At a time when the mayor of the district of Panama, José Luis Fábrega, plans to build a millionaire seafood market for more than $40 million, there is a project that he has chosen to abandon: the North Municipal Park.
This work began in the last administration, when the mayor was José Isabel Blandón, and was developed on a 20-hectare plot of land in the community of San Vicente, district of Chilibre, at a cost of $17 million.
It would be something very similar to what the Omar Recreational Park is, in the district of San Francisco, for the residents of downtown Panama City. In the case of the Parque Municipal del Norte, it would benefit the residents of Chilibre, Las Cumbres, Alcalde Díaz, Ernesto Córdoba and Ancón.
The work, in charge of Grupo Parque Norte-Constructora Pireneica SA, is 75% complete, according to the Mayor’s Office itself. It would have facilities such as public squares, botanical gardens, and recreational, cultural, and educational services. A public market, a technological center, a vocational center and a sports complex with courts for different sports and a gym were also contemplated.
However, since 2020 work has stopped on the site and a few days ago Mayor Fábrega reported, through a note to community leaders in the area, that the project will not be reactivated.
The request for information was made by a resident of the Caimitillo community and part of the Public Consultation Movement, Herlichs Martínez, given the apathy in which that municipal structure is maintained.
In the letter, Fábrega states that efforts were made to resume the work, but due to a series of factors, a contract settlement process was agreed with the contractor. Those factors were: high financing costs and default interest payments, additional repairs, constant vandalism and high cost of materials due to Covid-19.
“According to the above, it was not feasible for the Mayor’s Office of Panama to assume the additional costs that the reactivation of the project would generate,” states the note dated February 25, 2022, although Martínez indicates that he received it at the end of March, that is to say almost a month later.
Another aspect that the mayor specifies is that the project is built with funds from decentralization and that the amount owed to the contractor -according to the latest accounts presented- is about $1.2 million.
