The People’s Republic of China donated 50 patrol cars to the Ministerio Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT). A ceremony was conducted last Thursday at the Costa Rica Art Museum at La Sabana, which was attended by President Laura Chinchilla as well as the top ranking officials of the MOPT.
These squad cars will be divided among the different areas in Costa Rica to further improve the service of the Transit Police. Seven of the Besturn B50 patrol cars will be used in the Atlantic, while three will be used to for the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area, while the rest will be distributed to other parts of the country.
This is the third installment for a series of donations from China, the first came in January, where they gave 200 vehicles, followed by 150 more in March. They have also invested ¢ 1,280 million for vehicles and radar equipment during the past year.
With better equipped traffic enforcement and promotion of driver education, Road Safety Council Executive Director Silvia Bolaños stated that they hope to lessen road deaths and accidents, which increased from the last quarter of 2011’s 77 to 2012 first quarter’s 96 road deaths. 60 traffic enforces are also set to be added by May 2 to further complement already existing measures.
