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A summary of the government's main road construction projects
by Karla Jacobs, 1 de junio 2009
"These puddles are not full of rain water but of our tears," one woman commented to Infrastructure Minister Fernando Martínez during the event marking the beginning of construction work on the road to Huehuete (Carazo). "When we have to tramp through the mud carrying our children and what little produce we have, or when we have to carry a sick person to the hospital and he dies on the way because no vehicle could come to get him, ... then we cry and cry. These puddles are full of our tears."
When the FSLN government came to power in January 2007 it inherited a country whose infrastructure was on its knees. A very significant proportion of the Nicaraguan population lives in areas inaccessible by vehicle at any time of the year. During the heavy rains of the rainy season, however, a state of true chaos reigns in many parts of the country when, in many areas, the population are regularly cut off from all basic services as roads become impassible even on horseback or by foot. The FSLN government has been working for over two years now to increase accessibility in rural and semi rural-areas with special emphasis on productive areas and potential tourist areas.
On May 25th Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Fernando Martínez was interviewed by journalist Alberto Mora on Channel 4's morning program "Revista En Vivo." During the interview Martinez gave details about the different road construction projects already finished or being carried out by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI). Below is a summary of the information provided by Minister Fernandez Martinez during the interview, which was not intended to give a complete list of MTI projects.
Work on the much awaited road linking Acoyapa and San Carlos in the southern department of Rio San Juan should begin later this year and take 16 months to complete. The construction of this stretch of road is being financed with a loan from the Inter American Development Bank (BID) for US$51.7 million. The total amount of road to be construced measures 125 kilometers. This road links the region on the south eastern shore of Lake Nicaragua (Lake Cocibolca) to a road leading to the market town Juigalpa and on to Managua. Four additional stretches of road linking the main road to other towns in the region will be paved as part of a simultaneous project financed by the Central American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE). This additional project has a total cost of US$10 million. The Japanese government has donated funds to cover the cost of the construction of a stretch of road linking San Carlos on to Las Tablillas which borders with Costa Rica. This additional construction includes a 220 meter long bridge over River San Juan. The departments benefiting as a result of these projects, Chontales and Rio San Juan, are major producers of rice, corn, beans, plantains, dairy products and beef, among others. The area also has great potential for tourism development.
The BCIE also financed the almost completed construction of a 60.4km long stretch of road linking San Isidro (Matagalapa) to Malpasillo (Leon) thus providing vital but previously lacking safe and dependable communication between the north western regions of Nicaragua without the need to travel first via Managua.
With funding from the currently suspended US government Millenium Challenge Account the road linking Leon with the seaside towns of Poneloya and Las Peñitas was built. These two town possess great potential as tourist attractions.
Among other towns with potential for tourism development and towns already established as tourist attractions to be benefited by MTI road construction projects are San Juan del Sur and La Virgen in Rivas, and Casares and La Boquita in Carazo. The roads linking these towns to the country's main road system were financed by the World Bank, as is the ongoing project linking San Juan del Río Coco and Telpaneca to Palacagüina in the northern department of Madriz, a major corn and beans producing region.
With its own funds the main project the MTI has financed over the last two years is the reconstruction of the road between Matagalpa and Jinotega, the two main towns in the north central coffee producing region.
The other major project the MTI has taken on since the FSLN came to power is the construction of a highway linking Bilwi (formerly Puerto Cabezas, capital of the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region, RAAN) on the Caribbean coast with Rio Blanco in Matagalpa, a project that will be funded in part by the BCIE. This 300 km long dirt road has always been neglected, but deteriorated significantly during the previous neo-liberal governments due to an almost complete lack of investment. Constructing the highway is a major engineering project given the marshland quality of the terrain. The Venezuelan Army Corp of Engineers is involved in assessing the viability of the project. Although the highway construction project has not advanced as quickly as first expected, progress has been made with the reconstruction of 40 bridges (with funds donated by the Danish government) and work on the worst part of the route located near the town of Siuna. This part of the road is made up of various stretches of "pegaderos" totalling ovewr 16km, impassable even by the sturdiest vehicle during the heaviest rains.
Dozens of other smaller road construction / reconstruction projects across the country have already been completed, are ongoing or are in the process of being planned. Among the more populous towns to be benefitted as a result are San Francisco Libre, La Libertad, San Pedro de Lóvago and Santo Tomás. Indeed the government's road construction plan has been so ambitious that the Nicaraguan paving block companies' production has been overwhelmed. According to Minister Martínez, this, rather than MTI inefficiency, is the principle cause for holdups in road projects over the last two years.