Cabinet approves investigation of land scandal in Juan Hombrn,

The Cabinet Council  has approved an investigation by the land titling authority Anati  of the titling process in the Juan Hombrón, community in Cocle.

The motion was made by the Minister of Housing and Land Management (Miviot), José Domingo Arias.

The  research is “to determine the validity of administrative acts that approved the issuance of such titles in that community” says a government press release.

The determining of the validity of the documents could allow revocation of certificates, said Arias. 

"This review will be independent of the investigations initiated by the Comptroller General's Office and the Public Ministry," said President Ricardo Martinelli. 

 Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, also submitted a proposal for the 54 hectares of land  titled for free in Juan Hombrón  to be returned to the State. The proposal was not mentioned in the press release. 

According to Varela, following the serious allegations made by the media, there were  very specific signs indicating that there were major irregularities in the awarding of a state coastal land lot of 54.3 hectares, located in Juan Hombrón.

“It  is still unknown who the ultimate beneficiaries really are” said Varela.  Therefore the state should  initiate recovery actions of public property in the same way as was done by Resolution Cabinet No. 131 of August 24, 2011 in  the case of the lot located in the Bay of Panama , which was awarded to the company Segura Ventures Inc.