Energy/Infrastructure

Rejection of proposed Port of Balboa stoppage

The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap) and the Logistic Business Council rejected the afternoon of this Saturday, May 12, the stoppage of operations in the port of Balboa, as it is an action with millions of repercussions on the cargo and its transshipment as well as …

Labor

SUNTRACS set for arbitration

The arbritraje raised by President Juan Carlos Varela to the National Union of Construction Workers and the like (Suntracs) and the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac), to end the strike in the construction sector, will be analyzed Tuesday by the workers’ union. This was reported on Sunday, May 13, the …

Labor

SUNTRACS affecting all sectors of economy

The paralysis of work in the construction sector has generated an unprecedented impact for the Panamanian economy. To date, it is estimated that the country has lost about $ 750 million of productive activity. + info Strike generates chain of economic losses The construction companies, the transport sector, the food …

Labor

Varela seeking end to SUNTRACS with intervention

President Juan Carlos Varela today requested an arbitration if they do not reach an agreement at the parallel table between the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac) and the Single Trade Union of Construction Workers and the like (Suntracs). day sunday “The government asks you very respectfully to go to an …

Labor

Government reaches accord with Banana plantation employees

Approximately at 2:00 am today an agreement was reached between the workers of the banana plantations of Bocas del Toro and the government, after 24 hours of work stoppage and street closures. The workers presented 12 points which they expect the government to comply with, among them public health, water …

Air Travel

Tocumen receiving bids to expand

The International Airport of Tocumen, SA -which operates the terminal under the model of a private company- informed on Wednesday May 9 that it received five technical and economic proposals for the first phase of construction of the free zone that will be developed adjacent to the terminal of cargo. …

Labor

Another meeting held to end SUNTRACS

The third meeting of the “parallel table” between the leadership of the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (CAPAC) and the Single Union of Construction Workers and Similar (SUNTRACS), the parties moved their positions, which seems to put more close an agreement and put an end to the strike that is now …

Labor

No vacation from SUNTRACS

by James “JB” Bryson So we are back from our little coastal trip and find that the labor strike is still affecting the areas near our home. The logjam coming into the city (which is already at a slow crawl generally) was quite worse. Hoping this ends quicker than expected. …

Labor

National Assembly hiring all askew

Civic and business organizations rejected the increase in funds, by more than 600%, in three budget items used to hire personnel managed by the deputies of the National Assembly (AN) . These are items 02 (temporary staff); 080 (trusted staff) and 172 (professional services contracts), which went from $ 5 …

Economy

Subsidy approved for the SUNTRACS strikers

The Single Trade Union of Construction and Similar Workers ( Suntracs ) continued this Friday, May 4 with the granting of the strike subsidy to the workers who started this measure since April 18. + info $ 9 million, disbursement that Suntracs must assume in two weeks of strike Varela …

Labor

Feeling effects of Strikes

by James “JB” Bryson   I can’t speak for all of course, but we have been feeling the effects of the recent strikes and protests that have been taking place for the past week. Reminding me of the time the wife and I were in NYC during the “Occupy Wall …

Labor

Suntracs strike expected to go into late May

They go 14 days of the unemployment and still, Capac and the workers, they do not reach an agreement CONFLICT The strike that has paralyzed 95% of the construction works in the country, could extend beyond May 15. This is because yesterday the Secretary General of the Single Union of …

Economy

Young people in Panama finding it harder to get a job

When it comes to finding a job , young people have the most difficult task. Be men or women, live in Panama, London or the United States. In the Panamanian case, it is estimated that each year about 70,000 young people intend to enter the labor market, according to official …

Infrastructure

10% of slaughterhouses need veterinarians

There are 350 of these professionals in the country, but one thousand 200 are required RISK The responsibility of monitoring the quality of the meat consumed by the Panamanian is on the shoulders of only 350 veterinarians in public entities. The shortage of personnel is notorious, according to the president …

Infrastructure

Panama leads the region in office building investments

Panama is the country in the region that concentrates the largest investment in office building projects with $ 900 million, this based on the commercial intelligence area of ​​CentralAmericaData. According to the business platform, 117 environmental impact studies (EIA) were presented in Panama between January and December 2017. Next is …

Infrastructure

River flooding affected pipeline leading to water restriction

Several sectors were left without water CONSEQUENCES Residents of different neighborhoods located on the Tocumen road were affected by the supply of drinking water since last Friday night. The lack of this resource occurred when a 42-inch pipe was blocked, due to residues that were washed away by the heavy …

Infrastructure

ENA raises revenues by 12% to 170 million in 2017

The revenues of the three stretches of corridors that circumnavigate Panama City totaled $ 170 million last year , a figure that represents a 12% increase compared to 2016. The revenues of the North corridor increased 6%, up to $ 81.7 million; those of the South corridor increased 12%, up …

Infrastructure

Suntracs and Capac to meet Monday

This Monday, April 30, marks the 13th day of the strike declared by the strike called by the National Union of Construction Workers and the like, without an agreement being reached with the  Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac), in the negotiating table. Between both parts are pending to agree the …

Crime

Mario Huezo sentenced to prison

The Salvadoran Police arrested Huezo on April 23 in one of the main hotels in the Salvadoran capital The Eleventh Court of Peace of El Salvador decreed today preventive detention and instruction for Mario Huezo, husband of the journalist Karla Turcios, murdered last April 14 in El Salvador. Huezo, formally …

Crime
1

Odebrecht’s Alleged Bribery

A report by the Security Council that aims to establish the beneficiaries of direct and indirect payments made by the Odebrecht construction company through the Department of Structured Operations, lists a series of public limited companies and the infrastructure projects that the Panamanian State contracted through which supposedly the money …

Canal

PSA contract had no objections in 2015

No deputy in the National Assembly opposed Bill 122 – which would later become Law 2 of 2015 – which endorsed the contract for the PSA port to operate in Rodman. The proposal was approved unanimously in the second and third debates – on January 27 and 28, 2015, respectively …

Infrastructure

Teachers will march today to the Presidency of the Republic

In the middle of the political crisis that the country is experiencing, the Government adds a new front of struggle. The teachers will march today to the Presidency of the Republic. They will paralyze the classes. The Ministry of Education (Meduca) insists that the day will be conducted in a normal manner. The …

Crime

Arias appears at Avesa building in conjunction with Odebrecht case

The former Democratic Change Party (CD) presidential candidate José Domingo Arias made himself available to the Anti-Corruption Special Prosecutor’s Office after this April 25 resumed investigations into the payment of bribes by Odebrecht to Panamanian officials. Arias appeared yesterday at the Avesa building, headquarters of the Anticorruption prosecutors, one day …

Crime

Public Ministry orders arrests of 2 men in connection with Jal Offshore

The Seventh Anti-Corruption Prosecutor ordered the arrest of Salomon Jack Btesh and Valentín Martínez Vásquez in the investigation carried out for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering by transfers from the investment account of Jal Offshore Ltd. in  Financial Pacific ( FP). The arrests of Btesh and …

Crime

Traces of blood found are linked to Saucedo

The lawyer Zoraida Saucedo’s defense requested time to know the details of the file – which consists of five volumes of 500 pages each – that link the jurist with the death of the Canadian Miomir Kotlica and Miguel Paez, on October 27 2017 The lawyer was also charged in …

Crime

Odebrecht and Financial Pacific cases revived

The Public Ministry initiated yesterday a series of proceedings in the cases of Financial Pacific and the bribes of the construction company Odebrecht. In this way, the entity ordered conductions to people related primarily to the Financial Pacific case, and simultaneously issued a statement on the reactivation of the Odebrecht …

Infrastructure

Meduca demands solutions to infrastructure problems

The teachers will form a ‘tamborito’ to the educational institution, because they are tired of so many problems REQUIREMENTS The Ministry of Education (Meduca) does not leave one problem when it falls into another. Year after year, teachers’ unions have been very critical in demanding solutions to infrastructure problems, the lack …

Infrastructure

Suntracs strikers close Centennial road

Members of  the Single Union of Construction and Similar Workers (Suntracs) proceeded to close two of the four lanes of the Centenario road, in front of the City of Health, on the morning of this Tuesday, April 24. The workers, with banners and flags, began to march towards the city, …

Crime

AAUD makes surprise inspection in Casco Antiguo

The Urban and Domiciliary Cleaning Authority (AAUD) carried out a surprise operation for more than 500 shops in the Casco Antiguo. In some businesses, irregularities were detected, such as evasion of the cleaning fee, delinquency and residential collection status; what violates the rule and evades the payment corresponding to the activity …

Labor

CAPAC garners support from the business sector

The maximum representatives of the main business associations staged this Monday, April 23 their support to the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac), in the development of the negotiation of the collective agreement that will govern the working conditions of the industry between 2018 and 2021.The presidents of the National Council …