September will be a time of great tension in the country’s coastal areas, since during the month the Legislative Assembly might approve the Coastal Community Territories bill (TECOCOS – Ley de Territorios Costeros Comunitarios).
According to the lawyer promoting TECOCOS, Wilmar Matarrita, as of September 1 the proposal will be brought before the ordinary plenary session.
“Starting in September, the bill will once again enter the ordinary sessions and it would be among the first items on the legislative agenda, which is to say, it could be discussed at any moment. The issue that will come up in September is if they approve TECOCOS or kick the can down the road and extend the moratorium,” explained Matarrita.
The moratorium on evictions of coastal inhabitants expires on September 30. However, the bill’s proponents are requesting that the assembly avoid extending it and approve TECOCOS, which would grant rights to live in those areas.
The fundamental idea of the TECOCOS bill (Law 18148) is the recognition of the rights of long-time residents of the maritime land zone to live there.
Anxiety on the Coast
For Edith Castillo, a community leader in Garza of Nosara, this month is very worrisome for the community’s residents. However, the majority feel they are backed by the executive branch.
“I believe that the community has faith in the new government, but we all know that the moratorium expires in September and so there’s tension. There’s always tension and these days it’s increasing, but the president [Luis Guillermo Solis]’s visit gave us a lot of hope,” said Castillo.
The president of the republic visited the community of Nosara on July 23 as part of his tour of Guanacaste, during which he said he supported the approval of the TECOCOS bill project.
For his part, Benedicto Guadamuz, Samara’s TECOCOS coordinator, said that for now there are no plans for demonstrations. However, visits will be made to the legislature.
“Now the whole community is hopeful. We haven’t talked about protests, but we certainly will be attending the assembly in the gallery since we see that there is a good possibility that this month it will be approved,” commented Guadamuz.
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