Panamas increasing visual pollution: cables advertising sites and garbage

Visual pollution in Panama is raising serious concerns, and in some cases the government is taking a hard look at what defiles the streets of the capital.

 If it’s not uncollected garbage and street litter, it’s advertising sites and overhead cables that upset citizens.

First on the list is the maze of overhead cables that pollute sight lines wherever you walk. They are not only a visual disfigurement but frequently lead to service breakdowns and cause accidents says The National Authority of Public Services (ASEP)

According to ASEP general manager Dennis Moreno the city wants to prevent wants the further spread of this type of visual pollution, and the regulatory body has held discussions with electricity and telecommunications companies to find solutions to the problem of saturation.
The cables come mostly, from companies that offer pay television services, telephony and Internet.,
One of the biggest complaints received by ASEP has been the number of rolls set up by telecommunications companies on every street corner, disfiguring the city and jeopardizing the carrying capacity of each post. ASEP said that measures will soon be taken by ordering the burial in the most saturated areas.

In the meantime citizen groups are complaining about the growing visual pollution of advertising sites across the city, but particularly about a giant screen atop the building that houses Bennigans and the Extreme Planet.
Local residents complain of the light shining into their rooms and motorists talk of the distraction for drivers on the Cinta Costera “speedway”. Others feel that the disfigurement will be the thin end of a wedge to create a frontage on the bay like an elongated Times Square.
Action plans are pending with Mayor Bosco Vallarino’s office as a prime target.
He already has lagging trash collection to worry about.{jathumbnail off}