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Mayday!

I am witnessing the rapid destruction of an area of supposedly protected old jungle/forest by a housing developer here in Panama.

They have apparently got permission from the government to build on some of the land that is supposedly protected against "development," part of which was grassland and part ancient jungle. But they are not allowed to cut any of the trees near the river at the edge of the area, and that is exactly what they have been doing for the last couple of days. Already many old trees are felled. The Panama tree protection agency was called and they said the trees near the river cannot be cut, and they talked to the site engineer and persuaded him to stop using chainsaws. However rather cynically the JCBs continue destroying the smaller trees in the same place near the river and "clearing" the ground between the larger trees. My guess is they intend to just endure the fine they will get and proceed anyway. They have been fined for exactly this before. One of the workers said the housing will go all the way to the university, destroying a large area of protected land. There is plenty of land here that is not native jungle that could be built on.

This area has been the home to various forms of wildlife. Monkeys and even a sloth have been seen here in the past, now replaced by a growling yellow monsters.

Let me guess: a drug money laundering operation by another Colombian development company? or bribery to get the government to declare that the supposedly protected area can be clear felled with no environmental impact? The soon to be ex-president has been caught before with conflicts of interest. Corruption is sadly abundant here.

This is very urgent. Two or so more days will see almost destroyed the area I overlook from a house on the other side of the river. Somebody with influence needs to do something as soon as possible. The JCB will be back at work at 7am I expect. We are desperately looking for someone who may have any influence at all to intervene and stop the destruction before it is too late. Maybe a call to the government here from a conservation agency or journalist could have some effect. Or can you put us in touch with someone nearer who can do something please.

The area in question is a park (not a park with paths etc, and sorry I don't know the name) near 'El Dorado' and near 'Villa de las fuentes #2', Panama City. It is adjacent to the Corredor Norte.

Iain McLeod

Charlie...er...Eric,

I'd trust a man sporting Charlie the Tuna over a scumbag in Armani any day!!! Remember who's going to end up in the can. It's not you.

name withheld

Anyone who reads The Panama News knows that the editor, like Charlie, tries hard to show that he knows what good taste is.

But does he, like Charlie, botch the concept?

Is that or is than not a dolphin-safe logo on the editor's t-shirt?

name withheld

Editor's note: To my knowledge, there has never been a dolphin caught in the same net as Charlie. He always gets rejected when the tuna boats show up in his neighborhood.

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