I posted an article last week about Spain tearing down homes of retirees. Now our neighbor to the west, Costa Rica, is having similar problems. It seems that unscrupulous developers with the help of corrupt local municipal government have built homes on National Park property. In addition many large tourism projects that include residential components are under scrutiny by officials for damaging the environment.

Excerpt: The Hyatt Regency Azulera, a $300-million luxury beachfront resort under construction in Brasilito, is among more than a dozen developments under investigation for possibly causing environmental damage, said an Environment Ministry administrative court yesterday.

The Environmental Tribunal is in the northwestern province of Guanacaste this week for the latest of its surprise inspections aimed at catching land developments that are violating environmental regulations.

The Tamuz of Tamarindo, also in Brasilito, Punta San Francisco in Tamarindo, Bahía del Sol in Playa Potrero, Mar Serena in Zapotillal de Cabo Velas and El Castillo residences in Zapotal de Carrillo are all projects currently under investigation, according to the tribunal.

In addition, inspectors stopped three construction projects and opened cases against 17 vacation rental homes, some now slated for demolition by the government, that were built inside the borders of the Las Baulas National Park, in Playa Grande. Despite being within a national park, some of the projects had municipal construction permits and approval from the Environment Ministry’s Technical Secretariat (SETENA).

“Practically all the Playa Grande area, inside the Las Baulas National Park” was divided into lots and had for sale signs, “put there in their majority by Century 21 real estate agency,” said a tribunal press release.

Source: http://primapanama.blogs.com/_panama_residential_devel/