These recent photo's sent to me by Tomas clearly show a lot of progress being made on this important infrastructure project. When you consider that this was water and mud just a year ago it is an amazing testimony to the ability of men to move dirt. there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the project but at least it is nearly completed and will soon help to alleviate driving pressures in the city.
If you have ever tried to walk in Panama city, crossing the streets or just walking on a sidewalk can be hazardous to your health. Panama is a city where pedestrians receive no special protection and it even appears that every effort has been made to make walking prohibitive. This, in a country where most do not have cars is hard to believe, but it comes down to planning and that is in short supply in Panama. It is interesting that master planned projects out in the hinterlands and beaches must make all allowances for pedestrians even though there are few people walking around there.
Some cities are known for being a walker’s paradise. Take for example London, Amsterdam and Savannah, Georgia. Panama City is not one of those. Those unfortunate enough to have to hoof it often encounter a sort of obstacle course of vehicles, crumbling sidewalks, and holes that plunge into an abyss. Other walkways are blocked by food vendors, piles of garbage and seemingly interminable construction work.
The few sidewalks or shoulders of roads that exist are usually used as parking spots. And crossing signals remain luxury items.
This is what happens when urban public policies have been geared to building a city around cars and not pedestrians, explained Arturo González, a civil engineer and former director of Operations at the country’s transportation authority, ATTT.
I understand the challenges the MOP has to deal with when it comes to contractors, especially for major works such as roads and bridges. There have been a number of projects canceled during the construction process due to failure on the part of the contractor.
Adriano Ferrer, head of the ministry's Department of Inspections, said the canceled contracts are for works in various parts of the country and they have levied fines amounting to about $400,000 against companies that failed to finish projects or used materials that were not adequate.
The official said this action is considered a last resort by the ministry, after all other attempts to rectify the situation have failed.
The ministry requires companies to post performance bonds to ensure that the work will meet the contract specifications.
There have been rumors of this road project now for the last 5 years and according to this article in LA Prensa today, the road along the Atlantic coast from Colon heading north to the province of Bocas Del Toro is under serious consideration. The only justification given is increased tourism. There is no doubt that the areas beauty and history would justify responsible eco-development. A number of small projects have been built between Porta Bello and Nombre De Dios and considerable land speculation has taken place as well.
My concern is that the government continues to make grandios plans, but is not taking care of the roads in areas where there is significant tourism development already such as in Boquete. Here we have the road to David in some places needing serious repairs. Construction traffic has caused some areas of the road between the Caldera turnoff and Dolega to nearly disintegrate. This, in a high traffic area where thousands of vehicles must pass each day. In the town of Boquete itslef, we have potholes that get ever larger, with the excuse from the ministry of public works that there is no asphalt available. We just repaired major potholes on the short 300 meter road from Valle Escondido to town and were able to buy asphalt at $550 for a 55 gallon drum. Obviously it is available if you are willing to pay an inflated price for it.
My other concern is the amount of money that will be required to build the road at a tme when the country has high debt and is adding to it almost daily wiht the announcements of new projects or cost overruns of existing ones. There are many development projects that have been underway all over Panama that are now having difficulty in sales due to the economic meltdown. As much as I would like to see responsible development along the Atlantic coast, I believe a $350 million is ill-conceived at this time.
Excerpts: The 230-kilometer highway would link the towns of Miguel de la Borda, in Colón, and Rambala, in Bocas del Toro. The $350 million project would take three years to complete.
This road, christened by the MOP as “The Gran Costanera,” is the largest of 10 major highway projects that the agency has scheduled to take place between 2009 and 2014. These projects have been identified as “priorities” in improving the capacity and effectiveness of the transportation system.
Ho said the total cost of all 10 projects is expected to be about $1 billion.
The Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá (ATP) has come out in favor of the project, saying that it has been unable to develop tourism-related projects in the area because of a lack of accessibility.
“The northern area of the country has great potential for tourism development,” said Ricardo Ledezma, of the ATP.
An article from La Prensa demonstrates governments ability to get realistic quotes and control costs of large infrastructure projects. The road from Panama City to Colon is now expected to cost $164.2 million more than its initial price tag of $215.8 million. I was on this "road" last week and I would wonder now how they can be sure of this new revised cost estimate. There are trucks and machines everywhere but little actual new road has been laid. They now claim it will be ready in April of 2009, but from what I saw last week, I would bet they are a year off on this estimate and a number of millions short as well.
Excerpt;
Benjamin Colamarco, the ministro de obras públicas, said yesterday that the project's final cost had spiraled to $380 million. The new price includes extra money being spent on building an additional access road to the highway near Colón.
While the minister waited until yesterday to announce the project's inflated cost, an independent group had been warning for months that the price was vastly underestimated by the government.
A committee formed by the Sociedad Panameña de Ingenieros y Arquitectos (SPIA), announced in September that it had studied the project and estimated that the actual price was going to be much higher than the government's estimate.
In announcing that finding, Nicolás Real, the committee chairman, said the ministry did not follow its own procedures in estimating the cost.
The committee also said the government had based its price on a faulty estimate of how close the project was to completion.
While the government's estimate was 70 percent, the committee said the project was actually only about halfway done.
Panama is getting more hydro electric plants and this press release says they will be in our province of Chiriqui and I believe near the town of Boquete. I have heard there are some locals and environmentalists who are protesting these projects, so I am not certain of their legal status at this time. This press release from Marketwatch about GDF Suez and its plans for the projects shed some additional light.
Excerpt;
According to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of new data from The World Bank, Panama replaces El Salvador as the least-expensive country in Latin America to export from while Venezuela is the worst.
Excerpt: Panama remains Latin America's leader when it comes to the overall environment for exporting and importing containerized goods, while Venezuela is the worst country, according to our analysis of the bank's Doing business survey for 2009. >Exporting a container typically costs $729 in Panama, the lowest price anywhere in Latin America. Other countries with the lowest prices include Chile ($745), ($875), El Salvador ($880) and Paraguay($915).
"On the opposite end is Venezuela where it now costs a whopping $2,590 to export a typical container.; It's also 53.3 percent more expensive than in neighboring Colombia which has the second-highest price in Latin America per container ($1,690). Other expensive countries include Argentina ($1,480), Mexico ($1,472) and Bolivia ($1,425).
Another article about infrastructure problems. This time it is sewage treatment. Panamanians have learned that the only way to get anyone's attention is to take to the streets, which is why we see street protest on a regular basis. Nothing will be done about a problem until it gets to the point of becoming an embarrassment to the government.
Excerpt: Arraiján residents blocked the Pan-American Highway yesterday for four hours to protest the government's inaction toward the community’s sewage problems.
Residents said they reached their breaking point when a septic tank started leaking, causing an unbearable stench.
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This story is one being heard all too often all over the country in the last year or so. Inadequate water supplies because of rampant growth. Money not being put into infrastructure is paving the way for political instability. When people don't have the very basics of life while they watch others enjoying an abundance, things will get ugly.
Townships east of the capital often do without a consistent water supply for days at a time.
Residents claim that booming development in the area has overrun the water supply.
| Gabriel Rodríguez/la prensa |
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| bathing al fresco: Inconsistent water services in Pacora, Chilibre and Cabra often forces residents to bathe in nearby creeks, rivers, or wherever water is available.1079266 |
“You can live without light, but without water?”
This rhetorical exclamation is heard often in Pacora, Chilibre and Cabra, communities on the outskirts of the capital where rainfall is frequently the only consistent source of water. Residents of these areas often have to make do with water water they can save because poor road conditions prevent tanker trucks from delivering a back up supply, and they have no public service.
Severina Pinto lives in Pedernal No.1, Chilibre, just a few meters from one of Panama City’s main purification plants, Frederico Guardia, which turns out about 250 million gallons of water daily. The irony doesn’t escape her, or any of the other 150 families that live nearby. They can hear the plant running when their pipes run dry.
But Pinto does receive the water bill every month like clockwork from the Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (Idaan). And she pays them on time, worrying that the situation would be even worse if she ran a balance with the entity.
Others aren’t so acquiescent. A neighbor in Sector No. 4 of Pacora, who asked to remain anonymous, said that he’s gone three years without paying for the service, in protest of the last 15 years of Idaan’s shoddy and spotty service.
In these communities, where drinking water is unavailable on most days, household items such as showers, toilets, sinks and washing machines start to be viewed as decorative objects. People either postpone bathing and washing, or they wade into nearby creeks. Homemade wells provide others with water for cooking and sanitary use while they await the next tanker truck.
Residents blame the erratic water supply on the area’s rapid growth, and argue that the populations of new townships going up around them has exceeded sustainable limits. And for the local business owners, that growth would be a boon if it weren’t for the drawbacks caused by the water shortage.
Laura Guevara, owner of the Fonda La Cariñosa, said that although she receives water through an interim service set up by Idaan, consisting of a series of valves, it’s not consistent enough to keep her business running.
“ At times I can’t open for days,” she said.
Of all the projects that are badly needed in Panama, I consider the clean up of the bay to be the most urgent. Most of the cities sewage is dumped directly into the bay which makes for a stench that is not only repugnant, but dangerous for your health.
Excerpt;
Work is now 21 percent complete, a 3 percent increase from the last update in June.
| LA PRENSA |
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| Sewage line installation1070903 |
A total of $35 million has been invested so far in the project to clean up the Bahía de Panamá.
According to Juan Antonio Ducruet, the director of the Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (Idaan), the project is about 21 percent complete.
The project, which will cost more than $200 million, calls for a network of sewage lines that will lead to a treatment plant at Juan Díaz.
The project began in September of 2006. In June, officials estimated that the work was 18 percent complete. The project has an estimated completion date of sometime in 2010 or 2011.
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