A $104 million loan from Corporación Andina de Fomento will allow the creation of a tender for the construction of new collectors in Juan Diaz and San Miguelito.
This was explained by the health minister, Javier Diaz in an article in Elsiglo.com: " ... the new loan will be used for the construction of additional works and to complement the Phase 1 of the wastewater treatment plant, interceptor tunnel and interconnection system."
The measure will only be suspended in the capital until they manage to redefine the revaluation process, and will still be in effect at the beaches.
From a press release by the Ministry of Economy and Finance:
The Ministry of Economy and Finance wishes to make public its willingness to suspend the process of cadastral appreciation in the capital. In the meantime, the measure will continue to be upheld in the beach areas.
Most of the concessions to build hydroelectric power plants in the rivers of Chiriquí were granted without paying fees, for 50 years.
Sometime later, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim entered the hydroelectricity market in Panama, offering almost $32 million for two of these concessions. This triggered a “hydroelectric fever”, with the creation of a secondary market between concessionaries and interested businessmen.
The hydroelectric sector in Panama is a boiling pot where scores of projects are cooked, garnished with failures and speculation.
Eighty-nine concession requests are pending, 43 projects have had permissions denied or canceled by the developers and another 31 projects are in different phases of design or construction. Of the $2.3 billion that all these tentative projects represent, it is most likely that only half will be eventually realized.
Electricity Transmission Company has been authorized to handle the electricity interconnection project between Panama and Colombia, along with Interconexión Eléctrica SA.
The Cabinet Council, headed by President Martín Torrijos approved the authorization so that Electrical Transmission Company, on behalf of the State and in association with Interconexión Eléctrica SA, will be responsible for the developing electric interconnection project between Panama and Colombia.
Despite rapid development in recent years, there remain serious obstacles in order to progress beyond what has been achieved in Panama.
These obstacles are structural defects that have to be corrected, such as the inefficiency of public administration, people with low education, lack of skilled labor, regions far away from the capital lacking basic services and serious problems in transportation and health.
The opposition Alliance for Change candidate was elected the next president of Panama by a wide margin.
With 91% of the polling stations having been examined, Ricardo Martinelli had obtained 60.31% of the votes, followed by the official candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Balbina Herrera, who had accumulated 37.33% and Guillermo Endara, who had received 2.35%.
The period for electoral propaganda ends today, just three days from the May 3 elections.
Panamanians will elect the successor to current President Martín Torrijos for the period 2009-2014.
Prensa.com reported: "The candidates for the Presidential Seat are: Ricardo Martinelli of the opposition Alliance for Change, the official candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Balbina Herrera and former president Guillermo Endara, of Moral Vanguard for the Country (VMP)."
With the Obama administration the FTA with the US will remain stalled until Panama agrees to transparency and exchange in tax information.
Lobbyists working on behalf of Panama in Washington DC, are seeking the approval of the treaty before the August recess, but the demands of the new administration to adopt policies for Panama to collaborate in the exchange of tax information to prevent tax evasion, make it very unlikely to happen.
The first section of the project that was built at a cost of $112 million was officially opened yesterday.
With the opening of this route, over 400 thousand users from San Miguelito and Panama Este will benefit.
Laestrella.com.pa reported statements by Public Works Minister Benjamin Colamarco: “The tolls for the second phase of the Northern Corridor, comprising about 16.4 miles, could cost between $2.80 and $3.40."
For whoever wins the elections on May 3, the main challenge will be to maintain the economic growth that has averaged 8% annually in recent years.
Both the PRD (the Democratic Revolutionary Party, plus the Liberal Party and the People's Party) and Alianza para el Cambio (Democratic Change, the Patriotic Union, the Panamanian Party and Molirena), propose the continuation of the current macro-economic direction of the country, giving continuity to many of the programs conducted by the government of Martín Torrijos.
In Central America, Antonio Saca is first (66%), followed by Oscar Arias (49%), Martín Torrijos (48%), Álvaro Colom (45%), Daniel Ortega (38%), Manuel Zelaya (25%).
A ranking by Consulta Mitofsky compares the approval ratings of 18 presidents of the Americas, led by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with a 70% approval rating, followed by Alvaro Uribe of Colombia (69%), and Felipe Calderón of Mexico (68%).
A ruling by the Supreme Court has virtually canceled the Transmóvil project to modernize Panamanian public transport.
The ruling by the Supreme Court has provisionally suspended payment of $25 thousand as compensation to owners of existing buses, preventing the state from appropriating the units as planned.
Pa-digital.com.pa published: "The first ruling did away with the purchase of 420 buses, and the one announced yesterday means that the “red devils,” as the buses in Panama are known, will continue in the hands of their usual owners and not the state as the Transmóvil route map had planned."
The government and private enterprise are looking to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework to preserve and enhance the competitiveness of the country.
The Government of the Republic of Panama recognized that the country, as a center for prestigious international and financial services, needs to preserve and enhance its competitiveness and increase the attraction of foreign direct investment, so it must strengthen its legal and regulatory framework.
Uribe insists on building the road through the Darien Gap, meeting with old reluctance from Panama.
It is only 108 kilometers of road that are missing so that the Americas can be traveled by land from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but there are two arguments for refusing construction. One is that this is one of the few quasi-virgin regions left in the world, and it is feared that the inevitable progress that the road would bring would harm the environment and biodiversity, in addition to threatening aboriginal cultures.
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