From AMCostaRica.com News

From AMCostaRica.com News -

Health officials closing more Tamarindo businesses

By Helen Thompson

of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Five more Tamarindo businesses are to close down after officials of the Ministerio de Salud judged that they continue to pose a public health risk.

Four restaurants or bars and one condominium complex were found to have failed to complete the measures demanded of them by sanitary orders issued by the health ministry in December, the ministry said. They will therefore join the ranks of the 11 businesses that were originally shut down in January.

Health officials checked 47 businesses in the Guanacaste coastal town during the week beginning March 10. They concluded that 27 had completely fulfilled the requirement set out by their sanitary orders, some of which concerned making changes or repairs to sewage disposal systems.

Another 15 businesses had their sanitary orders prolonged, as the only thing they lacked was the documentation of a professional management plan.

“We understand that there are very few professionals qualified to draw up these plans for businesses,” said Juan Luis Sánchez, director of the ministry of health in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste. “In the cases where businesses were clearly trying to complete their orders but lacked this component, we granted an extension, usually of around 15 days.”

In total, the ministry had a list of 71 businesses to check, but due to lack of time did not finish checking 24 of the businesses. Sánchez said that

these would be checked in the coming weeks, adding that the entire follow-up should be finished by the end of April, but said that this may not happen if new problems are found during future checks.

The health ministry started checking Tamarindo's businesses in December after water tests off the beach showed that the ocean contained unacceptably high levels of fecal contamination.

Similar problems have since been encountered in many beach towns around the country. It was announced Tuesday that eight beaches have this

year lost the blue flag certification that shows they are clean and safe. In addition to Tamarindo, they are Dominical, Manzanillo in Guanacaste, Negra in Puerto Viejo de Limón, Arenilla, Ocotal, Agujas and Pelada de Nosara.

Of these eight, Tamarindo scored the least environmental points, with a poor 65.

To qualify for the blue flag, a beach must score at least 90 points in checks that include ocean water quality, and the handling of both inorganic and human refuse.

Sánchez said that the health ministry is satisfied with the way they are handling the situation in Tamarindo.

“At the beginning we had over a hundred businesses to check,” said Sánchez. “In this follow-up we started out with 71, now we're down to 24 left to check. Bit by bit, we are making sure that each business is held accountable for their environmental impact.”