An assessment made by specialists from the Central American School of Geology of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), identified that there is a large number of informal constructions in the country and that many land occupations are not suitable for productive or housing activities.
A total of 180 inspections were carried out in high risk areas impacted by Tropical Storm Nate.
In addition, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) requested the assessment of lands and housing affected by landslides and unstable slopes in Mora, Puriscal, Los Santos, Pérez Zeledón, sectors of Llano Grande, Guarco, Coris, Casemata from the province of Cartago, Los Guido and Frailes de Desamparados and Aserrí.
The situation is critical because the growth of informal construction not only occurs in the city but it’s spreading alarmingly in rural areas,”
quotes the report on the findings.
According to the geologist Rolando Mora, one of the main problems is the inability to supervise the municipalities, as well as the absence of geologists and adequate instruments to perform the zoning of land use.
The experts recommended to the municipal authorities and the CNE, the preventive relocation of families at risk, or in more severe cases, the declaration of uninhabitability by the Ministry of Health.