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Scientists from Panama, the Smithsonian and around the world, visit the former Canal Zone and wonder at the amazing variety of life to be found there. The tropical forests of the canal have revealed many of their secrets and in fact most of what scientists know about tropical forest function comes from studies done in these same forests. However, we still know very little about these forests or exactly how many species they are home to. These forests are immensely important for conservation. For example the tree diversity in the Panama canal is higher than that of western Amazonia and Malaysia, considered to be two of the most important bioregions of the world. The dry forests of the Pacific which can be found in Camino de Cruces and Clayton are also some of the rarest forests in the world. They also contain a wealth of animals. This Christmas the Audubon society counted over 250 species of bird within the forests around the city of Panama. Put into context the whole of Europe has only 526 species of birds. Panama, a vastly smaller area, has over 950.

Furthermore the forests of the Canal region are vitally important for the yearly migration of birds where hundreds of thousands of raptors are seen daily overhead and resting at night in these forests. This is a world renowned natural spectacle, equal to the migrations of wildebeest in the Serengeti or the caribou of Alaska.

The forests of the Canal region bring a great amount of foreign exchange into Panama, through the scientists that come here to work or through tourism. Each year thousands of tourists come to the canal region just to watch birds. This area has great potential to grow into the number one tourist destination for bird watchers in the world, a huge market worldwide.

However the forests of the canal are under siege. ARI, who are in charge of selling properties once belonging to the Americans are also selling forests to developers. In Colon developers have already razed many acres to make room for housing.

In Clayton the new residents are being faced with a tremendous battle over their forests. The developer P&P inmobiliaria have bought two lots, CL43 and CL35. In these forests are found a wide variety of forest types and animals which are of immense importance to global biodiversity. An environmental impact assessment for CL43 was undertaken to measure the impact and possible mitigation measures that could be taken to avoid negative consequences of the development.

In reading the report myself and two colleagues found many inconsistencies and errors. For example the assessment lists only 12 species of birds inhabiting the forests, although we found 60 species in four hours of searching. This includes the endangered yellow crowned amazon and the grey headed chachalaca, both protected by Panamanian law. The assessment lists only three species of mammal, although at least 10 are commonly seen there including the mono titi, an endangered species, protected by Panamanian and US law. The methodology of the assessment was found by us to be seriously inadequate for the task and the report gave little information on species numbers or on the predicted ecological affect that the development would have. The assessment also suggested that the majority of species in the forest were casual visitors, which according to us and a substantial body of literature, is certainly not true.

We have found many other errors and inconsistencies in the assessment and we await for the final decision of ANAM, the National Environmental Authority. If accepted, as almost all assessments are, we believe that a great injustice will have been done. These forests are not just a jewel of national natural patrimony but are internationally recognized as being important for the preservation of our planet's species. These forests still have many secrets to reveal about their history and how they function. Will they live long enough to tell us those secrets or will our greed destroy them beforehand?

Dr. Michael S. Roy
President, Conservation through Research Education and Action
http://www.crea-panama.org

cc: UNESCO, Paris, France
ICC-ROM-Rome, Italy
IUCN-Gland, Switzerland
L`OCPM-Quebec, Canada

We are the residents of Historic Center of San Felipe of Panama City, the capital of Panama, also known as the "Casco Viejo." Our people are very peaceful families and quiet people who are facing forced evictions by every type of subterfuge, chicanery and trickery.

Since our community has been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1997, over half of the official census populations from the 1990 to the 2000 census has been forced to move or been forcibly evicted.

Since 2000, we figure that another 2700 individuals have been forcible removed or forced out by all sorts of trickery, threats and chicanery.

We need your help in ascertaining our social and economic rights as poor and working people with a right to live in a historic center world heritage site and seek socio-economic technical advice in finding ways to create training in artisan and micro business skills in learning how to address the Metropolitan Development Plans and new tourism orientations towards international cruise ship seasonal visitors. We understand that UNESCO has about $180 million allocated for the Panama City Historic Center area here. We want to elect our representatives to sit in the planning sessions for the use of these funds and their implementation.

We as a neighborhood NGO would like your technical expertise in writing grants and projects to use said funds for the benefit the poor and working class residents of our Historic Center of San Felipe. The idea would be to be able to eke out incomes and enough to cover the reconstructions and restorations of the wooden heritage and other era buildings within the designated world heritage site.

We have denounced and condemned for years --- in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 --- the forcible evictions of the poorest working people of all ages from their homes to UNESCO, Paris, France; ICOMOS-Paris, France; ICCROM-Rome, Italy; and L`OCPM-Quebec, Canada!

We propose and petition to have a UNESCO monitoring office, here in San Felipe, Casco Viejo, the Historic Center of Panama City, Republic of Panama.

We petition you to have San Felipe removed from the list of World Heritage Sites for the flagrant violations of HR and forcible evictions of our residents, particularly the old pensioners and the low income working poor and for the destruction of the historic sites, referring as our legal basis to Section E, Articles 36-47 to remove a world heritage site.

We petition for your help! Your guidance! Your training in grant writing and setting up a MONITORING OFFICE in San Felipe. We need your help in getting resident representation on local bodies having jurisdiction over the historic site.

Furthermore, we plead for help: SOS... SOS...

Anibal Chacón González
President, The Association of Residents of San Felipe

Thursday, December 23, 2004 6:59 am, Nuevo Arraijan

Please Santa help me! I just walked my dogs around the block and again I smelled sewage near the Las Villas models office! I found the street manhole cover near Miguel's Supermarket overflowing again with the sweet Christmas smell of raw sewage!

Did everybody go on vacation?

The water interruptions, the lack of garbage pickup, the electricity off three times in one night --- I use an electric breathing machine (CPAP) --- and now the whole sewage system for Las Villas and sector C is overflowing!


Friday, December 24, 2004 7:47 am...

Fiebre del alcantarillado (sewerage fever) Alert!

The smell of sewer gas is now strong in all storm water piping for many streets away from the sewer spill.


Saturday, December 25, 2004 6:04 am

Last update: I have been informed the total new sewer project will take about four weeks.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Rick Tuggle
Arraijan

My name is Mario Vilar and I'm the owner of Move to Panama Corporation. Recently I have been informed about an article that was published in The Panama News that involves directly Move to Panama Corporation with Proart Marketing Associates and Gilbert Straub. After reading the entire article, it is clear that the information provided about Move to Panama Corporation and the business relation with Proart Marketing Associates/Gilbert Straub does not express correctly the business relation.

My company in no way have any relation with them more than providing a real estate service promoting their project as we do with many other customers, either companies or individuals that contact us asking for our services for marketing their properties. You can check other current customers at http://www.movetopanama.com/propertiesforsale.html. Because of the article and the problem that has caused to the image of my company I have removed Proart Marketing Associates's project from the website.

The fact that we provide a service to them in no way means that we are involve in any other activities that Proart Marketing Associates, Gilbert Straub or any other of their associates might have or had in the past as it was stated in the article. Now we are very concern since there is no doubt that said article has a very negative effect to the image of our company which as you mentioned it helps American move to Panama.

Mario Vilar
Move to Panama Corporation

Editor's note: The story in question does not allege wrongdoing on the part of the Move to Panama Corporation and it is regrettable if anyone infers this. Really, Mr. Vilar's company was mentioned only for the purpose of illustrating the ever-shifting story that The Panama News was getting from the Tucan promoters, one part of which was about who is or is not involved in selling the real estate at the gated golf course community. But the most that this would show is that somebody other than the Move to Panama Corporation was making contradictory statements, which in any case did not cast aspersions on Vilar or his company.

That was a great exposé that helped me avoid any potential money losses investing in Central American real estate. By the way... looks like Escape Artist is shilling for another development in Nicaragua --- Rancho Santana --- seems like the other group involved is International Living. Wonder if it's same group/same approach as what is happening in Panama.

Steve
USA

Editor's note: I really don't know about the development in Nicaragua. But now that you name some names of other publications, it's a good opportunity to point out what those folks do and how what The Panama News does is different.

Escape Artist and International Living may or may not admit it --- they probably wouldn't --- but they have been caught in some very embarrassing situations. Now I have from time to time also made a fool of myself in The Panama News, so I don't want to get too pompous about other people's mistakes.

However, those publications, and others like Panama's tourist-oriented The Visitor and most of the websites coming out of Panama, rather purely consist of advertising. They publish this gushy hype that takes on some of the forms of independent reporting, but it's always directly or indirectly (mostly directly) a plug for paying advertisers. In some cases, as when Escape Artist was touting Tom McMurrain as the conquering whiz kid who created Tom McMurrain's San Cristobal Land Development teak and noni scam as "best investment of the century," he really owed it to his readers to acknowledge that he was getting a payoff for every sucker he sent to McMurrain.

International Living is a bit slicker than Escape Artist, which may be why a couple of years ago the American Chamber of Commerce brought her to Panama as a panelist for its annual tourism forum. Her presentation struck me as having much in common with what junior high cheerleaders do. It was not one of AMCHAM's high points. (I must point out, however, that some of the other presentations at that same forum were excellent.)

But I try to publish a serious newspaper. This means, for example, that unlike The Visitor, when The Panama News reviews a restaurant that review is unconnected with such considerations as whether the establishment advertises in our publication. This means that I have not tailored this publication's editorial policies to curry favor with the powerful families, the political parties or petty little publicity directors who would have me grovel before them in hope of selling an ad.

Thus Panama's ad cartel doesn't do business with us and various companies that try to reach the English-speaking community here prefer other publications with far fewer readers than The Panama News has.

And thus a lot more people read The Panama News than read the products of our vendable local shills, because publications that are all advertising all the time and won't admit it are both boring for readers and unreliable for consumers.

Mind you, being boring and unreliable is not a crime, which is why the people who run the publications the reader mentions are not in jail with Tom McMurrain. They will continue to do what they do and I will continue to do what I do, and these are by no means the same thing.

I was a student applicant training with Dell Panama, a call center operation in Panama, for 7 work days. During that time there were world wide earthquakes, massive discotheque fires and other natural and war disasters involving scores of people in buildings.

At Dell Panama, upon inspecting premises where there are nearly 2,000 people scheduled working at a call center with a projected 10,000: I found some major safety concerns.

1. The building had no evacuation plans for its second story where scores and scores of people worked. The floor where I attended classes and the main dining hall was located.

2. Of the fire extinguishers noted on the first floor plans, only a couple were current in certification for 2005. The rest where out of date by as much as 14 months from last certification. I found extinguishers totally missing. Their locations were empty.

3. Dengue and other mosquito transmitted diseases being a grave concern here in Panama, around the exterior mechanical and electrical enclosures I found lots of receptacles full of water with mosquitos.

4. I discovered lots of flammable trash and construction material strewn in between electrical and mechanical housings.

5. I found electrical panel covers indicating 1,600 amps with manufacturers' warning instructions to secure with bolts the panel access, prior to turning on current. The bolts were missing or wrong size. Lower 750a, 650a panels same. No multilock lock outs were in place either.

6. The two garbage containers that were used by the Dell facilities restaurants were in open containers, not in closed containers. There were about 17 buzzards and other wild animals and flies/bugs in the garbage container premises. A closed garbage container lay there, unused. When I peeked inside, the bottom was rotted out.

As an aside, during the Dell Panama corporate Xmas feast on December 21, 2004 at the local Hotel Panama Balboa room, Dell Panama invested in the best food, liquor and gave prizes like a Yaris Toyota car.

Yet Dell Panama:

could not invest in certified extinguishers for 2005 to protect its nearly 2000 employees; and

could not invest in locating escape exit plans for the second story in case of fire of earthquake. Like Panama earthquake on Sunday, December 19, 2004.

Worse, on the ground level office row where the general manager has his office, on the exit corridor, the plan showed a fire alarm box. It was not there.

During the training Dell stressed "team work" and "being a Dell Panama family."

During the Xmas party I sat outside the foyer, to see if any of the security folks (many blacks), maintenance and cleaning folks (groups of Kunas/women) or food service workers (mainly women from the Interior) came. None were present. They were not invited, I was told. Must be a conception of a "gringo team." Segregation, marginalization, exclusionary. I don't see it as a welcome multinational corporate practice to Panama.

I refused to enter the party. Dell Panama did not merit my attending said Xmas Party.

After thinking about it, I decided Dell Panama did not merit my offering to sell my capacity of labor power, given its retrograde employee management and facilities practices here in Panama.

Basta Ya!

José F. Ponce

I'm writing to find some information on how someone would find local family that live in Panama. My mother is from Panama and she is sick and she wants to local some of her brothers and sisters that live there and She can`t remember there addresses or how to local them. I would like to know who I would have to call or write to get that information for her. It`s been many years since she has talked to them.

The last name for them is Espinoza or Quarless. I looked all over this website, but I could`t find anything that would be helpful to me or my family.

Please, I hope someone from your office, could give a poor old lady, her request to find her family, after so many years. Thank you, if someone could get back to me. God Bless you.

Here`s my email address: YThurmond5@satx.rr.com. I'm from San Antonio, Texas. My telephone is 210-673-8626. My mother's name before she was married was Edna Marie Quarless Espinoza.

Isabel Yolanda Jones Thurmond

Editor's note: There is an Allan J. Quarless listed in the Panama City phone directory at (507) 224-6534 and an Andrés J. Quarless Gilling at (507) 290-4275. I don't know if these people are related to the letter writer's family. I didn't find any other Quarlesses in any of the larger towns in Panama. Espinoza (or Espinosa) is a very common name here. But maybe one of our readers might be able to be more helpful.

My name is Lenny, I am trying to find a friend from high school who either before graduating or right after graduating high school joined the army and was later stationed in Panama.

This was around 1972 or 1973, his name was Steven Paul. He attended Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, California around 1970 through 1972 or 73 his current age will be 51 in February. I am sure he was stationed in either northern California or some part of the US and later after boot camp was shipped out to be in Panama. He came back to see me shortly after he was there and told me he was a paratrooper stationed at Panama.

I am note sure if you can help me but can you give me an e-mail address or information to write to find out what branch of the service he might have been with (back then in early 1970). I have tried every thing to find him. We have a website called classmates.com and searching for him turns out to be very hard. Steve or Steven Paul does not show up at Hamilton High (he might have finished school in the service). I heard that he might have come back to the states after he enlisted but I don't know what state he lives in and there are so many Steve Paul's.

He is a black male and I was hoping I can search for him by race, age, name, etc. Him and I were good friends (like a brother) and I have seen so many of my old friends that I wondered how he has been. I have tried most websites and certain groups military.com and paratroopers.net.

Perhaps you can help me. Anything you can suggest would be helpful.

Thanks,

Lenny Hochteil
lennyraveon@hotmail.com

Editor's note: Can any of you readers help this man? According to my limited knowledge of US military history in Panama it would seem that this Steve Paul may well have been stationed at Fort Gulick or Fort Davis, or have trained at Fort Sherman. (I'm not sure if there were paratroopers at any of the Pacific Side bases.) One thing I do know is that among the readers of The Panama News there are a number of veterans who know much more about the subject --- and how to look up someone who served in the US Armed Forces --- than I do.

A rainbow of peoples, nations and cultures suffered and continue to be affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami that hit South Asia and parts of coastal East Africa. The region of Asia affected (Indian Ocean Islands, South Asia) also has the second largest population of Black (Negro/Africoid) peoples after Africa itself.

The southern coasts of Asia from Arabia to Indonesia and beyond to the Australian region was described by the Greek writers as the region of the "Eastern Ethiopians," or Blacks. Africans were the 'Western Ethiopians," or Blacks. When Herodotus and other Greek writers saw South Asia and the region about 2, 400 years ago (as recorded in the book, "Periplus of the Erethrean Sea,"), the vast majority of people were Black Africoids who originated in Africa and settled Asia over 100,000 years ago and for many periods afterwards, (East Africans, Dalits, Tribals, Kerela Peoples, others) Diminutive Negroids, (Andaman Islanders, Negritos), Negro-Australoids (Australian Aboriginal). The Indian Ocean (called the "Ethiopian Sea," during the Middle Ages and in ancient times) is one of the primary regions of Africoids, Indo-Negroids, Malays, Negro-Australoid, Oceanic Melanesian Negroids, Austrics and Mongoloids.

Asia's first civilizations included Negroids as the primary and important contributors in some regions as Chandler shows, (Africa Presence in Early Asia, edited by Ivan Van Sertima, Transaction Publications, New Brunswick, NJ; also "Susu Economics," published by http://www.AuthorHouse.com).

Some of the first civilizations and cultures of Southern Asia from Mesopotamia to China are said to have been started by the Bak Tribes or people descended from them. Between 10,000 to 6,000 BC, the Bak Tribes migrated from Central Africa and settled Nubia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Sri Lanka, India, SE Asia and Southern China. They were among the Diminutive Blacks. Yet, the Bak were not the first Africoids to settle Asia. The first to do so were people related to the Pygmoids and the Black Anu peoples (similar in appearance and related to East Africans and some Australian Aborigines) of the Sahara and East Africa. About 100,000 years ago, the fist humans left Africa for Asia and their descendants still exist there today.

According to the Fijian Representative to Southern California, I. Raikadroka, trade and travel between Fiji and Tanganyika was occurring in 2000 BC. This trade and commerce is actually quite old. The former Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea pointed out in Black Books Bulletin (1974) that the Blacks of Asia and Africa, "are related in the past, present and future."

Tourists, locals, everyone suffers from disaster

The catastrophic Tsunami that swept over coastal South Asia and parts of East Africa wiped out about 150,000 people in a matter of minutes. This tragedy had the greatest effect on the Indo-Negroid people of South Asia and the Malays of Aceh Province, Indonesia. Yet, Mongoloids, Austrics, Malays, African Negroids, Indo-Negroids, Melanesian Negroids, Europeans, South East Asians and others suffered over this vast region.

One of the most vulnerable and most ancient peoples of the region, the Diminutive Negroid groups like the Oong and Andaman Negrito Islanders of Andaman Islands who number in the few hundreds to few thousands lost some of their numbers but they still survive. The Acenese of the region directly next to the epicenter of the earthquake that initiated the tsunami suffered doubly since they are already victims of conflict and war in the region. Their struggle for independence has led to conditions and results similar to that of the Melanesian Negroid people of West Papua and the East Timorese. About one third of the people who perished in the Tsunami in Thailand were European vacationers.

East African victims of the tsunami

Coastal people and fishermen from the coasts of East Africa lost hundreds of people to the Tsunami. Yet, this region seem to have been ignored by the media for little is mentioned about their plight by the news media. Perhaps the news media do not realize that the eastern coast of Africa is bordered by the Indian Ocean. Perhaps Black Africans' suffering is not as important as those of other people or perhaps the fact that the Somalis and some "Arab-speaking," Sudanese see themselves as aligned to the Arabs, the West and others are expecting the Arabs to help Somalia? Who knows why Somalia and parts of East Africa affected by the Tsunami are being downplayed or neglected. Yet, one has to wonder whether the idea that some Somalis want to identify themselves away from the rest of the Black African race and with the Arabs leaves them vulnerable to being looked over by other Africans and by Blacks around the world for whom unity and Pan-Africanism or Pan-Negroism is crucial to global unity and development.

Poster children from Sweden and South Asia

The "poster children" of this terrible tsunami are the tens of thousands of children who perished in this unfortunate and horrible calamity. The "poster child" was also a Swedish boy who was found by Americans wrapped in a blanket after he was saved by others. Luckily his father was safe despite the bashing he also took. News reports showed the reunion of father and son along with other unions of local people over a period of time on CNN and other networks.

A number of children of Sri Lankan, East Indian and Asian background were also shown throughout the broadcasts of this tragedy. This tragedy has somehow pushed the locals and tourists close together in a region where over five million tourists visit in a season and are served by the local population who depend on tourism for their livelihood. Sad to say, one week after the tragedy in Thailand, tourists were back to their usual vacationing in the very areas that people perished a week earlier.

The Tsunami took the lives of about 140,000 people in a few minutes. Apart from the tens of thousands of people of the region who perished over the vast area, thousands of European, American, Australian and other foreign tourists also perished in this calamity thousands of miles from their original homes. The Europeans included Swedes, Germans, English, French, Spanish and others. People as far as Brazil and Argentina who came to vacation in the region also perished in this tragedy of biblical proportions.

Nelson Mandela's vision and previous call for a strong Indian Ocean/African region

Years ago, Nelson Mandela, head of the African National Congress, one of the liberators and President of South Africa, proposed the creation of a strong Indian Ocean/African region. Mandela's idea of a strong and productive African/Indian Ocean trade and economic region comprising of the African nations and nations of the Indian Ocean region now appears more crucial than ever and has to be made a reality.

Yet, Africa itself should work to form strong economic and cultural as well as regional unions with regions such as the South Atlantic, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South Pacific where future calamities such as the melting of the polar icecaps of the Antarctic and future flooding will be a serious problem. Further disasters similar to the Indian Ocean Tsunami can also occur in the Atlantic and Caribbean region, as well as the Indian Ocean. Africa is surrounded by water and faces both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean and should organize to protect its continental coasts. The southern regions and the tropics have had thousands of years of economic, cultural and social activity.

The Southern Hemisphere regions and oceans must prepare for calamities

Africa, South America, South Asia, Australia, Melanesia, the Caribbean, Southern US, South Pacific and many of the warm regions of the earth must be prepared for the coming of more natural disasters and calamities in the near future. These regions will be affected by severe changes in the weather and geological changes as the Antarctic ice continues to melt. Warmer temperatures in these regions will contribute to the rapid melting of any floating ice that enters into the warm zones of the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean regions. As a consequence, the oceans will be permeated with more fresh water from the arctic and floods of Biblical proportions will affect much of the southern and central regions of the earth. The same conditions can occur in the Arctic, but the warmer climates of the South may push the inevitable to occur faster.

It can be said that "mini tsunamis" or conditions with results similar to tsunamis occur in the Caribbean and Southern United States, Gulf of Mexico as well as the Asian coastal regions every few years. These conditions are hurricanes and typhoons where great surges of sea are carried inland and the damage to the coastal region and some inland areas are quite extensive.

The difference between the damage caused by hurricanes and that caused by tsunamis, particularly in the recent case in South Asia, has to do with the amount of time coastal inhabitants have to flee from the coming waves of water expected to smash into the coasts. Hurricane warnings (as with hurricane Frances, Ivan, Jean that hit the Caribbean and US in 2004), have been very effective for many years, however in the case of the most recent tsunami, there was little warning and little chance to escape.

Future tsunamis, catastrophic geological changes due

More rapid and drastic geological changes involving water is due to visit planet earth in a few years. "Global warming" has been pointed to as the reason why catastrophes are to be expected. Yet, this may be one of the reasons why the earth will experience great changes. Although melting arctic ice may cause floods in many areas of the earth, plate tectonics and the shift of the earth's crust as well as activity from the earth's hot inner core also have the potential to cause volcanoes to erupt on land as well as beneath the sea and lead to more tidal waves, earthquakes and landslides.

Volcanic and plate tectonic activity in the Caribbean and the islands off the West Coast of Africa may cause serious problems in the future. Although there are some geologists who may think that eruptions from the Azores or Canary Islands and tidal waves produced by them may not occur anytime soon, it is important that the Caribbean, South America, Southern Europe and the continental US and Canada's East coast prepare for the possibility of eruptions and tsunamis in the future. After all, volcanoes are connected and the shifting of plates that causes earthquakes are conditions that occur over very wide areas. Therefore, what happened in South Asia can occur in the Americas' Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean regions.

Many of these events previously mentioned are beyond the control of the earth's people therefore it is our duty to organize regions to be able to respond in such cases. So, Nelson Mandela's call for a strong African and Indian Ocean region and trade area is now more necessary than ever. Furthermore, this region should also include the South Atlantic, the Caribbean and the South Pacific, where some of the most vulnerable people live today and where future calamity can be averted if these regions are strong, economically powerful, socially united and politically united.

These conditions alone may not be enough to avert future disasters but strong infrastructure, preparedness and backup plans are the reasons why regions like the US, Japan, Australia, Europe and other wealthier nations are able to overcome such tragedies and lessen the effects. Africa, South Asia, the Southern regions should be prepared.

Paul Barton
Hanford, California

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