On my soapbox today ...

Mark,

Forgive me for not writing this sooner, for I have truly been snowed under with work.
First of all, I want to paraphrase a well known Briton - in referring to your message - by saying that "never in its history, has a single person said so many true things to so many, about so little a place" as Costambar.
APC and myself thank and congratulate you for having done so. You hit the nail right on the head with your comments to all concerned, the "Haters" as well as the "Lovers" of Costambar.
In their frenzy to be critical, they fail to realize that the poor conditions of the access roads, lack of sufficient electrical power, the pollution of the air and the water along the beach, ARE NOT THE FAULT OF APC OR COSTAMBAR, for none chose that state of affairs and others beyond their control have determined so.
If the "nay-sayers" tried to be constructive and paid their APC dues - as you and many others do and have suggested - APC would have the resources to do a great deal more for this unique community of ours (and theirs too !!), than is currently capable of doing. In many ways, it is the equivalent of addressing a starving person by saying: "you look emaciated and may die, therefore, I am not going to even try to give you anything to eat".
All the arguments I have heard as to why not pay APC dues have just a single aim: not to pay anything and let others do it.
Just as the same Briton also said once: "those who use the past to live their present, have no future".
Once again, thanks for you accurate and timely comments.

R
Vocal, Communications.

It seems to be quite acceptable to knock Costambar & APC. It is quite prevalent on DR1, this forum & in bars & restaurants all over town. Much of it is in all likelihood the sheep mentality that the intellectually challenged adopt to appear errr intellectual.

People are constantly saying the roads are bad, the power is terrible, the air is polluted, the water off the beach is toxic etc. To them I say the roads inside Costambar are getting better all the time, if we all paid our bills on time we would have power all the time, try going into Puerto Plata town with all the filthy trucks & motos, & the ocean will always be full of fish pee & poo.

Yes we do have a power plant on our doorstep, but if it weren't there how many of us could afford to live here?

I see Costambar as a unique village which offers a cosmopolitan life where people of many nationalities can live together & maybe even have their lives enriched by the experience. Believe me if the town were full of brits I wouldn't be here - I left the Y(UK) to get away from that! The problem is the majority of people here prefer to isolate themselves from outside influences & subsequently we, as a community, are constantly teetering on the brink of collapse. WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER!

Which brings me on to APC. As I said it is fashionable to knock APC. Personally I think they do a fantastic job given the funds they have available. The streets are clean, safe to walk at night if you're sensible, empty lots are not jungles & the garbage is not piling up in the streets. However, they have a crisis in confidence amongst the property owners. Put simply, if we all had confidence in their ability to manage our money properly what reason would there be for not paying? Nobody in their right mind who has money invested in Costambar wants to see it deteriorate further. Apart from free-loaders of course.

I don't claim to have any solutions or magic wand that I can wave to make things better. I do know that if you keep doing the same thing you will get the same result. Nothing will change until we change.

To the critics & nay-sayers I say the following ............. if you can't be positive why should we listen to you, be constructive not destructive.

To those who have left Costambar because of all the "problems" ......... just because you couldn't make a life in Costambar don't blame the town, wherever you are in life is EXACTLY where you deserve to be.

I know this is a bit of a rant, but I get annoyed at time because through the fog of ignorance I can glimpse a bright future for Costambar. It is the rarest place I know on Earth, it is our home.