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The refuse in question

photos by Eric Jackson

Matilde Ávila Rocero, the representante for Cristobal, has filed criminal charges against Colon Mayor Antonio Lattif III, alleging abuse of authority for granting a scrap dealer Panama Metal Recycling SA a concession to dig up metal pipes, tanks and fixture from the former Canal Zone around France Field, Fort Randolph, Galeta and Coco Solo, which are then gathered at Randolph and loaded onto ships bound for China's busy steel mills. But Lattif says that the scrap is city property and as mayor he has the power to dispose of such unused materials, and that he's doing it for the benefit of the cash-strapped municipal government.

But meanwhile the scrap mining is none to gentle to the environment.

It seems that the representante is mainly concerned about where the money goes. This activity is going on in her corregimiento and she thinks that the proceeds ought to go to her junta comunal, and says that nobody knows where the money is going.