Site of Paitilla land grab scandal will be $1.6 million park

A piece of land in Paitilla, that became the flash point in a land grab scandal while the president was en route to Europe with business friends, is being made into a park at a cost of $1.6 million.

The Panama Assistance Program (PAN) has awarded Best Finishes, Inc. the contract for the construction of a park on the controversial landfill. The company says the park, at the Paitilla end of the CInta Costera,  would be ready in less than a year, said  PAN director , Giacomo Tamburrelli.

Fernando Jaramillo Diaz, coordinator of the Alliance for the City, believes there should have been more consultation  about the project, as it is of public interest.

The land was recovered after it was ceded  free to the society Safe Ventures Inc.

Panama’s Anti Corruption Prosecutor is seeking  a trial date for Anabelle Villamonte  former director of the Land Qualifications Authority (Anati) .

Joining her in the dock over allegations of  the transfer of a the  state land in 2010, will be  florist Cesar Segura and  lawyer Francisco Perez Ferreira

The prosecutor Lizeth Chevalier is charging Villamonte with embezzlement.

Segura  and Ferreira will face  charges of embezzlement and negligent falsification of public documents.

The three defendants have interim measures of “country jail”,  meaning they are free to move about within Panama.

 Segura and Perez Ferreira returned the  1.3 hectare site  in Dec. 2011.