The landfill for a ramp over Avenida Balboa and the Matasnillo River to the Multicentro shopping mall became a symbol of many things, but soon it will be no more. Mireya Moscoso cut the ribbon for Multicentro's Colombian developer during her last months in office, but Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro protested that the ramp at the mouth of the grossly polluted Matasnillo River did not have the proper permits from the city. Moreover, critics charged that the permit that the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) had granted was improper because the procedures used were those for projects on private property, while the more stringent standards for developments on public property should have applied. And then there was the fact that the main permit for the project came from the National Maritime Authority, which arguably had no jurisdiction.

This was not just an exercise in environmentalist straw grasping. The landfill changed the pattern of the river's discharges into Panama Bay, and people were very afraid that like other Matasnillo River encroachments have done in the past, this could also cause some destructive and malodorous floods.

The courts upheld the opponents' objections and after the Torrijos administration was inaugurated the courts and the Office of Catastro ordered the developer to remove the landfill and to repair the city's fence, seawall and sidewalk that his work crews damaged. But the developer refused.

The work thus, fairly or unfairly, became a symbol of other things --- impunity, corruption and the "Colombianization" of Panama's business culture. As in, having improperly obtained a permit from one government office, thumbing one's nose at the branches of government that do have proper jurisdiction. As in the wealthy presuming that the law doesn't apply to them. As in a big influx of money and individuals from a country in which hit men play an important role in economic life.

Catastro has sent in the trucks and backhoes to remove the landfill. Whether the banner shown here is a reflection of the genuine grassroots appreciation for what the government has done or is a bit of PRD "astroturf" propaganda remains unclear to this observer.

Also in this section:
Casco Viejo renovation project
Landfill removal
Mireya retains control, changes party name
Panama News Briefs

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Conspicuous deconstruction