By Wendy Anders

Park guards at the highly visited Manuel Antonio National Park in the country’s Central Pacific region are up in arms at having to take over charging entry fees, saying their work monitoring the park, especially during high season will be effected by the new duties.

“We are very concerned about this issue that now, in addition to looking after the park, we have to charge tickets. Manuel Antonio is a very busy area, there are a lot of tourists and that means handling a lot of money,” said Roberto Molina, general secretary of the National System of Conservation Areas (Sinac) workers union.

The previous contract with Coopealianza to administer the ticket office at Manuel Antonio has not been renewed, said Sinac, who ordered the guards to take over the responsibilities.

“In that region there are a lot of hitmen, and a lot of people who are just looking for how to do damage, and that has the guards very worried; they do not want to be in charge of admissions,” continued Molina, who has petitioned Sinac to remedy the situation.

“High season is coming, and more tourists will be arriving, and that is going to be a problem for the guards, who need to ensure security in the park. These Sinac people are playing with fire,” he said.

Meanwhile, Costa Rican Legislator Karla Prendas says Edgar Gutierrez, environment minister, is at fault for the ongoing problems at the park which date back several years, according to a report in Diario Extra, one of Costa Rica’s leading Spanish language papers.

Prendas, from the National Liberation Party, supported the decision a couple of years ago to implement closures on Mondays at the highly visited park as a method for minimizing the impact of tourism on the ecosystem, said Diario Extra

Prendas alleges that park budgets are “paralysed” as are state policies for advancing tourism.

“The opening of tenders for ticket sales has not been resolved by the Ministry of Environment and Energy … there is the total lack of knowledge by the park’s administrative board about the situation and they are unable to resolve it,” said the legislator.

The legislator cited other issues that need to be addressed at the park including money for infrastructure that has been invested in other things, as well as the need to adapt the site according to new handicap accessibility legislation, which she has directed to the environment ministry in a letter together with a complaint about the need for a new agency to handle the park’s ticket sales, said a report in Elmundo.cr, a digital Costa Rican news source.