Thanks to Google Earth satellite images, we can see the evolution of a property owned by the former Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Carlos Villalta Villegas. It was originally pasture land but a gravel road appeared followed by the paving of the road.
The paved street is about 200 meters in length and was built without permits from either the Municipality of Barva nor the Federated College of Engineers and Architects.
According to Villalta Villegas’ ex-wife’s statement to the Judicial Investigation Agency, the road was gifted by the company MECO as payment for advice. It was on the pasture land left to him as an inheritance from his mother.
The OIJ is investigating a case of alleged corruption in road works contracts, in a judicial file known as the Cochinilla Case.
Villalta Villegas does have permits for a guardhouse and ranch he had built on the land as well as for underground electricity but there’s no report of a permit for the road. Witnesses say they saw trucks with the logos of MECO and CONAVI enter when the street was being paved.
