opinion

The ongoing controversy over the plan to cut down a forested area adjacent to Clayton and destroy one of the remnants of the colonial cobblestone Las Cruces Trail for another housing development is but one more example of the overall failure of the Interoceanic Regional Authority (ARI) as an institution. Under successive administrations ARI has been staffed with too many political appointees who know how to play juega vivo and not much more than that. Setting aside for a moment the corruption issue in that institution --- which is very real --- it’s easy to see how ARI has blundered time and again.

Especially lacking in the authority that was set up to dispose of the real estate in the former Canal Zone, so it seems, is any expertise in urban planning.

Colon province, for example, lacks decent athletic facilities. I understand that there have been a few long overdue repairs at the Mariano Bula Stadium in time for this baseball season, but meanwhile Panama inherited at least three better ball fields under the 1977 treaties --- those at Cristobal High, Fort Gulick and Fort Davis --- and ARI has squandered those assets. Had some surveyor not drawn a boundary line between ARI’s and the Panama Canal Authority’s turf that ran right through Balboa Stadium, ARI would have torn that down too.

Then there are the utility issues. Parts of Clayton and Albrook that never had flooding problems before are now at risk because ARI allowed developers to plug into and overload existing drains --- and in some cases to plug up the drains by permitting soil erosion during the construction process --- rather than pay the cost of the infrastructures that their developments required. People in parts of Colon province have gone without water because ARI allowed developers to tap into water mains that were already overused, leaving residents farther down the line dry.

Let us not simply blame ARI and presume that all the problems it so maladroitly handled will magically go away when the sun finally sets on that benighted institution at the end of this year. The same sorts of problems that ARI has fostered in the Reverted Areas happen all across this country.

An environmental impact statement that ignores the destruction of an important historical asset? A review process for proposed new developments that fails to consider the impact of construction projects on law enforcement, public schools, water and sewer systems, storm drains or traffic flow? All of that is madness, but it’s a systemic irrationality, one that has gripped both local and national governments for many years.

Is there a glimmer of hope in the common sense policies that Balbina Herrera is bringing to the Housing Ministry, which will no longer countenance residential developments in flood plains? Does the possible transfer of land use decisions for much of the former Canal Zone from ARI to Panama City’s municipal government give us any reason to expect better results? The answers to these questions may in about four years’ time form the basis for comparing would-be PRD presidential candidates.

But let’s not allow this country’s pervasive planning problem to get reduced to a matter of individual public officials’ talents, personalities and priorities. There are inherent conflicts of interest to be managed and inevitable issues that need to be addressed no matter who’s in charge.

Never again should Panama build a coastal road without considering the law enforcement needs that naturally follow, given such developments’ attractions for smugglers. Nor should residential developers who failed to install proper water and sewer systems be heard to refer their customers to the government for solutions to the resulting utility problems. Nor should a city hall that permitted the construction of a high rise apartment tower in a low-density neighborhood be heard to refer residents affected by the resulting twice-a-day traffic gridlock to the Ministry of Public Works. Nor should we see any more vast bedroom communities without nearby schools and playgrounds for the kids.

Yes, I know. All this would entail changes in the ways that both private and public sectors go about their business. Developers who have grown used to passing the expenses of their projects on to others will scream bloody murder. Politicians and bureaucrats who have grown used to making decisions by whim, without spending the time and effort to consider the implications, will be annoyed.

But such annoyances are the price that a society has to pay if it wants a healthier and more prosperous way of life. One of the critical elements of this nation’s rise from underdevelopment must be a land use planning system that goes well beyond anything it has ever known.


Also in this section:
Cuervo de Paredes, Who do they think they are?
Leis, Our Social Security Fund
Lerner, God and the tsunami
Human Rights Watch, Bush must answer about torture
Boxer, Why I must object
McIntosh, Guatemala: the region's drug smuggling hub
Goodman-Campbell, Honduras upholds the banana republic tradition
Sea Turtle Restoration Project, Swordfish off restaurant menus
Bernal, Perspectives
Jackson, Panama's bizarre land use policies

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