Top 10 Costa Rica

20% Of Police Cars Donated By China Out Of Service

Last year the government of China donated to the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública 200 police vehicles. We have all seem them, as they overtook the patrols of the run down, some even beaten, up small blue vehicles that were in use for some time.

However, the same is fate is soon becoming the donated vehicles, as 20% or 40 of the vehicles are sitting idle, not fit for duty.

Seguridad officials say the vehicles are broken down due to mechanical failure, others having been involved in a collision or two during chases.

At least three of the vehicles are a total write-off, according to the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública.

The reason that the majority of the vehicles are sitting idle is due to the long and complicated process of buying and importing replacement parts, which can only be purchased from the manufacturer in China.

Police officials are quick to deny that the units are of low quality and the reason for their quick deterioration. The problem, most will tell you is the bureaucracy in getting parts.

And the problem is intensified by the policies of the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) – national insurance company – that insists that replacements parts for the repair of the vehicles must be original and not aftermarket.

Kattia Rivera, the sub-director of the Fuerza Pública, said that a recent approval for a ¢90 million colones purchase of parts was approved and that the parts should be arriving in the first months of 2010, at which time repairs can be made and the vehicles back in use.