Costa Rican government assumes port control

The action follows President Carlos Alvarado’s direction to Costa Rica’s Public Security force to assume control of the ports of Limon and Moin of the Atlantic Zone Development and Port Administration Group (JAPDEVA).

“With these actions we are guaranteeing the Costa Rican population the continuity of the fuel supply, the port services and the traffic through the international aerial terminals, in response to the call for a general strike by the labour unions”, President Alvarado told The Costa Rica Star.

Problematic

JAPDEVA confirmed the activation of security and administrative protocols to handle the regular scheduling of cruise ships and cargo ships.

The group says that it is committed to guaranteeing national and international commerce and “complete compliance with the work programmed regardless of any strikes.”

The union groups have called for an indefinite strike starting on Monday 10 September 10, to reject the tax reform, which in their opinion will increase the cost of living, mainly due to the creation of a Value Added Tax (VAT) mainly affecting the middle and lower classes.

It’s not clear how any long-term labour crisis may affect private operators and their operations going forward.

But Port Strategy approached APM Terminals, which is due to open its Terminal de Contenedores de Moín (TCM) terminal at Moin in February 2019, for comment.

A spokesperson told PS that “Moin Container Terminal is ready to collaborate with all parties involved and as a company we respect the freedom of our employees to join associations.”

The terminal build was originally due to open in January 2018 but has been beset with problems of a different kind involving defective construction work.