State budget
rises by $1,442 million
The Budget was approved by the
Cabinet for US $9,763 million, reported the Communications Secretariat
of the Presidency. That figure represents a new historic high
and implies that the State plans to spend US $1,442 million more
in 2009, or 17% more than it budgeted for 2008. The increase is
mainly due to an ambitious plan of public investment for US $3,401
million. One daily newspaper reported that the increase included
scholarships, strengthening protection programs and infrastructure
such as the Coastal Strip highway.
Cooperating on drugs
Panama and the United States renewed a cooperation agreement
that will support “anti-drug programs for public security,
police training and supplying “, reported the US embassy
in Panama. The agreement was signed by Ambassador Barbara Stephenson
and the Minister of the Presidency, Dili Arcia. Stephenson said
that “Panama has captured tons of cocaine ... is a valuable
partner of the US”. |
Noriega’s
houses, going..going
Two houses in Altos del Golf, which are registered in
the name of former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega and one of
his daughters, will be auctioned in late October, reported the
Sales Promotion Division of State Property. On Oct. 30, from 8:00
a.m. until 1:00 p.m. in the former headquarters of the ARI in
Amador, the department will receive proposals to auction the 245,000
square meters property with a construction area of approximately
277,000 square meters, located in Calle 97, Altos del Golf. The
base price is US $4,312,961.51.
Canal carbon reduction
The proposed expansion of the Panama Canal, to be completed
in 2014, is calculated to generate US $438 million (300 million
euros) in certificates of carbon reduction to access the clean
development mechanisms. This amount is based on what the Panama
Canal Authority (ACP) would mitigate in emissions and reforestation
as envisaged in the project, said Ligia Castro de Doens, Minister
of the Environment.¡ |
Preparing for Canadian
trade pact
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI) met with
representatives of the productive sector to design a negotiating
strategy for the first round of negotiations of the Free Trade
Agreement between Panama and Canada. The consultations included
group representative of dairy, tomato, pork, sugar, coffee, flour
and industrial products sectors.
$400 million for hydro plant
With an investment of $400 million, the company Suez
Energy Central America (SECA), has started building a hydroelectric
plant in Chiriqui that will supply the electricity market with
about 115 megawatts. The French company recently won a grant to
provide 100 megawatts for a period of ten years from 2013 to 2022,
reported Philippe Delmotte, general manager of the company.
Wind power project under scrutiny
The construction of a wind power project in the Santa
Fe National Park is the new concern of environmental groups, which
protest that it will be built in a protected area and in a place
other than that indicated in the environmental impact study approved
by the National Environmental Authority.
Urban gardens for food crisis
To create a business-friendly and healthy environment,
which in turn contributes to improving the quality of people’s
lives, the Foundation Ingenia (FINGENIA), the Faculty of Natural
Sciences and Technology at the University Santa Maria La Antigua
(USMA) are supporting the so-called Urban Gardens. The establishment
of these gardens in the capital city can become a business for
entrepreneurs and is an option in view of the food crisis, said
the director of FINGENIA.
Rio Esti development
The electrical generating company, AES Panama, unveiled
the package called “Plan of Integrated Hydroelectric Area
of Influence of the Rio Esti”, which seeks, in addition
to effective management of the basin, urban development, economic
growth and tourism in the area of the Esti hydroelectric plant
in the district of Gualaca, Chiriqui.
Panamanian parleys for Colombian druggies
Panama was used for meetings of Colombian drug traffickers
organizing their semi-submersible submarines to transport drugs
to the United States and Mexico. The US Drug Enforcement Agency
(DEA) and the Colombian police have in their records reports on
meetings in Panama between Gustavo Adolfo de Jesus Garcia Velasquez,
alias “the Engineer” and Antonio Lopez Ortega, alias
“the Gringo.”
Education in poor areas
The World Bank will grant US $35 million to the Ministry
of Education to be used for the improvement of education in the
poorest areas of the country. This project has three basic components:
improvement in the quality of the initial non-formal education,
coverage and efficiency of basic education, and, finally, the
strengthening of administrative management of the entity at central
ministerial level, regional and local levels.
“Chicanery” says minister
Daniel Delgado Diamante, Minister of Government and
Justice, and maximum defender of the government security projects,
described as an act of political chicanery and demagoguery that
three of the four candidates for the presidency in 2009 have promised
to repeal the Decree laws. The presidential candidate of the ruling
Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD), Balbina Herrera, said that
she would not sign the “Citizen Declaration” which
the citizens’ network took to the Ombudsman’s Office.
Sustainable shrimping
With the aim of strengthening capacity of countries
in the region in collection of data on shrimp fishing, a workshop
was held in Panama City with emphasis on Central America. The
workshop allowed experts from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama to collect, process and analyze
information to assist countries with the knowledge of the actual
state of the shrimp fishing industry and propose quotas for its
sustainable exploitation. |
Seek to legalize prostitution
After the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) announced
plans to legalize prostitution, the priest Rosendo Torres, a member
of the Episcopal Conference, said that the Church is opposed to
any form of legalization of prostitution that it is intended to
establish in Panama.
To fight border crime
The fight against organized crime will be part of the
agenda of a meeting to be held in Paso Canoa between the Attorney
General of Costa Rica and the Attorney General’s Office
of Panama. The announcement was made by the Prosecutor General
of Costa Rica, Francisco Dall’Anese, who noted that in the
case of transnational crime, both countries will act as a team
on their borders.
Colon home port
Augusto Terracina, manager of Colon 2000, said that
work on the home port installations in Colon will be completed
by the end of November, ready for the arrival on December 7 of
the ship “Enchantment of the Seas” of Royal Caribbean
International, which should begin its service in this port.
Gas station violations
Twenty-eight fuel stations in the country were detected
last week violating Executive Order No. 58, which sets a maximum
price on consumer sales, according to the results of an operational
control inspection conducted by the Authority of Consumer Protection
and Competition (acodec).
$25,000 per Red Devil
The National Chamber of Transport (Canatra) said that
in negotiations with the government the figure for each “red
devil” bus which leaves the capital’s transport system
has dropped to US$25,000. The Transit and Land Transport Authority
(ATTT) reported that in February 2009 the first buses for the
new transportation system could arrive.
Welcome for “Dolphin Barria”
To the rhythm of murga, applause and large displays
of affection Cesar Barría, the disabled Panamanian swimmer,
who crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco arrived
home. Barria, who is an amputee with one leg, was greeted at the
Tocumen Airport, and he was surprised by the enthusiastic welcome
that paralyzed the airport terminal for a while. The “Colonense”
pointed out that this feat is dedicated totally to Panama and
especially to his hometown of Colon, which is producing a great
number of athletes. “Dolphin Barria”, aged 25, crossed
the Strait of Gibraltar in 4 hours 29 minutes, covering a distance
of between 18 and 20 kilometers, and he said his feat has a profound
meaning, “When you want you can, even when all is against
you, because there is nothing impossible for God,” he said.
Barria was accompanied by whales and dolphins during his swim.
Ministry prepares construction code
The Ministry of Housing (Mivi) is preparing a construction
code to present to the National Assembly regulating quality and
procedures because of the increased activity in the construction
sector.
Industrialists view money crisis
Panamanian industrialists are acting with “caution”
over the financial crisis in the United States, the main market
for exports from Panama, said the president of the Union of Industrialists
of Panama (SIP), Valerio De Sanctis. “The economy in Panama
is stable, but our main export market is the United States and
it is obvious that as employers we have to be cautious about the
development of this crisis,” he said. |
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