QCOSTARICA – Garbage collectors taking part in Monday’s strike by the union collective Patria Justa, is partly the blame for the flooding of many parts of San Jose Tuesday.
San Jose mayor Sandra Garcia explained that some 200 garbage collectors did not work on Monday and that of the 27 waste collection routes, 10 did not get picked up. Garcia did not specify which.
“Yes, it was an influence,” said Garcia.
“We were taken by surprise, we did not know the workers would join the strike. Otherwise we would have taken precautions,” added the mayor.
A heavy storm Tuesday afternoon caused many parts of the city, most affected were the areas of San Pedro, Los Yoses, Barrio Lujan, Moravia and Tibas.
Garcia explained that in any event the flooding would have occurred, the storm sewers can’t handle the volume. The mayor said that according to city engineers, the sewers can handle up to 35 millimeters of rain per square meter, on Tuesday the downpour dumped 66 millimeters of rain per square meter.
According to the national weather service, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), the hot and muggy mornings, accompanied by afternoon thunderstorms, will be normal for the rest of the week and possibly into the next, as the rainy season starts to taper down.