business & economy

Business & Economy Briefs

Bank profits up

La Prensa reports that in the first half of 2006 Panamanian bank profits were up by some 32.6 percent over the same period in 2005. The daily reported that 80 percent of these $476 million earnings were shared among eight of the nearly 100 banks that operate here: Primer Banco del Istmo, Banco Nacional de Panama, BAC International Bank (Panama), Inc., Banco General, Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, Banco Uno, Banco Continental de Panama y HSBC Bank (Panama). The first and last banks listed are in a merger process.

Red Frog work halted

Part of the controversial Red Frog Beach Club development on Bastimientos Island in Bocas del Toro has its permits in order, while other parts of the project --- most notably the golf course --- have not yet obtained the needed environmental permits. Meanwhile, some of the construction that has taken place has resulted in the flow of silt into nearby waters, a problem that the developers are supposed to control lest it destroy nearby coral formations. The result of this is that, just when the developers settled their labor dispute with the SUNTRACS construction workers' union, the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) has ordered a halt to most of the work on the project while certain permit applications and complaints are pending. A lot of things might happen, but it seems that most likely this will be a short pause that may be ended with some government decisions that change certain aspects of the development.

Bocas mayor calls for development pause

Eligio Binns, the mayor of Bocas del Toro district, says that development on the islands is out of control and that there should be a six-month moratorium during which time some order should be imposed. He made his call in La Prensa, which illustrated his reasoning with a photo story about artificial beaches illegally cut out of mangrove forests by foreign speculators, islets that are legally incapable of being owned with "private property" signs and other abuses. Binns is an independent who has little influence with the national government, and segments of the American community have taken his statements to be hostile, though other Bocas gringos aligned with the environmentalist movement are supportive.

Nation's public debt up

At the end of June Panama's public debt stood at $10.537 billion, a new record and about $306 million more than six months previously. This was before a buy-back of Brady Bonds that took place in July, which swapped $351.6 of the debt for bonds requiring lower interest payments. The high national debt is a key factor in growing opposition in conservative business circles to the canal expansion plan, which would add at least 25 percent to the nation's public debt regardless of "yes" campaign claims that it shouldn't count because it would be in the name of the Panama Canal Authority rather than the central government.

National budget director quitting

The Torrijos administration's national budget director, Carlos González, has resigned. The resignation may not be effective until the presentation of the 2007 national budget to the National Assembly, which is expected before the end of September.

A matter of priorities...

According to various reports in the daily newspapers, and complaints from presiding Supreme Court magistrate Gracielia Dixon, three departmental budget items proposed for 2007 are of great interest. The nation's courts would get $46 million. The Public Ministry (prosecutors and Judicial Technical Police) would get $48 million. The First Lady's Office would get $30 million.

Hemophiliacs picket CSS HQ

About 150 people, mostly patients suffering from the chronic condition of hemophilia, picketed Seguro Social's Edificio Bolivar on August 28 to protest the lack of the anti-coagulants that they need to stop bleeding attacks. Hemophilia is the congenital inability to form blood clots, which can make a person die from what for anyone else be a minor cut or bruise. The Social Security fund has cut the doses of these patients' medications and in some cases failed to provide the drugs at all. Officials at Seguro told reporters that this has never happened before (ask a lot of the nation's AIDS patients and they'll tell a different story), said they were busy with other matters and blamed the medicine sellers for not having their paperwork in order.

Trade talks with Honduras stall over farm products

On August 31 the latest round of free trade talks between Panama and Honduras ended without an agreement. Panama was resisting Honduran pressures to open this country to palm oil imports, while our trade negotiators were unable to get their counterparts to let Panamanian meat and dairy products in to Honduras.

Second shrimp moratorium of the year

On September 1 the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) imposed the year's second moratorium on the catching, sale or possession of ocean shrimp. The measure does not apply to shrimp raised in tanks so it will not entirely remove shrimp from restaurant menus. It was not announced when the moratorium would end. Shrimping was also banned from February 1 through April 11 this year. These measures are imposed for one or two seasons per year to prevent the depletion of our wild shrimp populations. Shrimp, including both those raised in tanks or ponds and those caught by trawlers, add up to Panama's fourth-largest export commodity.

Gatun Lake at maximum capacity

It has been a particularly rainy year, and thus even before the heaviest rains begin in late October Gatun Lake is full to capacity. That means that in coming days the Panama Canal Authority may have to open gates on the Gatun Spillway. A spill is a spectacular thing to watch, but can be dangerous from many observation points.

Colon Free Zone embezzlement?

La Estrella reports that the Comptroller General has been called in to investigate the apparent disappearance of some $40,000 from the government agency that runs the Colon Free Zone. The funds appear to be missing from several departments. In circumstances like this usually there is one of two problems, or both: poor record-keeping that lends itself to an internal culture of corruption but may or may not actually result in theft; or somebody in an accounting or management position stealing and spreading the losses around to various departmental cubbyholes.

Strike at Colon call center

Nearly 200 workers walked of the job at the Influent Panama call center at the former Fort Davis, after the management there fired a worker for trying to organize a labor union. At management's request police came in to guard the premises after the walkout. Although Panamanian law protects the rights of workers to organize, recent administrations have tried to attract foreign businesses by adopting anti-labor policies.

Geologists surveying for tunnel under Casco Viejo

Geologists for the Mexican ICA construction company have been setting off tiny explosions in the ground in the Casco Viejo lately. These are for seismic tests of the soil, to survey for the place to put a tunnel under the old city center as part of a Corredor Sur extension to the Bridge of the Americas. The project would create a causeway to enclose those parts of Panama Bay off of Punta Paitilla, Avenida Balboa and El Chorrillo for landfilling by real estate developers. A lot of people who now live in places with ocean views that would eventually be obliterated are unhappy about the plan.

Sewage bubbles up in the city

Long-standing problems in Panama City's sewer and storm drain systems have been fouling intersections around the capital. The IDAAN water and sewer utility has been treated as a political patronage plum by successive administrations, and between the inclusion of superfluous hacks on the payroll and appointment of incapable persons in crucial positions, the institution has not had what it takes to perform basic maintenance on the systems that it runs. One serious problem is the ruptures and illegal connections by which in many places storm runoff has been allowed to flow into sanitary sewers (and in some cases vice versa). So heavy rains have been followed in rich neighborhoods and poor ones by raw sewage bubbling up through the holes in sewer caps. That has happened not far off of Calle 50 near the World Trade Center, in Chanis, in Curundu, on Tumba Muerto and elsewhere. Occasionally IDAAN officials place the blame on restaurants that dump used grease into the drains or people who throw trash into sewers, and these factors do contribute to the problem that's mainly caused by poor maintenance.

Balbina the motorcycle mama?

Who was that shown on the front page of El Panama America riding without a helmet on the back of a motorcycle driven by one of Panama's closest approximations of outlaw bikers, the Transito cops? Why, Housing Minister Balbina Herrera, of course. That was the only way she could get past the monumental five-hour August 29 traffic jam on the Transistmica caused by residents of Santa Rita Arriba and three other nearby neighborhoods. Why the drastic protest? People tend to get irate when the water goes off unexpectedly, stays off for several days and nobody will tell them when it will go back on. That was the immediate cause, but then people with a wide range of other grievances took the opportunity to join in the protest. We really need to get the minister a helmet and a leather jacket with a 1% patch.

Also in this section:
Striking teachers hold out against government threats
Canal pilots say they weren't consulted and third locks design is dangerous
At the Bella Hogar home furnishings show
Residential security in Latin America
Seguro Social workers settle their strike
Chávez wants to acquire more satellites for Venezuela
Business & Economy Briefs