While business leaders clamor for expedited border crossings, the issue has been pulled from the legislative agenda for further consultation with indigenous groups living in the southern and northern border regions, according to reports in several Costa Rican national media.

A border integration program established with the Inter-American Development Bank to provide Costa Rica with US$100 million in loans to modernize its border facilities is on hold in the meantime and pending a vote by the country’s legislators.

The Private Business Sector Chamber (Uccaep, its initials in Spanish) made an announcement this week urging action on the issue saying the country’s Finance Ministry has reported that the average time for a freight vehicle to cross the country’s northern Peñas Blancas border is anywhere from 2 – 7 hours; and on the southern border-crossing into Panama at Paso Canoas, the time averages 4.5 hours.

The Legislative Assembly was due to hear the issue this week in order to take a final vote on the development bank program, but a legislator said that several indigenous peoples living in the border areas should be consulted with, even though the National Commission for Indigenous Affairs (CONAI) has already been consulted with on the plans, said a statement by Uccaep.

“For the business sector, it is urgent that the loan contract be approved, as the logistical costs of transporting freight keeps increasing,” said Franco Arturo Pacheco, president of UCCAEP.

“In our view, this new consultation is unnecessary, as representatives of indigenous peoples have already been consulted with. The modernization of border posts is urgent, a necessity for the industrial and commercial sectors, exporters and importers alike, and even for the tourism sector. The inefficiency costs the country a lot, and these issues must be solved immediately,” continued Pacheco.

The loan would include the modernization of border facilities, and customs and immigration procedures at Las Tablillas and Peñas Blancas on the Nicaraguan border, and Paso Canoas and Sixaola on the Panamanian border. Uccaep said the delays at these posts in processing cargo, tourists, and immigrants need to be addressed immediately.

Recently, dozens of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan business leaders met in Costa Rica to discuss ways to enhance trade, and identified improving border crossings as a priority issue.

“We must overcome the issue of excessive border procedures and make an efficient and safe procedure; these situations … only generate reduced competitiveness of the country,” Pacheco said.