On June 19, 2024, agents of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) conducted raids on the offices of SETENA, an agency involved in granting building permits to developers. Among those arrested was Ulises Alvarez Acosta, on suspicion of influence peddling and other crimes – in other words, taking bribes in exchange for streamlining the review process. (Investigations are ongoing, and no trials have yet taken place).

Independent analysts working with Osa Vive, a Costa Ballena based conservation non-profit, discovered that Senor Alvarez had been involved back in 2022 in approving environmental impact assessment documents for a controversial $700 million luxury development (The Dominical Project) planned for Dominical, otherwise known as a surfing village.

The documents submitted to (and approved by) SETENA reference a budget that’s at least $300 million less than the budget promoted to potential investors, which appears to be a significant irregularity. While the reasons for this discrepancy can only be speculated about given currently available information, it’s worth noting that SETENA requires a deposit of 1% of project costs, meaning that if the developer had submitted the full budget discussed with investors, they would have had to pay an additional $3 million during this permitting process.

Osa Vive believes that the current Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should be nullified, and that The Dominical Project should be required to apply for a new EIA that will be free from suspicion of irregularity. Until there is a new EIA, or an external audit of the assessment is completed, we believe that all aspects of The Dominical Project should be put on hold.