This week, the Municipal Council of Liberia received three appeals against the appointment of the Román Ocampo cousins to the Territorial Zoning Plan Commission (Spanish acronym: POT), or the regulatory plan.
The appeals, promoted individually and in groups by several Liberians, seek to bring down the municipal agreement that elected Eugenio Román Ocampo, first cousin of the president of the municipal council, María Lourdes Ocampo Fernández, as a representative of civil society.
Eugenio Román should not be the representative of civil society because he is a businessman with direct interests in developing his land,” expressed Damaris Rodríguez, who signed one of the appeals along with eight other people.
Rodríguez presides over the Maritime Land Zone Rescue Association (Spanish acronym: Arezomate), an organization in dispute with the Román Ocampo family that claims rights to land located on Cabuyal beach. The case will go to trial in November of this year.
Liberia’s POT proposal draft includes Cabuyal as part of the 6,000 hectares (14,826 acres) of the exclusive “gold coast” where the municipal council plans to promote hotel, business and tourism real estate development.
The other two appeals against the appointments to the commission were presented by citizen Víctor Hugo Chacón and the Broad Front Party of Liberia with the signatures of 38 people. The three appeals can be elevated to higher levels and even reach the courts if the council rejects them.
During the last session, on Tuesday, July 9, the municipal council agreed to refer Rodríguez and Chacón’s appeals to the legal affairs commission for analysis. Meanwhile, the one promoted by the Broad Front wasn’t known about because it was presented that same Tuesday afternoon.
The Voice of Guanacaste tried to contact the president of the municipal council, María Lourdes Ocampo, to get her version, but she didn’t answer the calls or the message sent to her WhatsApp.
The regulatory plan is an instrument through which local governments define the canton’s land use and territorial zoning. In the case of Liberia, the POT proposal is only in the draft stage and is under consultation with the population.
Part of the requirements to firm up a POT is to form the regulatory plan commission, which must be made up of two council members, three officials from the municipal technical area and two representatives of civil society.
Liberians have gone to the Liberia Municipal Council for three sessions to protest the appointment of the civil society members to the regulatory plan commission. This Tuesday, they met several police officers reinforcing the municipality’s security.Photo: Jorge Araya
Origin of the uneasiness
Protected by her legal authority as president of the council to form municipal commissions, María Lourdes Ocampo appointed herself, on May 6, to the regulatory plan commission. In addition, she appointed the alternate council member, Gerardo Corea, another person close to the Román Ocampo family.
Meanwhile, in the June 18th session, the municipal council elected engineer Eugenio Román Ocampo and lawyer Laura Charpentier Soto from a list of 29 candidates to represent the community of Liberia on the commission. The choice generated annoyance and questionings because of the way it was done, because of the people chosen and because of the Ocampo family bond.
Part of the appellants’ complaints is that even though the municipality included having “preferably the necessary attitudes and academic preparation in matters of territorial planning” among the requirements to apply for the commission, when it was time to choose, this condition was not considered.
During the session on June 18, the municipal president instead indicated to the council members that it was their decision as a council whether they chose someone with more qualified resumes or with more knowledge on the subject, but that any citizen could opt for the position.
“The council didn’t even begin to carry out the study and objectively select the people who did preferably have the requirement mentioned here. Violating due process with this. In this action, it seems to us that Mrs. Lourdes Ocampo F has acted in favor of family interests and not the public interest,” indicates the appeal led by Rodríguez.
Another series of questions is regarding the suitability of Eugenio Ocampo to represent the interests of the majority of the community of Liberia on the commission.
“This condition is doubtful on the part of Mr. Ocampo,” points out the appeal filed by Víctor Hugo Chacón, after pointing out that he has appointments in approximately 40 companies dedicated to real estate businesses.
It is thus evident that the interest in participating in the commission is not in response to defending the interests of the majority of Liberians, but rather facilitating real estate deals,” says the document.
According to the appellants, Eugenio Román Ocampo’s relationship with works of community or social interest is not demonstrated, nor is his knowledge of territorial planning demonstrated.
“This man will never represent Liberian society. He is going due to his businesses and securing said plan tailor-made to his interests and those of his family,” stressed Damaris Rodríguez.
On the other hand, the appeal presented by Broad Front questions that two candidates for the commission were left out of the shortlist because the municipality apparently didn’t corroborate their electoral address. Furthermore, some of the candidates who submitted resumes were apparently never notified of the selection result.
They also allege a possible conflict of interest in the appointment of Eugenio Ocampo to the commission, “since the private interest, the product of Ocampo’s personal and family investments in the canton of Liberia’s maritime land zone, is public knowledge.”
Guadalupe Mora, one of the people who signed that appeal, criticized that the municipal council doesn’t make known the allegations of the opposition and limits itself to reading only the heading before sending the appeals to the legal commission.
“By not reading the arguments in the appeals, the town, the people of Liberia, are prevented from knowing the details of why there is opposition to these appointments,” she alleged.
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