SAN JOSE, (Reuters) – Costa Rica’s transport minister resigned on Friday following reports of corruption in his ministry, making him the second member of President Laura Chinchilla’s Cabinet to fall victim to a scandal in barely a month.
Francisco Jimenez, minister of public works and transport, told reporters he stepped down after Chinchilla announced she had received evidence that two officials in his ministry took payments for giving preferential treatment to companies involved in the construction of a road along the San Juan River.
There was no suggestion that Jimenez was complicit in any wrongdoing, Chinchilla said.
On April 2, Costa Rican finance minister Fernando Herrero resigned after a tax evasion scandal.
Eleven out of 23 ministers in Chinchilla’s Cabinet have given up their posts in the last two years. Only three of them have taken other jobs in the government.
