QCOSTARICA – If you’ve lived in Costa Rica for some time, or even a short time, who have seen a newly paved street or repaired road only to be torn up again by workers of the water and sewer utility.
And we can bet you have seen that patch of dirt to cover up the water and sewer repair left as such, in some cases, forever.
But that may have come to an end with an agreement signed between authorities of the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad (Conavi) – National Highway Council (Conavi) and the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) Costa Rican Aqueducts and Sewers utility.
The intention, the two state institutions reported, is to avoid damages due to lack of coordination.
With this agreement, the protocol for the construction of road and water and sewer works will facilitate that executing units of both institutions exchange information on projects in the pre-feasibility, feasibility, construction, maintenance, and even emergency care phases.
According to the information released this Wednesday, the mechanisms that they would apply include the submission of project lists, technical information for each one, coordination to relocate drinking water or sanitation infrastructure on behalf of Conavi, and the obligation of AyA to ensure that the intervened national routes remain in the same or even better conditions than the previous state.
The initiative arose at the Guanacaste dialogue table, coordinated by the First Lady, Claudia Dobles, who took the proposal to the national level.
“Through this protocol, a coordination channel is created for AyA and Conavi to talk to each other and to make improvements in the interventions they carry out on the roads. This way we will have better use of resources and more efficient works,” assured Dobles.
For Mario Rodríguez, director of Conavi, this agreement is important because both institutions work in the same physical space, carrying out relevant infrastructure works.
“There is an emphasis on coordination on the projects that are being executed to reorganize the execution times and deadlines, and so that there is a commitment on the part of both institutions for the benefit of all users”, explained Rodríguez.
For his part, Tomás Martínez, executive president of AyA, hopes that with this protocol it will be possible to work more fluidly and have the works ready in less time.
Despite their assurances, we can only hope that they are serious about their intention.
Problems of lack of coordination can be seen everywhere, on major roads to side streets, where the AyA comes in, rightly digs up the street to make a repair, but then that is it.
Now, if only Conavi director Rodríguez could reach a similar agreement with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and its subsidiary, the Compañia Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CFNL) to move their poles to the side of the road after a road upgrade.
