EscucharSAN JOSE - The best way to solve a jigsaw puzzle is to observe the scattered pieces closely and so try and understand the shape it will eventually take.
In the case of the private waterpark/club Acuamanía, the major pieces are The Agricultural Credit Bank of Cartago (BCAC in Spanish, the owner of the location); a Costa Rican firm representing a group of foreign investors which administrates the park; and a Panamanian company that is the owner of over 90 percent of the shares.
To make matters more complicated, current president of the park (according to a Public Registry certification dated November 14, 1997) Glenn Vereen is complaining that he cannot enter the waterpark's installations, and that one of the minor partners, Mario Jara, is the new general manager of Acuamanía.
The puzzle in front of you has one more piece: the club has almost 3,700 members, with pending debts for up to ¢350 million (about $1.3 million). This is according to a report given to daily La Nación by Billy Webb, the park's internal auditor, and figures revealed out by Jara.
Solving the puzzle
Acuamanía is a private waterpark located in Belén, Heredia (near the road to the Juan Santamaría international airport), that opened its doors on January 1995, at which time it used to belong to the Plaza del Turismo S.A, whose partners were Americans John Griffin (with 52 percent of the shares) and Glenn Vereen (28 percent), and Costa Rican Ricardo Sequeira (20 percent) who later sold his shares to businessman Mario Jara.
Despite this, and because the park could not pay a debt of around $2.4 million to the BCAC, a civil court in Heredia auctioned it off and handed it over to the bank in October 1997.
In an interview with La Nación, Jara said the park was a good business, but it had been "inefficiently administrated."
After the BCAC took possession of the club last December, Vereen (who also granted La Nación an interview) said he proposed to buy the shares of partners Griffin and Jara because, according to Jara, he told them he had the financial power to save the place. Both accepted and thus Vereen took possession of 100 percent of the park's shares.
The sale contract however, had a clause establishing that if Vereen did not pay up, the shares would return to their previous owners. Jara also said that if Vereen did not pay, his shares (28 percent) would become the property of John Griffin, who would then own 80 percent of the park. Jara has asserted that Vereen did not complete his payments; Vereen denies this vehemently.
When he had complete control of the company, Vereen requested a $250,000 loan from the Panamanian Isla Cocos Tourist investment Corporation, and as a guarantee gave the company 9,463 out of the 10,000 shares the club had, according to their contract. This agreement was signed last December 17.
Vereen said the loan would put an end to the waterpark's financial plight, but he was not able to meet the first payment as Acuamanía's income had fallen. When this situation developed, the Panamanian company took possession of the park.
A new character
Jara says that after this, he had Griffin's blessing to take care of the place again. He added that in this process, the Costa Rican company Colon International Consortium offered to buy the park for $2.2 million. Vereen quit his position as President of Acuamanía in the agreement, according to Jara's declarations.
Afterwards, Jara and this company agreed to run the park jointly for 3 months, after which the Consortium would inform its representatives (foreign investors) about the project's status.
However, Vereen claims that he is still the rightful owner, meaning that Jara and the company have taken possession of and are running the park illegally, .
What's to come
Consulted on the issue, Gregorio Segura, BCAC's manager of such matters, said that it is difficult to sell the park because the contract is a serious obstacle.
Segura did point out, however, that the period to renew this contract will be up on August 17 which is why they have sent a letter to the owners of Acuamanía -last May 11- to leave the club because as owners they "cannot renew the contract."
As for the club members' future, Segura stated that the new owners will have to decide if they will keep their list of clients or not.
