COSTA RICA NEWS – Costa Rica says it will open a “temporary” immigration post in the area where Nicaragua built a bridge over the San Juan river.
The temporary post will be replaced once the permanent post is built, delayed because the local municipality of Los Chiles has yet to hand over (transfer) the land it owns to the central government.
The temporary post will be ready at the start of 2015, said Foreign Minister, Manuel Gonzalez on Tuesday.
He explained that once the issue of transfer of ownership is resolved, the government hopes to get the construction of the new border post will commence. The cost of the post is between US$10 and US$12 million dollars and will be financed through the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), according to the minister. The BID funds will also be used to remodel the Peñas Blancas (Nicaragua) and Paso Canoas (Panama) border posts.
Gonzalez said that the government of Daniel Ortega has been notified of the delay.
The bridge, donated by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and cost US$30 million dollars, was officially opened by Nicaragua last Monday.
