Uproar Over New Digs for CONAVI
While the country is experiencing an investment crisis in its crumbling roadway system, CONAVI is preparing to move into a luxury office building. CONAVI has been paying $80,000 per month, the amount which was approved by the Comptroller and the Constitutional Court. The current building is in Zapote and houses 300 employees, who allege that the space is insufficient and that the structure is deterioting and unsafe.
The new building will cost 215 million colones more per year in rent, while the Minister of Transport Randall Quiros has estimated that the country needs 16 billion colones to repair damages from the recent storms.
In addition, the new building’s property taxes are being investigated, since the owners have declared the building and land to be worth 303 million colones on their property taxes for the city of Montes de Oca. (about $932,000 at the time) An evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Finance has indicated a value of 3 billion colones for the building.
Local media have questioned whether the amount CONAVI is currently paying to rent a building they aren’t using, couldn’t be better spent on road repairs in urgent sectors such as Barranca - Puerto Caldera, Caldera - Orotina, Palmar Norte - Paso Canoas or Abangares -Liberia.