerns the community has about the marina project |
They will hold a the session about the “Marina New World” on Tuesday, February 12th at 10AM in the Casa Cultura in Puerto Viejo center. The community is welcome to attend and ask questions.
To get involved with the committee that’s working to organize questions about the marina please call don Guido at 756 8165 or write to atecmail@gmail.com if you have information to share or drop by ATEC´s offices to get a version of the plans filed by the developer.
Reported by: Greencoast News: Muni Annouces Marina Meeting February 12.
|
|
| |
Use promo code 50_BUCKS_OFF to get $50 off Carbon Neutral Hosting |
|
