A 10-year old law urges Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) to provide funds to Red Sismológica Nacional (RSN) for buying equipment and thus strengthening the seismological and volcanic surveillance across the country.
However, Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), where RSN functions, has invested part of that funds in setting up two labs oriented for selling services through Fundación para la Investigación (Fundevi), that belongs to the academic institution.
The National Emergency Law 8,488, in one of its articles is quite clear: that money is to be used “for the only purpose of buying equipment and strengthening RSN and the Seismic Engineer Lab (LIS) of the aforementioned university”.
The University’s accounting office started an investigation after receiving 15 complaints for alleged embezzlement of those funds. Supposedly the money was spent in buying instruments and construction work that allowed the University to sell services.
However, the University’s accounting office claimed in a report that there weren’t any wrongdoings.
Since 2006, CNE has provided ¢2..543 million to RSN that is about ¢250 million per year.
Source: La Nación.