Progress on Coastal Highway
A meeting was held last Wednesday, November 14th, with a diverse group of investors and local authorities in San Juan del Sur to go over several important issues regarding tourism between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
The first topic discussed in the forum was Nicaragua’s border crossing with its neighboring country to the south, Costa Rica. Eduardo Holman, mayor of San Juan del Sur, presented his advancements on this front by stating that the first step on a local and national level was for Nica and CR to espouse a new border crossing. “Regardless of whether there is a paved road or not, our commitment to the region is to get the two countries to work together. This crossing will add significant value to tourism in the region”
“We have been in contact with the mayorship of La Cruz county in Costa Rica & and they are very interested in lobbying the CR government to push for a new ‘Pacific coast’ customs point at the border crossing between the two countries”. Mayor Holmann went on to say that La Cruz only had 5 km of damaged dirt road that would need to be crowned so that Nicaragua’s border crossing could be in harmony with its neighbor to the south.
“We have always been interested in promoting this new crossing but always assumed that CR would not have the same interest as us; it was to our surprise that the local community in North CR was actually more prepared than us to formalize their commitment to this new crossing.”
The other topic that was talked about was the joint improvement of the coastal road going southbound from San Juan del Sur. Mario Salinas, Minister of tourism and infrastructure for the Nicaraguan government, offered his expertise and insight on the matter. According to Salina’s the most viable and sustainable alternative would be for Costa Rica and Nicaragua to outsource a toll road and grant a 20 year private concession to its operator and buider. The road would be paved on the existent dirt road and the venture would bring close to 16% annual returns. Since the road would fall under the guise of a touristic project it would reap the benefits of beneficial tourism laws like 306. This would promote the sustainability of this road through a non tax base during the roads construction and operation.
Nicaragua’s ability to work in cohesion with Costa Rican authorities on a national level has traditionally been hampered by Nicaragua’s political instability. With democracy nearing its 20th birthday in Nicaragua, it is expected that Costa Rica will begin to feel less threatened by its neighbor to the north. “Old rivalries between the two countries has caused for this crossing to be a low priority in past administrations, now that are past is behind us both these countries look to forge ties to improve the flow of tourism through Central America” says Salinas.
There was an overall consensus at the meeting that the first step towards considering the coastal road was a guaranteed touristic border crossing between CR and Nicaragua. Without it the toll road would only work to benefit tourists in one country or the other and this would make for less income on the operators of the toll road.
An independent border crossing between CR and Nicaragua would be a huge step forward for both countries. Coupled with the signing of the free trade agreement, this would be the first step towards the integration of these two countries even if it means crossing the border and getting a little dirty.