18 months on sidelines, and Bocas still a MESS.

Bocas del Toro

An unprecedented crisis is experienced by the Municipality of Changuinola, in Bocas del Toro, as a result of the fact that the municipality has been closed for 26 days in protest because the eight representatives of the Democratic Revolutionary Party refuse to ratify the treasurer appointed by the mayor Yesica Romero .

Narciso Machuca, adviser to the mayor, said that she does not want to work with the treasurer -appointed in the last administration and who has been in the position for seven and a half years-, since he has not fulfilled part of his duties, especially in the regarding the collection of taxes from companies that extract minerals from rivers.

The unprecedented crisis that the municipality of Changuinola is experiencing

The Municipality of Changuinola, commercial motor of the province of Bocas del Toro, has been totally paralyzed for 26 days.

The officials of this commune are on strike, as a result of the fact that the Municipal Council, which is dominated by the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) , refuses to ratify the treasurer appointed last December by Mayor Yesica Romero, of the Cambio Democrático party ( CD) .

Since taking office in July 2019, Romero has governed with the treasurer of the past administration, José Armando Díaz, who was appointed by the former mayor of that municipality, the PRD member Stella Stephenson, today governor of the province and trusted person of the deputy Benicio Robinson , president of the PRD.

In other words, Díaz, in addition to the five years of the Stephenson term, has been working for another two and a half years of the Romero administration, but his contract expired on December 31 last. The day before, on December 30, the mayor asked the Council to ratify her candidate for treasurer. She did so based on article 242 of the Constitution , which empowers mayors to appoint treasurers, but received a resounding no.

She asked what was the reason for the rejection and the president of the council, Cecilia Palacio, representative of La Gloria district, said the following: “After the vote there is no explanation.” This is observed in a video that records the fact.

The crisis resulting from the paralysis of the municipality goes beyond the political struggle, since it has already begun to have consequences in the public order of the province, as well as in commerce, in tourism and in the lives of the more than 150 officials that they have not been able to collect their fortnightly payments so far in 2022, since there is no treasurer to sign the checks.

Since last Monday, municipal officials and representatives of different social organizations have closed the bridge over the Changuinola River, a strategic point of the Inter-American highway, in rejection of the position of the PRD councilors. In Changuinola, where almost all the public institutions of the province are located, around 23 thousand people live.

“The councilors have not explained the reason (for not approving the treasurer). The mayor has said that she does not want the treasurer for a tax collection issue, ”Maynor Guerra, president of the Pro-Health and More Committee for Bocas del Toro, assured this medium.

He added that he, as a citizen, is concerned that taxes are not collected. “They (the representatives) want to impose the law of the majority here. We are not supporting the mayor. We want the law to be followed,” he added.

Guerra listed the effects that this issue has generated in the district, and in the province: in garbage collection, plates, collections, mail, tourism, commerce, municipal services. “No response has come from any authority to see what solution is given to this. We are entering the era of a dictatorship or a partyocracy,” he said.

La Prensa called the mayor, but she did not answer. Who did speak was the lawyer Narciso Machuca, expert in local governments and advisor to the municipality of Changuinola. He narrated that the council wants to continue imposing a treasurer who has had “many difficulties” for the exercise of his functions. “The cadastre has not been updated, there is no business census, merchants have not been properly classified, the taxpayer’s receipt says one amount, but when you go to the municipality there is another amount. So, there are a series of irregularities and the mayor made the decision not to ratify him in office, ”he explained.

He added that part of the functions that the treasurer has to perform have been reviewed (article 57 of Law 106 of 1973) and added that “he has failed to comply with many of them.” He cited, for example, updating censuses and collecting municipal taxes, since “there is a significant number” of companies that are doing construction.

“According to what the mayor tells us, it seems that there is a very important tax evasion. There are companies that are extracting minerals from the rivers and this is not reflected in the municipal collections, as should be established. The tax regime establishes that there is a figure that must be paid for the extraction of the cubic meter, but that figure does not go according to the amount of material that is seen to be extracted, ”she said.

Precisely, one that is linked to concessions in the area is Benicio Robinson, deputy elected by that circuit. In 2019, Robinson admitted to La Prensa that his family is linked to the business of exploiting stone material, sand and stone in the Changuinola River, a concession in the hands of the company Transporte y Edificaciones del Atlántico, SA

For his part, Díaz, the treasurer, cited a statement by the Administration attorney, Rigoberto González, as a result of a query from the mayor. “Because the appointment of the treasurer has not been perfected, such person cannot take office until it is ratified. Therefore, the current treasurer has to remain in his position with all the prerogatives that this position implies (…)”.

He called the mayor’s decision not to accept what the majority says “irresponsible.” “This has been a self-kidnapping,” she added.

In relation to the fact that he would not be fulfilling his functions, especially in the collection of taxes, he assured that these are accusations with the intention of distorting and discrediting him, because legally they have not been able to achieve their objective.

This medium also called Governor Stephenson and a woman replied that she was busy, that she would return the call, but at press time she had not answered.

Don’t ask to fix or contact, but anyone see a connection. Jesus,,,,,,,do I even want to go back to this corrupt country is the REAL question??   Nito (whom PNO staunchly supported is full of HOT air when it comes to Bocas, and his cabinet is RIFE with corruption).    Bigger question, which new investor is paying for the drinks? 

https://www.laestrella.com.pa/nacional/220217/denuncian-juez-bocas-toro-fiscalia

The first judge of the Bocas del Toro Civil Circuit (alternate), Eric De León, was reported to the Primary Attention Anti-Corruption Prosecutor in a case indicated as a new fraudulent attempt to appropriate two farms, by the Red Frog group in Isla Bastimentos .

They denounce the judge of Bocas del Toro before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor
Images included in the complaint. Judge Erick De León on the left and Danilo Howel on the right. Assigned

The first judge of the Bocas del Toro Civil Circuit (alternate), Eric De León, was reported to the Primary Attention Anti-Corruption Prosecutor in a case indicated as a new fraudulent attempt to appropriate two farms, by the Red Frog group in Isla Bastimentos .

The complaint maintains that Bastimentos Holdings (owner of Red Frog), now with the alleged complicity of the judge, tries again to acquire two farms titled in 2019 in favor of the company Tres Cruces de Oro and that are under the trust of IPAL Trust Corp. .

In addition, it is pointed out, in the complaint that the prosecutor Juárez received, Judge De León’s relationship with the legal representative of Bastimentos Holdings or Red Frog, Wilhemia Johana Bussing and the personal friendship with Danilo Howell, director of several companies of the Red Group. Frog.

They denounce the judge of Bocas del Toro before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor
They denounce the judge of Bocas del Toro before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor

These two farms (N. 378225 and N. 404806), located on Isla Bastimentos, were titled in favor of Tres Cruces de Oro on June 28, 2019 and in favor of IPAL Trust Corp. They were registered in the Public Registry on May 18, 2019. 2021. Before those two dates, the farms belonged to the State, which automatically excludes them from a prescription process.

On December 6, 2021, Bastimentos Holdings filed the request for precautionary measures against IPAL Trust Corp. based on the domain acquisition prescription process that Judge De León admitted.

On January 21, 2022, Judge De León granted them these precautionary measures against IPAL Trust Corp, in which they are ordered not to carry out any construction or improvement on the farms.

They denounce the judge of Bocas del Toro before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor
They denounce the judge of Bocas del Toro before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor

“Judge Eric de León did not even notify us, but he did send letters to the mayor and municipal engineering, to the Isla Colón Police,” said representatives of Tres Cruces de Oro. This is very irregular and detailed in his complaint letter. 

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