A group of citizens that supports the revocation process of the mandate of the mayor of the capital district, José Luis Fábrega, presented this Thursday an amparo before the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), with the aim of stopping the construction of the new Seafood Market.
Luis Pinedo, leader of the Citizen Consultation Movement and El Cabildazo, recalled that this is a right of all citizens when a constitutional right is violated, and citizen participation is one of them.
“This is a Seafood Market that did not go through a real citizen consultation, that was not part of any public hearing, that is not in a participatory budget but in an imposed budget and violates the constitutional rights of many citizens,” he said.
According to Pinedo, there are citizens from several corregimientos such as Panamá Norte, Ancón, Betania, Santa Ana, San Felipe, who have signed this document (amparo) “because it is our right to appeal that it stop and save $50 million for this city if due process is followed.”
He pointed out that the mayor not only insists on the construction of the new market, but also shows that it is an imposition. “The mayor did not have to settle for the minimum, he had to go to many more districts, make many citizen consultations,” said the leader, referring to the public consultation that Fábrega carried out on November 11, 2020, in the district of Calidonia with the participation of 22 people.
He specified that with this protection, they demand that a new call for citizen participation be made so that they can then be asked for a true citizen consultation in the 26 districts, while emphasizing that the mayors and representatives cannot impose projects, but must consult them and citizens approve them in public hearings.
In Pinedo’s opinion, the current Seafood Market with some $5 million is “wonderful and new”, and it is not necessary to spend another $45 million, and even less in a city that needs employment, food, transportation, sidewalks; “That’s where the real goals and needs of the mayor’s office should be.”
It should be remembered that on Tuesday, April 26, the Mayor’s Office of Panama published on the Panama Compra portal the tender for the construction of the new Seafood Market, worth $43 million.
The homologation of the project was dated for May 4, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. virtually, while the presentation and opening of the proposals will be on June 21, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
The delivery time of the work must be given in 730 calendar days, from the date indicated in the order to proceed.
On February 15, 2022, this construction was approved by the Municipal Council, with 24 votes in favor and two against.
The new Seafood Market has become Mayor Fábrega’s most ambitious work, and several civil society groups have shown their rejection of this initiative.
According to the capital’s mayor’s office, the current situation of the Seafood Market offers merchants limited space for the development and/or evolution of business services, either due to the reduced space that has been allocated for activities, as well as the high degree of deterioration of the facilities, which culminates in generating public health risks, in the case of management and handling of food products.
