I want to thank K.C. Hardin for helping to gather this information and present the brief in an intelligent format. Thanks also to Vice Minister Manuel Jose Paredes, August Simons, Dr. Colamarrco and Lic. Edgar Allen Aquilera Real. At the bottom of this report is a brief of our meeing and an updated translation of the proposed law.
I received a call from friend and developer K.C. Hardin on Tuesday evening asking if I was aware of a new law #132 being considered in the assembly having to do with the Rights of Possession in islands. I had heard about the law but did not know the particulars. He shared with me that a number of foreign investors and locals in Bocas del Toro were very upset with the proposed law and would be demonstrating this week. K.C. was concerned about the ramifications of a “Land Grab” headline from an international prospective and so was I. Several Internet sites had already run stories pointing out the negative ramifications to property holders if the law were enacted. I made a call to several individuals in Bocas del Toro and was told that “everyone was very upset and felt that the government was making this new law in order to bring in big moneyed developers who could take their land leaving them no recourse.”
I made a call to the commerce department and spoke to the Vice Minister Jose Manuel Paredes and he immediately set up a meeting for me the next day with the Director National de Catastro y Bienes Patrimoniales, Dr. Colamarco. The office of Catastro is the government authority controlling all property title and rights of possession issues. Dr. Colamarco was very involved in the construction of the law and new a great deal about the history of Property rights and the intent of this proposed law.
I contacted K.C. and the Panama Chamber of Commerce president August Simmons to get them to attend this meeting. Several attorneys and other interested parties also attended. Dr. Colamarco and Edgar Allen Aquilera Real, Chief of the legal department spent a great deal of time telling us about the issues in Bocas del Toro and about the spirit of the law.
Dr. Colamarco was generous in inviting some private sector parties to participate in the writing of the regulations should the law be passed. He also encouraged interested parties to participate in the public hearings regarding the law itself. The law is posted on the website of the Legislature but has not been revised with the latest changes. I have made the latest modifications as Dr. Colamarco instructed and had the law translated into English below.
I want to thank Dr. Colamarco and his legal council for their time and straightforwardness in providing us with the information regarding this important subject. Also to Jose Manuel Paredes at the Commerce department for his assistance in getting us into see Dr. Colamarco so quickly.
In the meeting, Dr. Colamarco made a presentation in which he explained the history of rights of possession, an overview of the proposed law and the reasoning behind it. The presentation was over an hour and quite in depth, but I have provided a summary of the presentation to touch on some of the most important points.
It is important to note that the proposed law is in the first round of debate in the assembly and must go through three. There have been a number of modifications and will be some more changes before it will be clear as to the entire provisions of the law. If the law is enacted it will take another 30 days or so to write the regulations governing the law.
Download meeting_colamarco.doc
Download revised_proposed_law_no. 132.doc
Download art_2427_state_land.doc
Download panamanian_tourism_institute.doc
