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On Thursday June 14th, the head of MINAET, Dr. René Castro Salazar’s proposal “Politicas Azules Y Vice Ministerio de Agua y Mares” (Blue Policies and Vice Ministry of Water and Seas) was accepted creating a new Ministry of Water and Seas.
The restructuring will give direct oversight of Costa Rica’s oceans, fresh waters and water resources to this new sub division of the MINAET. Costa Rica’s marine territory is roughly ten times larger than its land holdings; ideally, the new vice ministry will give greater control and minimize bureaucratic confusion while dealing in marine and water affairs.
Because of these changes, the former Vice Ministry of Telecommunication will be assimilated into the Ministerio de Ciensia y Tecnologia (Ministry of Science and Technology) in the near future. And the acronym MINAET will most likely be changed to MINAEM, Ministerio de Ambiente, Energia y Mares (Ministry of Environment, Energy and Seas). Furthermore, the MINAET Vice Ministry of Energy, which handled some of the prior waters and seas issues, will be restructured as “The Vice Ministry of Environmental and Energy Management”.
Led by the former Environmental Administrative Tribunal chair, José Lino Chaves López, some of the Vice Ministry of Water and Seas’ main objectives will be: to increase the protected marine areas by 10%, put more focus on multiple use marine areas and the exploitation of resources as well as marine wildlife conservation and sustainable marine production. A network of marine radar and automatic monitoring systems has also been proposed in the draft as part of a new strategy for National Maritime Vigilance and Control.
Source: minae.gov.cr
