It appears that the Cartago municipality is suffering from MOPT-Conavi disease. A sinkhole developed suddenly on one of the old capital’s busiest streets near Colegio Universitario de Cartago after a truck had passed over it Thursday morning.

The 10-meter wide by two meters deep yawning hole was apparently caused by the collapse of antique storm drain pipes plugged by garbage — the same situation as Conavi faces on the Circunvalacion highway between Hatillo and Pavas, although fortunately on much smaller scale in Cartago.

The street links several important points in the old city and some neighborhoods. The city government immediately dispatched a backhoe to initiate repairs after the hole opened at 9 a.m. Thursday. Cartago residents braced themselves for the same kind of traffic problems as resident of Hatillo and Pavas face.

In other mishaps, a traffic accident left part of San Jose without electricity when a semi-trailer knocked over four cable-carrying poles on Calle Moreno between the church on that street and an AM/PM store. National Power and Light Company crews scrambled to restore power and remove the wreckage from the street.

The truck driver, Antonio Alvarado, told journalist Allan Arroyo of the La Nacion-owned ADN 90.7 FM radio that his vehicle snagged a cable and sent the posts crashing down like dominoes. He said he passed through the street in the early morning before sunrise and did not see the cable, but Traffic Police assured him that his truck was not illegally high.

Meanwhile, work continues on the Circunvalacion where the sinkhole made necessary the closure of the highway and caused more than just frustration among commuters. A large number of telephones in various points of Hatillo were knocked out when the collapse of the sinkhole disrupted ICE’s fiber optic phone lines.

Crews have been unable to restore service because of instability of the ground in the area. The irony is that many workers were unable to phone their bosses to tell them that they might be as long as two hours late getting to their jobs due to traffic on detours.