Corbana infrastructure fund

Costa Rica’s national banana corporation Corbana and the municipality of Matina have signed an agreement that aims to establish a framework for infrastructure work undertaken to protect people living in the country’s Caribbean region from the threat posed by natural disasters.

Under the terms of the deal, more than US$3.4m will be set aside for prevention, maintenance and reconstruction work to populations living alongside banana producing zones on the country’s east coast. Corbana’s general manager Jorge Sauma (pictured on the right) said the money will come from taxes on banana exports.

“Corbana will oversee the administration of the fund to ensure that work is carried out speedily and efficiently and concluded as quickly as possible,” said the association’s president Eduardo Gómez.

He explained that funds will be assigned to each community according to how frequently they are affected by natural disasters.