In this author's opinion, the new marina in Golfito has made a significant
contribution to our environmental awareness of the Golfo Dulce Region, even
before construction begins. By going through the proper legal channels, a time
consuming and expensive ordeal, this new marina has ensured that the entire
region will now be more stringently overseen by the appropriate government
agencies.
In the past, the Golfito Bay and Golfo Dulce region has been relatively
remote, and environmental regulation and permitting has not been enforced, and
blatantly ignored by some developers - without fear of reprisal.
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The King and Bartlett, pictured above, is the only tourism dock and marina
in Golfito currently operating with a concession in compliance with 1998
Law 7744. Of the fourteen other marinas currently operating without concessions,
most were already in business before the law took effect seven years ago,
but still have not received concessions. Some have continued construction
without permits, even though the 1998 law specifically prohibited marinas
and tourism docks in mangrove areas.
Environmental
watchdog organizations are urged to continue to disseminate information about
the environmental impact of development in the area, and to expose past abuses
and destruction of vital marine species, endangered mangroves and source
rivers around Golfito Bay and the Golfo Dulce.
Business owners who have flagrantly ignored these regulations in the past
should be held responsible and financially accountable for reparation to
these fragile ecosystems, in order to stop the destruction and encourage
those businesses that demonstrate compliance with the law and awareness of
the environment.
Constructions within protected areas such as mangroves should be ordered
dismantled and removed - gasoline tanks, metal and concrete pilings, docks,
piers, and hotels - and the land restored as much as possible to original
condition, so that the ecosystem can begin the long process of recovery and
restoration.
Source: The Tico Times, print edition July 8, 2005
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... The proposed construction of a new, enormous
marina on the (Golfito) bay is giving hope to many in the community for another
chance at their lost glory days, but the regulations around existing, smaller
marinas are causing conflict.
The only existing docking business in Golfito with a concession
on the water, King and Bartlett Marina, is crying foul over alleged irregularities
that have allowed several others to remain in business without the proper
permits for seven years.
Marinas, and the tourism they support, represent prosperity
to the struggling community (of Golfito). For that reason, according to government
officials, the more than a dozen tourism docks and marinas in Golfito have
been allowed to continue doing business without the concessions required
by a 1998 law governing marinas and docks...
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Famed for its bountiful sportfishing and surrounded by some
of the most untamed and bio-diverse forests in the country, including the
legendary Corcovado National Park across the gulf, Golfito's relative remoteness
is one reason why the zone has not seen the same level of development as
areas such as the country's northern and central Pacific coasts...
... tourism looks to get a major boost with the construction of the Golfito Marina, slated to begin this year.
The first $50 million phase of the $400 million project entails
the construction of a 217-slip marina and a 100-150 room hotel. The director
of the project, Marvin Jaén, says the marina, which has a concession,
would provide 1,000 new jobs to the community of 36,000 (TT, June24, 2004).
The owners of several other docks in Golfito told the Tico Times they look
forward to the business that could come with the added exposure the new marina
- being developed by the Costa Rican company Hacienda Dorado, S.A., and potentially
financed with U.S. capital - is expected bring to the area.
The 1998 Law 7744 for the Concession and Operation of Marinas
and Tourism Docks, meant to regulate the industry, required all companies
with docks on the water for tourism use to get a concession through a process
of presenting proposals and environmental impact studies to different government
agencies and the municipal government.
Regulations accompanying the law ordered all exisitng facilities
to comply within six months or face closure. However, of the facilities in
Golfito that were in operation when the law passed, not one has received
its concession.
This infuriates Steve Leen, owner of King and Bartlett, a
sportfishing outfit he opened three years ago... "Why is King and Bartlett
the only business that has to adhere?"...."This makes it more difficult to
compete," Leen said, "Our overhead goes up, while other businesses don't
have to pay their taxes."
"I look forward to paying these taxes when I can complete
the process," said Bruce Blevins, who runs Banana Bay (a marina that sits
a few hundred meters north along the coast from King and Bartlett)... Difering
interpretations of the law, as well as bureaucratic inefficiency, he said,
are the reasons why it has taken his business so long to get a concession....
Katie Duncan, owner of the small tourism dock Tierra Mar (Land
Sea Services), neighboring Banana Bay, echoed some of Blevins' complaints....
The job of enforcing the law falls on the municipality. Golfito's
current mayor, Aída Soto, took the position three months ago after
the previous mayor was removed from office and jailed briefly for allegedly
failing to comply with orders from the Comptroller General's Office. Soto
acknowledged that the law has not been enforced for seven years.
"But now, all are in the process of getting their concessions," she said.
According to CIMAT (Inter-Institutional Commission on Marinas
and Tourism Docks), this is true of those operating along the shoreline of
the city of Golfito, but of the 14 marinas and tourism docks in the Golfito
bay, not all are on their way to legality.
Tourism docks Golfito Sailfish Ranch, Siete Mares, Cabinas
Playa Cacao and Dock 2038 are all operating without concessions and are not
in process to receive one...
Roy's Zancudo Lodge approached CIMAT about getting its concession,
Villalobos continued, but it, along with the Arena Alta tourism dock and
the municipal dock of Playa Zancudo, a small coastal town south of Golfito,
all are located within mangroves. The 1998 law prohibits marinas and tourism
docks in mangrove areas, making it impossible for them to receive a concession
unless they move...
The Isla Grande Marina and Hotel Gaviotas are also in the
process of getting their concessions... The owners of Mar and Luna dock in
Golfito have informed CIMAT that they are not interested in getting a concession
and will not be conducting tourism business.
Villalobos explained a certain "tolerance" has existed towards
these businesses, in part because there is a "political pressure" to keep
them open. "The spirit of CIMAT is to promote the operation of marinas and
docks in the Golfito area," Villalobos said, "Enforcement hasn't been strict
and they have been given many opportunities."
adapted from the Tico Times print edition, July 8, 2005
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