also in this section National human development report

Business & Economy Briefs

New canal toll record

On April 12 the cruise ship Radiance of the Sea transited the canal, and paid a toll of $202,176.76. This broke the record set by another cruiser, the Infinity, which was set a little more than a month earlier. Though the hull of the Radiance is slightly smaller than that of the Infinity, the former ship has a larger superstructure and accommodates more passengers, and thus the higher toll.

Farm relief passed

The Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed a $15.4 million appropriation for low-interest loans for farmers who suffered losses to weather related causes during the past year. Dry conditions in the central provinces have hurt rice farmers, while in other places floods have washed away crops and livestock.

No meat from Europe, South America

In order to protect Panama's aftosis-free status, the Ministry of Agricultural and Livestock Development (MIDA) has banned all animal and animal product imports from Europe and all of South American except for Chile, because those regions are experiencing foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks. The Darien Gap has for many years served as a natural barrier against the highly contagious animal plague.

Martinelli: "grave crisis"

Canal Affairs Minister Ricardo Martinelli, whose supermarkets have taken a financial beating as Panamanians have less to spend on food, says that the Panamanian economy is in a "grave crisis" and is recommending that the government sell its minority stakes in privatized companies and use the Fiduciary Development Fund to carry out about 50 public works projects to create jobs and stimulate the economy. While most estimates are that the national economy has sharply contracted over the past year, the Moscoso administration has generally only admitted to a "slowdown."

New round in La Prensa war?

Though a slate of directors supporting former Foreign Minister Ricardo Alberto Arias won control of La Prensa in March, that shareholder vote is being reviewed by the National Securities Commission (CNV). One of the shareholders on the losing side was attorney Miguel Antonio Bernal, who alleges that the winning slate took control by using improperly obtained proxies. This is the first time that the CNV has considered a shareholder challenge to proxy votes in a corporate election, and there is some question as to whether the commission has the power to set aside the result if it finds that rules were broken.

City to get a coat of paint?

Panama City mayor Juan Carlos Navarro wants to give temporary work to a number of his constituents, assigning them the task of painting public buildings and other structures. The beautification proposal is mainly aimed at providing some income to those who are out of work, but there are limits to what the city can do because its collections of taxes and fees are down sharply.

Kunas allow fiber optic cable

Kuna Yala, one of the poorest and least developed parts of Panama, has changed its mind about communications cables crossing its land. The Cable & Wireless phone company and the Kuna General Congress have signed an agreement that will allow the company to connect their Caribbean undersea fiber optic cable with the island of Ustupbir. C&W will pay rent to the Kuna General Congress in exchange for the right to install the cable and use some 900 square meters to install a terminal building. Over the past two years previous offers by the company were rejected by the congress.

Retirees protest

Retirees who haven't received the $40 increase in monthly Social Security benefits that the Moscoso administration promised last year are warning that they will take to the streets, after a planned April 25 meeting with the president at the Lions Club gym was attended not by the chief executive but by her advisor, Dr. Alvaro Antadillas.

IPAT cancels ad campaign

Though it was in the national budget, the main tourist season is over and $14 million set aside for the government's IPAT tourism bureau to promote Panama abroad won’t be spent this fiscal year. The problem seems to be a slow-moving contracting process. Nevertheless, IPAT did recently spend money to buy ads in Panamanian daily newspapers that featured photos of IPAT director Liriola Pitti's recent trip to the Canary Islands. Pitti is pushing to make IPAT a semi-autonomous authority, which would give her a pay raise and a higher rank in the government's organizational chart.

Public hospitals swamped

Panama's economic problems have sharply reduced the number of patients in private hospitals, but people aren't getting sick less. That has meant an increased burden on public health care, which Seguro Social lacks the resources to adequately accommodate. La Prensa reports that there are some 10 percent more patients than beds at the Seguro Social hospitals, which has meant that a lot of patients are resting on cots rather than hospital beds.

Banco Hipotecario to be audited

After a spate of televised complaints against Banco Hipotecario manager Waldo Arrocha, mainly by San Miguelito residents, Comptroller General Alvin Weeden said that he'll conduct an audit of the institution. The state-owned bank, which is scheduled to be sold or abolished under an agreement with international lenders, has long been a money loser, as over the years many people with the right political connections with the governments of the moment have received real estate loans and never made mortgage payments. Now the bank is accused of making loans to people of Chinese ancestry, which many Panamanians with racist attitudes in both the government and the news media consider to be something improper. Arrocha is also accused of steering a bank security guard contract to a company owned by relatives of Education Minister Doris Rosas de Mata, which he denies.

BellSouth to issue Lat Am IPO

Now established in 11 Latin American countries and reporting a 50 percent increase in customers last year, BellSouth is planning to take that part of its business public later this year. The company's main business in the region is cellular communications, mostly telephones now but with wireless Internet services coming soon.

Tough times for KC Southern

Kansas City Southern Industries, the parent company of the Panama Canal Railway Company, reports that in the first quarter of this year its profits declined some 40 percent compared to the same quarter of 2000. Higher fuel costs and a slumping US economy account for most of the decline, the company said in a press release, which cited its Mexican railroad operations as one of its bright spots. The rebuilding of Panama's Atlantic-to-Pacific rail link is slightly behind the schedule that the company had predicted earlier this year, but it is expected to begin its main work shuttling containers among this country's ports by the second half of the year.

also in this section National human development report
©2001 The Panama News