Road to Langosta is already under construction

After three years of hard work, dedication, sacrifice and hopeless days and days of seeing that the project of the road to Langosta seemed to be on hold, it is finally moving forward and this stretch is already under construction.

Everything started from the concern of one of the residents, Mark Schneider, who is the current president of the Association of Development of Langosta.

"It was a project that I thought should be taken by someone from the community. Many residents, including me, were already tired of not having the infrastructure necessary and we had to do something about it. That is why I started working with Jean Schitkette, who has been quite helpful. He has assumed the responsibility for interpreting, and coordinating everything related to MINAET as well as for completing other tasks. Without his help, this would not have been possible. In my case, I spent a great deal to obtain funding for this road."

At first, they had to obtain the consent of the residents and convince them of the benefits of this project. It was not easy. By that time, people were not worried. Tourists were coming to the country and the economy in Costa Rica and in United States was doing great. When things began to change and the sales decreased, they noticed that competing was not going to be simple and certain facilities would be required in order to continue being part of the scene.

 "We had to be sure that developers could understand the importance of having infrastructure for them to sell their products. Initially, they were not considering investing because things were going well. But at the end, we managed to obtain the support; we only needed an agreement on the part the Municipality of Santa Cruz," said Schneider.

This process began when Pastor Gomez was mayor, but during his term the progress was minor. The situation was taken back once again with Jorge Chavarría, with whom we were able to move several steps forward and obtain the contract through which the Municipality pledged to support the construction with 30 percent of the total cost of the work, "said Schneider.

Among the efforts of this group of people we could mention the opportunity in which the President of the Republic, Dr. Oscar Arias Sánchez, members of MOPT and Santa Cruz Municipality were invited to have lunch at Mark Schneider’s home. The objective of such invitation was to announce the road project as a combined effort between the private and the public sector.

With the signing of contracts and after obtaining the permits from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET), the works began. However, there is one more obstacle to overcome, as explained by the President of the Association of Residents of Langosta.

“We started the works, but we had a problem with the contractor because MINAET ordered to close the worksite since the protocols for obtaining ballast were changed. So, it took several more months until they were able to meet the requirements and obtain the respective permits."

Last May, the Association of Langosta saw how this project was finally coming true and how every single sacrifice made during the last three years is to be awarded upon restarting the construction works.

"The machinery is already running and doing the first works.  We also have the presence of one of MOPT inspectors, who resides in Tamarindo and who will be responsible for supervising the project," said Mark Schneider.

The cost of this work amounts more than 280 thousand dollars. Thirty percent will be financed by the Municipality of Santa Cruz; the rest of the money has been obtained in part through contributions from developers in the area, who we have named the “founding members” and who have invested 25 thousand dollars each. In addition, we got money from residents, owners of other smaller businesses, who have made contributions ranging $200 to $ 500.

"The ballast was donated by Grupo Diría. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport will provide the asphalt and its application," said the head of the Association. The company La Mata de Caña will be in charge of doing the basic work and the installation of a drainage piping."

According to Mark Schneider, after completing all this process, there is a moral.  "There should be more commitment from some institutions for improvements in infrastructure. The municipality should have a specific budget for Tamarindo, since such entity already receives a lot of money from property tax collection, sale of properties and building permits."

Even if the works already started, there is still the need to finance part of the road, which is meant to be ready by late July. Therefore, the president of the Association encourages the residents and business owners from the area to help the cause, which will definitely benefit us all. So if you want to make a contribution for this project, please contact Mark Schneider by writing an email to mrs7777@hotmail.com.