On February 5 more than 100 people showed up at the Colon Regional University Center to discuss their concerns about the effects that the planned Multi-modal Logistics and Services Center (CEMIS, by its Spanish initials) may have on the environment. The forum, hosted by the province's branch of the University of Panama and the project's developers, the San Lorenzo Consortium, was scheduled after a previous public hearing on environmental impacts was criticized for having been held with inadequate notification of those who are concerned or stand to be affected.

At that earlier hearing, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Stanley Heckadon warned that the project would likely do away with the wildlife in and around the Smithsonian's Galeta Island research center. Heckadon's alarm, however, was all but drowned out by allegations by legislator Carlos Afú and others that some members of the Legislative Assembly, which unanimously approved the project, had been bribed to vote the way that they did.

Under this government's procedure, a project goes before the legislature for approval, is signed by the president, and only then does the process of submitting an environmental impact statement, which might be approved or rejected by the National Environmental Authority (ANAM), begin.

Panamanian environmental impact statements, which are a relatively new phenomenon, are sketchy compared to those required in many other countries. For example, the CEMIS project calls for the destruction of some 440 hectares of tropical rainforest and 11 hectares of mangroves --- essentially everything between Randolph Road and Cativa which lies between Galeta Road and the Trans-Isthmian Highway, except for a small area around the hospital --- yet there has been no inventory of the wildlife that's found there. The most detailed studies of the fauna and flora in the area to be affected have been done by the Smithsonian and by environmentalist groups, a number of the latter of which showed up at the university to complain about the statement that the CEMIS promoters filed with ANAM.

The evening's forum began with an overview of the project, presented by the Consorcio San Lorenzo's Christian Darlington. He described a major expansion of the France Field airport; the installation of links among the airport, the Panama Canal Railroad and the ports of Coco Solo Norte and Manzanillo International Terminal; a high-tech industrial park that will replace the jungle surrounding the Policlinica Hugo Spadafora (the old Coco Solo Hospital); a warehouse and container parking district along Randolph Road; various commercial, hotel and entertainment developments; and a network of roads connecting the parts of the project.

Darlington's presentation of the project's economic rationale rested on a number of speculative economic assumptions, the most important of which is that there will be a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Citing the "benefits of hemispheric integration," he used statistics about NAFTA's effects in Mexico and the predictions of Mexican President Vicente Fox's unstarted Plan Puebla-Panama to support the CEMIS project's viability as a business proposition.

According to Darlington's outline, the promoters' projection of the number of jobs to be created is based upon the experiences of similar developments in the United States. However, the consortium was not making any definite promises about the number of jobs that will be created --- that was both a tacit admission that there are economic uncertainties at play and a soft sell tactic in a province whose people have become jaded by such infamous unrealized predictions as the 20,000 jobs that the Davis Export Processing Zone was supposed to create.

The centerpiece of the project is the airport, which would certainly create new jobs, both in its construction and for its operation. Darlington noted that France Field's expansion into an international airport would not only be for cargo planes, but also for chartered tourist flights. He said that while 24 percent of Panamanian exports to the United States (in terms of dollar value) go by air, in many other countries the figure is much higher. He predicted that the CEMIS would significantly increase Panama airborne exports, noting especially that most such shipments now come from Colon province through Tocumen Airport, a process that "represents a loss of time."

Rodolfo Castro did the promoters' presentation on the project's anticipated ecological effects. "There are strong environmental and social impacts," he said, balancing the loss of forested areas with the creation of new jobs and business opportunities for an impoverished province.

Three streams run through the project area: the Rio Coco Solo, Rio Majagual and Rio Caño Sucio. Castro said that measures will be taken to limit runoff problems into these rivers, which were close to pristine a generation ago. "The quality is already bad," he noted about the main waterway through the project area, the Coco Solo River. Due in large part to floating garbage clogging that stream's narrow stretches, the Coco Solo frequently overflows its banks during the height of rainy season. Castro said that the CEMIS would cause some sedimentation problems due to erosion during construction, but that steps would be taken to minimize this. He added that the banks would be left in a natural state and that places where debris accumulates would be cleared, which he said would improve the entire area's flooding situation.

"There will be an increase in noise," Castro predicted, adding that it will have a "secondary effect on fauna." It may be that the fauna most affected by the extra noise would be homo sapiens, some of whom would be expected to move away to quieter neighborhoods.

The promoters admit that there will be losses of fauna and flora. Since there has been no detailed inventory of the biological resources that will be replaced by the development, Castro's presentation did not get into any plans for the rescue of endangered plant life, but he did say that the San Lorenzo Consortium would reforest other areas of Panama to compensate for the forests it plans to cut down. Acknowledging that the loss of habitat will affect the area's already depleted animal population, he predicted that the jungle rodents would migrate away of their own accord and said that the developers plan to rescue and relocate the sloths, monkeys and other animals that can't or won't move away so easily. He mentioned migration corridors for the fauna, without, however, talking about any specific places to which the animals could move and survive. Castro claimed that the area's aquatic wildlife, which is nothing like what it used to be, "will only be affected during the construction phase."

The CEMIS environmental impact estimate contemplates a migration of people into the area to take jobs created by the project. A complaint that's frequently heard in Colon is that most of the jobs created by new developments, and virtually all of the best jobs, go to people from outside the province. The contract between the government and the CEMIS developers, however, includes guarantees that Colon residents will get priority in hiring decisions.

The promoters expect that the development will increase the demand for potable water. That's a problem in Colon, as the IDAAN water and sewer utility gets most of its water from Gatun Lake, the Panama Canal Authority is unwilling to divert more of the scarce resource to IDAAN, and the crumbling water supply system is already so unreliable that firefighters frequently are hampered by low pressure and households close to the CEMIS project area are often dry. To deal with that problem, Castro said, the San Lorenzo Consortium will drill some deep water wells and is looking around for "other sources."

Castro also said that a new sewage treatment plant will serve the project, and that the developers plan to "maintain the existing garbage collection services." The latter point may not be the most attractive offer, given that area residents have been staging angry street-blocking protests over deficient garbage collection in recent weeks.

The consortium has also put some thought into traffic, promising a modern system of traffic lights, restricted access on some roads within the project, and load restrictions to protect certain routes from the heavy container trucks.

Finally, Castro outlined the developers' plans for ongoing monitoring of noise, insects, and air, water and soil conditions.

Those members of the public in attendance were not particularly convinced by the developers' presentation. Speaking for the Civil Society Initiative for the Environment (ISCA), a coalition of 10 civic or environmentalist groups, Gabriel Despaigne said that "we have come to come to a series of worrisome conclusions."

ISCA is generally concerned that the natural environment is getting too little consideration and particularly worried that adjacent Galeta Island will become worthless as a wildlife research center, except possibly as a place where the destruction of biological resources by adjacent developments is documented. The coalition also has a series of technical, procedural and legal objections to the way that the developers' environmental impact statement has been made and presented.

Despaigne urged the ANAM people present to reject the consortium's application for environmental permits. "This proposal," he said, "must be redesigned. It's not a definite plan." In particular, he argued that the part of the development that would be built on what is now a mangrove swamp should be relocated. "However," he added, "this does not imply that our organization opposes the project."

Ricardo Morales spoke for the Sociedad Civil de Colon, a coalition that includes the local chapters of the Panamanian Business Executives Association (APEDE), the Junior League, the Soroptimists and other groups. He began with a question for the developers: "Are you disposed to modify aspects related to the environment?"

(If the consortium maintains the flexible attitude that prevailed when the details of its contract with the government were being hammered out, the answer may be affirmative. Initially faced by strong objections from the Colon Free Zone Users Association and other groups, the contract was redrafted to shorten its term, lower its tax breaks to equal those enjoyed by the Free Zone, and include hiring priorities for Colon residents.)

Morales noted how, shortly after the former Fort Randolph reverted to Panamanian control in 1979, "Isla Margarita was rapidly sold --- and the project failed." He qualified that failure as a good thing, a non-event that saved Galeta Island and its wildlife. "You can't cut down those mangroves," Morales argued, if the sensitive environments of Isla Margarita, Isla Galeta and the lagoon that separates them are to be saved. "We're in solidarity with the birdwatchers and the Smithsonian," Morales said.

The Sociedad Civil de Colon objects to the proposed road that would run from the Trans-Isthmian Highway near the hospital to link up with Galeta Road and be used by heavy container trucks. They want public access to Margarita and Galeta islands "without a permit." They are concerned about pollution from underground aviation fuel tanks and an asphalt treatment facility that's part of the project. They worry that heavy trucks bearing sand and gravel will destroy the already crumbling Transistmica, and that the Four Corners intersections will become more of a "death trap" than it already is. They think that so long as the project is tinkering with the local environment, they should help adjacent neighborhoods solve their flooding and sewage problems, and "clean those rivers."

"You have a golden opportunity to give Colon what it needs," Morales concluded, "but the project must be modified."

Responding to Morales's presentation, CEMIS president Louis Sola said that he is disposed to listen. Christian Darlington assured Morales that the project won't bring sand and gravel trucks to the Transistmica because the developers plan to fill low areas with soil removed from higher points within the project's boundaries, but said that the container truck corridor from Galeta Road to near the old Coco Solo Hospital is essential to the center's operation.

The next person to speak was the Audubon Society's Bill Adsett, who has lived in France Field for about 20 years. He noted that the area around Galeta Road has for many years ranked first or second in the world for the
number of bird species identified in Birdlife International's annual one-day bird censuses, and the increasing number of tourists who come to Panama specifically to see the birds. He criticized the developers' environmental analysis as superficial and their impact statement as legally deficient. He lamented the proposed destruction of mangroves. He said that it's his group's aim to "maintain Panama's position as the best birding area in the Americas."

The Audubon Society has a number of specific recommendations. The most costly for the developers is that to the extent that land must be cleared, it should be done gradually. The usual practice in Panama is that the bulldozers come in and strip away all vegetation in the first days of construction, leaving the soil to erode and run off into streams. The consortium's spokesmen said that they plan to control erosion by clearing the site in much the way that the environmentalists advise.

About a dozen more people spoke, including residents of areas in and around the project site, an economist, university students, a businesswoman and a lawyer. Some expressed skepticism about the consortium's promises, some argued that jobs and economic development should take priority over birds and trees, some urged the relocation of residents from areas adjacent to the project, and all advocated some modifications to the plan. One Coco Solo resident, Luz Medina, demanded "an environmental impact study that conforms with the law" and expressed specific concerns that if the mangroves across Randolph Road from where she lives are destroyed, the rodents and snakes that live there will flee into her neighborhood.

Despite all of the criticism of the plan and the audience's consensus that changes must be made in the development plan, there was remarkably little invective or finger-pointing at the forum. Colon is hurting for jobs and its citizens are looking to private sector projects to create them --- but people aren't willing to accept just anything, and they take developers' assurances with a grain of salt.

ANAM has not yet announced whether the CEMIS environmental impact statement will be accepted.

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