The idea of building a municipal cable car faces unbridgeable barriers such as the National Parks Act, the Organic Law of the Environment, international conventions and the social opposition.
This is a project with private investment that would go from San Gerardo de Rivas to the top of Chirripó hill. However, since it was presented in February by the Municipal Council of Pérez Zeledón, the project generated controversy.
At that time, the council decided to declare the project as a matter of cantonal and public interest.
From the day of the agreement rejection reactions began to emerge from all corners. For Osvaldo Durán, from FECONC, nothing further from the creation and maintenance of the National System of Conservation Areas of Costa Rica -SINAC-, than to install an infrastructure to stimulate incursions.
“This would overload the park and its buffer zone, which is vital for the protection of the ecosystem, but especially for the protection of the water that serves the country and particularly the communities of the canton,” said Durán.
That is why it is totally irresponsible to launch an idea like this, without providing any technical and financial information,”
added the man.
The environmental law specialist, Álvaro Sagot, said that
according to Article 12 of the National Parks Act, it would be expressly prohibited to establish stations and infrastructure for a cable car as the Municipality intends to profit.”
He also mentioned that the project will involve a reduction of the protected area and therefore requires a special law as stated in the Organic Law of the Environment.
Apparently, there could also be confrontations with at least two international agreements, since the project affects the landscape and airspace of the park.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (Article 8) and the Convention for the Protection of Flora, Fauna and Natural Beauty in the Countries of the Americas, expressly prohibit the exploitation of the these areas for commercial purposes.
It is worth mentioning that in Pérez Zeledón, social organizations and neighbors believe that the cable car would be a setback for tourism.