Costa Rica Government’s “New” New Plan to Measure Property.

The Ministry of Housing is re-measuring national property through the Program of measurement registry. The program was first commissioned for 65 million colones or $130,000 in 2001 by the Bank of Inter American Development (BID) but, as of December, Costa Rica has asked for a three year extension.

The purpose of the program is to measure all private and public property to ensure ownership security and to aid municipal taxes.

The program, which began at the end of 2002 and used only 12.7% of the budget over 3 years and 9 months, is fraught with shortcomings. Although the new project coordinator Claudio Ansorena expects to cover 100% of the national territory he’s pessimistic about measuring every single property saying at the most 65% or 855,000 properties will be measured over the next 3 years.

Vice President and Justice Minister Laura Chinchilla said the government will search for additional funding and admits the last three years were practically lost. She also explained that the new plan would not have to await approval from the Legislative Assembly.

The National Registry has 1.2 million registered predios, or fincas, and holds 1.6 million land surveys. The “new” measurement plan intends to solve discrepancies between legal ownership and actual land focusing special interest on parks and reserves as means to strengthen local governments.

A mass campaign planned for June begins in Cartago, Limón and Southern Heredia.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.