The Holes of the Road to Tamarindo Were Fixed Thanks To Facebook

"Write to MOPT’s Regional Director. He is the one in charge of making the decisions as to fixing the streets or not, so that we can get Villareal-Tamarindo road fixed. The more pressure we make, the faster they’ll come. Of course, always with respect!" This message was posted on Facebook, and it invaded the e-mail inbox of Julio Viales, who is the Regional Director of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Tamarindo residents were outraged by the deplorable state of the road from Villarreal to Tamarindo – they were tired of how badly the Municipality of Santa Cruz has handled the construction of the road to Langosta, in spite of the budget approved and of the number of holes in the main road to Tamarindo. Dozens of residents took action by making the best of computer technology and expressing their discontent about the neglectful situation of the streets of this area. For example, Luli Solé posted on Facebook, "For our customers’ car to pass RTV, we must change compensators, bushings, suspension and steering axles. Our clients must take their cars to RTV as soon as we give the cars back to them because the vehicles deteriorate incredibly fast.” Gustavo Jimenez Quesada said, "These days that I had to go in and out of Tamarindo, I have been having nightmares recalling the old times in which we used to last up to 30 minutes to go from Villareal to Tamarindo Circle, and when the stretch in front of Tamarindo Diriá could be compared to the mud in Avellanas in winter!! I woke up sweating!! As a reply to this post, Sandra Martinez joked, "They keep having nightmares." Marianella Mora was even more drastic and said, "Our district is the one that generates more money to the Municipality of Santa Cruz, and it is the one that receives the least services. I am in favor of separating Tamarindo from Santa Cruz ... Together as a community, we could do much more!"

When Viales was asked about this matter, he explained the situation as follows, "I read each of the posts in detail, and I have answered them myself as far as I could." Mr. Jogi Jürgen Gerner posted, "As recommended, I sent an email to Mr. Viales; he replied to me today and said the following: Don Jürgen, I'm taking note of your suggestion." Dr. Iván Méndez wrote "This is what I received from Julio Viales as a response for my request as to getting the road to Tamarindo fixed, ‘Yes, Don Ivan, I will arrange your request as soon as possible. If not within week, hopefully, it will be ready by Tuesday at latest.’”

Viales said to The Tamarindo News, "The National Road Safety Council (CONAVI, for its acronym in Spanish) has no budget for fixing the streets; therefore, I have decided to assume the responsibility, but I have major limitations. I have very few staff to carry out the works, and yet, we have already worked on some stretches. In addition, El Chopo, from where the material is removed, is not operating. We need help from the Municipality. I have spoken to some people from the community on a way in which we can expedite the works. If they help me with a group of about seven laborers, we could finish the works much earlier. I only have three workers available, so I cannot send the 20 tons of material required per day, but only three tons."

After presenting the initiative of writing to Don Julio, the site of “Vecinos de Tamarindo” (Residents of Tamarindo) in Facebook received plenty of comments. This is one of them: Sergio Cubero wrote, "Gentlemen, the problem is very complex –  if you do not believe me just look at the thickness of the asphalt layer. It is almost non-existent. This is why the road easily cracks in winter and so many holes appear. They start fixing the holes, and they leave the works incomplete; they never finish what they start! Besides, it is amazing how many millions we generate to the Municipality, and they don´t do anything to repair the roads to Tamarindo. This situation is no longer bearable. When will we react? Or is it that we have been domesticated? "