A technical report issued by the Ministry of the Environment (MiAmbiente) on the Linton Bay Portobelo project, located within the Portobelo National Park, points out serious environmental violations in that area.

According to the document, the irregularities could be linked to actions by the developer in charge of this marina.

Among the findings made by MiAmbiente are soil contamination by hydrocarbons, poor waste management and stagnant water.

The report also notes that the company is failing to comply with mitigation measures, such as controlling soil contamination, mitigating the deterioration of surface water quality, affecting coral species, and controlling the generation of waste and organic garbage.

This technical report was obtained by the human and environmental rights defender, Álvaro Santadrián Santamaría, at his personal request.

In April of last year, Santadrián filed a complaint against Mor Caribbean Corp. SA, the company that promotes Linton Bay Portobelo. According to statements made by Santadrián to La Estrella de Panamá , he has been following the trail of this marina and its misuse of the Portobelo National Park since 2018.

In the legal appeal filed by the human rights defender, it is stated that the project is dedicated “mainly to the sale of fuel and to removing ships from the water for their subsequent repair, acting as a port shipyard and gas station.”

None of these functions are related to the tourist use permitted by this protected area as established by Executive Decree 43 of July 16, 1999, later modified by Executive Decree 1366 of December 28, 2012, the complaint also explains.

Other elements detailed in this document are that port activity is not permitted in the Portobelo National Park, however, the company Mor Caribbean Corp. SA has built a fuel zone outside its concession area and has not been operating as a tourism project despite having received benefits for presenting itself as one, among other irregularities.

Therefore, it requires the Ministry of Economy and Finance to cancel the concession contract granted by the Maritime Authority of Panama and recover the tax incentives that Mor Caribbean Corp would have received.

The Dean tried to contact this company through different means in order to obtain their statements, however, no response was obtained from this promoter.

In a post on his X account, in which Santadrián makes the complaint public, he points out the existence of a possible conflict of interest in this case, involving the regional director of MiAmbiente in Colón.

“It is crucial to note that the current regional director of Colón, Yosuany Miller, is listed as a consultant for the company in the report, which could indicate a conflict of interest,” the activist highlights in his publication, where he also explains part of the latest technical report presented by MiAmbiente.

In November of last year, the activist reported this situation and the actions of Mor Caribbean Corp. to the current Minister of Environment, Juan Carlos Navarro.

At the time, the minister said he had given instructions to investigate what happened, but to date no information has been received on the progress of the investigation.