Lack of transparency and indecision. This has been the behavior of the Ministry of the Environment (MiAmbiente) with the supervision of a marina in Portobelo Bay, a protected area in the province of Colón, where Mor Caribbean Corp. built Linton Bay Portobelo.

MiAmbiente reported that four months ago an alleged investigation was launched into the possible conflict of interest of the regional director of that ministry in that province: Yosuani Miller Cárdenas. The current regional director appears in an environmental audit report carried out in June 2024 as a consultant for Mor Caribbean Corp., the company that she is now responsible for auditing. To date, it has not been resolved how this matter will be addressed.

Furthermore, this environmental audit report became known due to a citizen complaint, but it has not been made transparent by MiAmbiente, unlike other studies and digital files that appear published on its portal.

In response to this, MiAmbiente indicated that the platform is “outdated and compromised” and that it has not been used since the previous government administration. However, La Estrella de Panamá was able to confirm that the portal contains studies and files up to January 14, 2025.

The latest known inspection in Linton Bay, carried out under the previous administration, warns of various irregularities that could harm the Caribbean navy.

These include the fact that the protected area has been affected by hydrocarbon contamination and poor waste disposal. In addition, marine corals have been affected, all due to the company’s failure to comply with mitigation measures, according to the inspection document obtained by La Decana.

The company, for its part, denied all the findings described and, on the contrary, claimed that since its establishment, corals have proliferated in the concession area and that the existing biodiversity is due to the protection of the marina.

MiAmbiente warned of live coral affected by sedimentation in the concession area, but the company in turn stated that if there was damage to the corals it would be due to factors beyond the control of Mor Caribbean Corp., such as the activity of unsupervised yachts in the marina, whose waste could be affecting the corals.

Regarding hydrocarbon contamination from a gas station managed by Terpel in the concession area, Mor Caribbean responded that there is nothing that could cause environmental damage.

However, the report revealed that the station does not contain contingency measures and that there are fuel tanks and waste on the ground.

The company noted that it has complied with the prevention plans and has submitted them to the ministry. However, the last document provided is from 2022, according to the MiAmbiente technical report.