By Wendy Anders

In recent days, an estimated 400 irregular migrants slipped over from Panama to Costa Rica in the Paso Canoas border area. They are being registered and receiving lodging at the border, said Mauricio Herrera, communication minister, in a statement to Monumental Radio Saturday.

Public Security Minister Gustavo Mata spoke to Monumental Radio this weekend reiterating the need for between 700 and 800 officers stationed on each border to control the filtration of illegal migrants that continues unabated.

At the beginning of June, Mata urged Costa Rican legislators to reinstate the annual corporate tax in order to fund an additional 1,000 police officers.

The tax was annulled earlier this year by the Constitutional Court on a technical detail when important parts of the tax legislation was not publicized, according to Francisco Ovares, president of Costa Rica’s public accountant professional association.

 

An additional of 1,000 police is estimated to cost $20 million, said Bernardita Marín, public security administrative vice-minister, in her testimony to the legislature in June.

After the June hearing, legislators said they planned to meet again with the security minister in order to make a decision, according to police sources.

The corporate tax required all active registered businesses to pay an annual fee equal to 50 percent of the average salary of a judiciary legal assistant. The same formula is utilized to set fines for non-compliance. Inactive companies were required to pay 25 percent of the amount of a legal assistant’s salary as an annual fee, and likewise as a noncompliance fine.

The Public Security Ministry received 95 percent of these funds for their ongoing work. The remainder was allocated to the Ministry of Justice and Peace to oversee effective collection of the tax, and to support the social reintegration agency that works with prisoners.