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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
Panama estimated to lose 30 million dollars during strikes per day
The Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDE), one of the most important business associations in the country, said today that Panama loses close to 30 million dollars for every day of construction workers’ strike, which began last Wednesday. in demand for a salary increase. “We are losing as a country …
CAPAC will keep negotiating at the table
Capac and Suntracs have not yet reached a point of equilibrium in wage negotiations as part of the new collective agreement that should govern for the next four years. La Capac claims that it will remain on the table, despite the differences between what the workers aspire (an increase of …
Suntracs strike goes on
Méndez, announced that by tomorrow, the workers will be mobilized “in different roads” The National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar (Suntracs) on strike since last Wednesday in protest to a 60 percent wage increase, today carry out demonstrations and partial closures in the Centennial, Tocumen, Colón and other …
Veterinarians strike after Bill 574 is vetoed
The veterinarians of the country began on Monday, April 23 a stoppage of arms after the Executive vetoed the bill 574 that considered the salary increase for these professionals. José Torres, president of the Panamanian Association of Veterinary Doctors , informed La Prensa that the measure began at dawn this …
Milagros Lay hearing rescheduled for May 10
The intermediate hearing to Milagros Lay, accused of alleged fraud and falsification of documents was rescheduled for next Thursday, May 10, at 8:00 am in Room 9 of the Accusatory Penal System (SPA) in Plaza Ágora. The diligence was suspended in order to inform one of the victims, who could …
Capac and Suntracs still at an impasse on salary increases
The Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac) and the Single Union of Construction and Similar Workers (Suntracs) are still unable to agree on the salary increase. With the day of this Friday, April 20, three days of negotiations are held in the middle of a strike decreed by Suntracs, which has …
Construction strikes prove very costly
Building and acquiring a residence in Panama is expensive in relation to the salary that most of the population receives. The price of materials, the square meter, the payment of taxes, permits and bank financing rates, as well as the payment of benefits to workers in that sector are part of …
Lawyer arrested and accused of two homicides
The Court of Appeals of the Accusatory Penal System, led by magistrate Mario Carrasco, confirmed the preventive detention measure of the lawyer Zoraida Saucedo, accused of the murder of the Italian Furio Ferrari and Marianela Vallarino. With shackles on his hands and feet, jeans and a white shirt, Saucedo was …
Repeal of RODMAN Law a step in right direction
by James “JB” Bryson This story that appeared today and I have further linked online may seem like an afterthought or something to just fill the political quota of the news day, but in terms of the possible impact it can have on future business with Americans and avoiding the …
Transport carriers hit with sanctions for illegal rate hikes
In the first three months of this year – from January to March – the Transit and Ground Transportation Authority (ATTT) has imposed 245 sanctions for violating the prohibitions related to passengers or for refusing to take them. And it is that the inspections carried out by personnel of that …