On Monday, March 18, the Samara Chamber of Tourism (CASATUR) called a meeting in the community, inviting more than 400 locals, residents and business owners, in order to plan for 20 additional police officers that the Public Force had offered during Easter Week. But only one person, Carol Shepherd, showed up apart from the CASATUR board members and the police force members.
Another surprise was that the Samara Progressive Association lent the community hall but were not present at the actual meeting.
CASATUR president Marco Carmona said, “seemingly, hotels and businesses are uninterested in investing even the smallest amount ($20) to help stem the flood of crime that occurs at this time of year; it will be interesting to see if they are more willing to complain about it after the fact, when they lose future clients because of their unwillingness to pay the tiny amount needed to make the town safer for their clients.”
Despite the lack of interest, the CASATUR board has committed to continue looking for funds. A local bus service to bring the extra police to and from Nicoya twice a day would cost ¢200,000 total ($400), or only ¢10.000 ($20) each for 20 area businesses.
So far, four business— Wingnuts Canopy, Intercultura, Carrillo Adventures and the Samara Hardware Store (Alan Barrantes)— have offered to pay $20 each for the buses.
If you are a business owner and couldn’t attend to the meeting but want to help, you can contact CASATUR at [email protected] or [email protected].
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