For some months now, the Remar Foundation has called on the Mayor’s Office of Panama to respond for the older adults removed from the streets and taken to the foundation’s facilities by municipal officials.
Adrián Almeida, director of Remar, detailed this Monday, on Radio Panama, that there are currently some 54 older adults who are part of the group of homeless people led by the Mayor’s Office, between 2001 and 2020. Remar had promised to receive up to 200 people rescued from the streets by the Mayor’s Office; In return, the entity paid for the service, but stopped doing so in 2019, and owes them around $166,000.
He explained that at the end of 2019 a new agreement was signed with the new administration of Mayor José Luis Fábrega for all of 2020 and work began. “The agreement was fulfilled until the month of February and without explanation or reason they stopped applying the subsidy, which in the end is a payment for a service that is provided. We had 200 people attending for $2.77 per person, they stopped paying and we continued providing all the service throughout the year 2020 and currently these 54 people remain who we have not been able to register because there is nowhere to take them,” he stressed.
Almeida emphasized that the Mayor’s Office has the obligation to watch over or guarantee the well-being of all citizens of Panama, however, the total responsibility for this problem “I do not think it should fall solely on the mayor’s office, this is a State problem.”
In terms of payment, he mentioned that he has always worked in advance with the mayor’s office; “The work was done, the service was provided, but the payment never arrived,” he said.
For her part, Deputy Mayor Judy Meana said that they have held meetings with Almeida to discuss the issue and the invoices were presented and are currently being reviewed by the Comptroller General of the Republic.
“As of 2020 there is a new regulation that is approved by the Comptroller that establishes what types of payments or investments he can make with the subsidy, and this is what is being reviewed by the Comptroller General,” he said.
He added that the subsidy cannot be used to pay for electricity, salaries, or basic services.
Meana promised to contact the director of Remar to clear up the questions.
