The National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai) investigates the approval of the project for the construction of a new Seafood Market in the Coastal Strip.
As part of this administrative process, Antai staff was received on Tuesday by members of the Municipal Council of Panama before the ordinary session of the 26 councilors began each Tuesday. The president of the Council, the representative of Betania, Abdiel Sandoya, explained to the newspaper La Prensa that the Antai officials were received by the corregimiento representatives who were there at that time. “They requested the minutes and the resolution of the session in which the construction of the mayor’s project was approved,” said Sandoya.
The new Seafood Market was approved by the Council, with 24 votes in favor and two against, on February 15. It was submitted to a block vote together with at least 11 other projects presented by the mayor and promoter of the initiative, José Luis Fábrega. It was included as if it were one more project despite the fact that its cost is estimated at about 42 million dollars.
“In all governments we have always given priority to the mayor’s projects, and this is no exception,” Sandoya said about the approval of the project that has been criticized by voices of organized civil society.
The Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International, sent a letter to the director of Antai, Elsa Fernández, in which they request to investigate the legitimacy and legality of the citizen consultation act that was carried out for the construction of the Seafood Market. The letter was sent on February 22 last and, according to Antai, the complaint was admitted on March 3, “in order to determine if there were administrative irregularities or effects on the smooth running of the public service.”
The aforementioned consultation was held on November 11, 2020, at a time when capacity restrictions were in force due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the participation of 22 people. Residents of the Calidonia district, where the new market would be located, were “consulted”. However, the Mayor’s Office has reported that the millionaire financing of the work will be with decentralization funds, which are transferred to the Municipality.
In its formal correspondence, Libertad Ciudadana argues that key elements of the project are missing and have not been made available to the public, such as the cost, social benefit and feasibility studies that must precede a project of this magnitude. In addition, they detail that a broad call for the meeting was not disclosed nor was the cost of the work exposed during the citizen consultation.
For its part, Antai reported that to date they have carried out “six visual inspection procedures to collect evidence.” They have visited the Municipal Council, the Mayor’s Office, the Calidonia Communal Board, the National Decentralization Authority, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
