Isthmian Update

Some of the news in Panama

Closing of pedestrian walkway on hold after public protests

The walkway is popular with tourists and locals.

Former Panama mayor Mayin Correa came out swinging when the present incumbent, Juan Carlos Navarro announced that the pedestrian walkway in Central Avenue would be open to car traffic from October 1.

The public outcry led to a quick revision of the city’s decision, and the project has been postponed indefinitely while there is further consultation.

Correa was the mayor who implemented the walkway 15 years ago, and it has proved a popular venue for tourists and locals alike with its street stalls and lottery sellers.

The move to open the mall to traffic had been initiated by a group of businessmen who believed the walkway was responsible for falling sales. The opening to traffic was to be combined with a facelift for the area, and the re-introduction of the streetcar system that once ran through Central Avenue.

One of the many lottery sellers who line the walkway.

The streetcar was to offer routes through Central Avenue, the Casco Antiguo and Calzada Amador.

Mayin Correa in opposing the ending of the pedestrial way said : The city needs parks and family friendly spaces to walk. Through traffic in Central Avenue will not guarantee the revival of the economy there."

The outcry against the closing came from media, other business and local residents who had not been consulted.

For now they can breathe more easily.

Millions of trees to be planted

Students from Artes y Oficios planted trees
in their school.

Panama has promised to plant 4.6 million trees in the Republic in 2007. as part of the World Campaign that proposes to plant a thousand million trees on the planet. This project is a joint plan of Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM) and the United Nations Program for the Environment.

The aim of the project is to fight deforestation and climate change. To achieve this, ANAM has created different initiatives like the Mangrove Project, where 500 million mangrove trees were planted from Chame Bay to Los Santos.

It has also begun projects in hydrographic basins of the rivers Zaratí, La Villa and Chiriquí. These have produced great quantities of seedlings in community nurseries, that will be planted near the river’s edge within the next few months, with the purpose of improving the quality and the quantity of the water resources.

Children fight global warming.

Schools also form part of this plan. Recently, students of Colegio Artes y Oficios planted 145 saplings of timber and ornamental species in school grounds.

The world campaign was initiated by Wangari Maathai, the first African women to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, for her environmentalist efforts and her contribution to the social, economical and cultural development of the African continent... Maathai, also created the Green Zone Movement in 1977, since then millions of trees have been planted in Kenya an other African countries.

Concerns about global warming and its consequences for future generation is one the reasons why this initiative has spread around the world.

Luxurious residences for Rio Mar

The Rio Mar Hotel will disappear, to become an opulent gated beach community called, Rio Mar Luxury Beach Community. The project will have 151 units and will cost $60 million.

The project was conceived and developed by the brothers Johnny, Ramón, Ricardo and Rómulo Roux and other Panamanian entrepreneurs. The condominiums and houses were designed by the firm of architects Mallol y Mallol.

The gated community will have three condominium towers in the north perimeter, beach flats in the west, single family houses with swimming pools in the south and the beach club will be in the middle of the complex.

All the structures have been designed to give an uninterrupted sea view and facilitate access from one area to another. The idea is to create an elegant environment, clean, with ample spaces, high ceilings, picture windows and high finishes. Every unit will have a balcony.

An exclusive gated community.

The towers will have units of two, three and four bedrooms with a surface between 161 m2 to 336 m2. The beach flats will have three or four bedrooms, measuring from 203 m2 to 412 m2.

The seven beachfront residences feature three bedrooms, study, den, terrace and swimming pool with approximately 431 m2.

The complex will also have a Spa, fitness center, concierge service, household cleaning service, pre-arrival grocery shopping service, convenience store, social areas, wireless Internet and 24-hour security.

The General Manager of Rio Mar Luxury Beach Community, Pablo Rodríguez said that the units will cost between $330,000 to over a million dollars.

To obtain more information visit the web site: www.riomarpanama.com

Pre-Colombian burial site found in construction area

Pre-Colombian graves were found in Coco del Mar, San Francisco, by the owners of a house who wanted to add an annex to their home. This is a unique discovery in Panama, because it has not been disturbed.

Carlos Fitzgerald, the archeologist responsible for the findings said that the skeletons that belonged to a child, a young man, a young woman and an adult were almost untouched and surrounded by ceramic objects that were around a thousand years old.

According to Fitzgerald, the bodies were prepared before the burial, taking into account the position of the ceramic objects. One of them, which has a distinct tripod design, is very important because it is the first time that this kind of archeological artifact has been found in the capital.