Crocodile Bay Lodge & The Town of Puerto Jimenez – Development versus the environment.

The four hour meeting between Crocodile Bay Lodge representatives and Comite de Desarrollo and the town of Puerto Jimenez opened up a bag of carnada (worms/bait), after a PowerPoint presentation by Crocodile Bay Lodge, and a counter presentation by members of a coalition of environmental organizations, biologists, and concerned citizens. It was a hot debate in point, counter point fashion.

The Hotel, which is currently the largest installation in the Osa Peninsula, proposes to build a marina and commercial center in front of their beachfront concession, which would include a floating slip system to accommodate up to 257 boats between 5 and 30 meters.

50 of these slips would be occupied by the sportfishing fleet of the hotel, with 25-30 slips for the community private boats, and the rest open to water-based tourists. The plan proposes a land fill area which would house the commercial area open to the public, including restaurants and souvenir shops, as well as the marine mechanic, fuel station, aduana and immigration offices, and a public park.

As the General Manager of the Crocodile Bay Lodge Hotel, Cory Williams, stated in his introduction, the meeting was held to present the idea to the community, as is protocol in the order of things that will greatly affect the community, for better or worse.

As yet, no permits have been issued, and no development has begun, other than the preliminary requirements of a plan regulador and concessions granting the use and development of this area of Maritime Zone, and a marine concession granting an area that reaches into the Golfo Dulce in front of the maritime zone concession.

This area sits directly in front of the river mouth of the Platanares river, which connects to an estuary system of mangroves that run through the town of Puerto Jimenez. Environmentalists say that this is a highly sensitive eco-system. Environmentalists are also concerned that this proposed project is situated very close to the Platanares Marine and Wildlife Refuge.

They are concerned when they saw the summary of the project’s impact study not mentioning the two species of dolphins and the whale sharks, or the turtles who nest on nearby beaches.

Community members were concerned with such issues as the 400 new jobs that the project would offer. Would these jobs be filled by local, native Puerto Jimenenians (sp), or would the job skills necessary to fill these jobs require that extranjeros, not only from abroad, but also from other areas of Costa Rica, bringing their expectations and needs with them, creating a need for more housing, and adequate infrastructure to support the growth of the town? And what about the tourists who arrive?

Will their tourism dollars be spent in the hotel and marina compound, or will any of that money be seen in town shops and restaurants and other services?

What about their solid waste? What about water and sewage? These issues and more were tossed back in forth; the answers from Crocodile Bay engineers and attorneys was inadequate to satisfy the outraged public.

Some members of the community opposition came armed with facts and figures denoting the implications of the increase in petroleum and toxic chemicals being trafficked on the waters of the gulf and the Pacific. The figures on chlorine and detergent used by boat crew in the cleaning of the vessels, leaching into the local waters was astounding, The impact of sportfishing increase upon the subsistence fishing of local fishermen was another issue barely touched upon.

While CBL’s team tried to remain open and friendly towards the opposition, they were bombarded with statements, opinions, and questions regarding access to the 50 meter public zone, restrictions to kayaks and local fishermen and bathers who venture into the marine concession area around and beyond the existing private dock that the hotel now uses to access their launches.

Nothing was decided, nothing approved, and CBL did not walk away with the desired support of the community. A new commission was formed by the town council to further investigate and study the issues that were raised, and to give an account to the Associacion de Desarrollo regarding a recommendation, pros and cons, of benefits and dangers that a marina project in the Puerto Jimenez area would bring.

Meanwhile, CBL will continue their process, point by point, of seeking not only approvals from the various government institutions, but also a way to appease the community and make the project acceptable to a community that is extremely sensitive to the issues of over population, and exploitation of the environment.

A petition proposing a plea to the Costa Rican government to provide protection against environmentally disastrous development of any kind, by granting “Protected-Area” status to the entire Golfo Dulce area.

This may be the best way to end discussions in the future regarding whether a project would be bad for the environment, but good for the economy, as one of the members of the CBL team suggested when he tossed out the Tico saying, which translate to “If you hadn’t killed the pig, you wouldn’t have the chicharrones,” (pork) which was answered by the local dentist, with a dicha from his grandmother, which loosely translated means, “Better leave the pig alone and dig up the vegetables in the garden!”

The general feeling from the Puerto Jimenez population is that they would rather be vegetarians than slaughter the pig and the environment and local lifestyle for the sake of some of the “treats” being offered by promises of economic growth and all the goodies of the “gringo” lifestyle.

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Written by Deborah (Tao) Cain Watts who is an environmentally concerned Costa Rica Realtor who has lived in and loved Costa Rica for 17 years. Tao believes that: “The best way to save the rainforest is to own it.” If you are seriously interested in speaking with her about buying real estate in the Osa Pensinula area and helping to protect the environment, then please help her to help you by using the form below:

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.