Questions raised over Canal board appointments

Panama’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry has joined other civil groups in calling for more information on the backgrounds of the new appointees to the board of the Panama Canal (ACP).

The call came a day after  the Cabinet of President Ricardo Martinelli appointed Alberto Vallarino, Henri Mizrachi and Lourdes Castillo.
"We must seize the opportunity to make appointments to integrate people of prestige, experience and track record," said Irvin A. Halman, CCIAP president, in a statement.
"Historically, the designation of the administrative managers of the inter-oceanic route has been to those of indisputable merit and career and ability to make decisions on the board,"
The three designated directors replacing Norberto Delgado, Eduardo Quirós and Alfredo Ramirez, whose terms expire in February.
"We recognize the power of the President to make the appointments, but express, respectfully, our concern at the lack of information on the managers and it is useful to know," he said Halman.
The designation of Mizrachi and Castle has raised doubts even in the bowels of the Cabinet Council says a La Prensa report
Once they knew the names of the new officers, the ministers asked that who they were?, A source told the ACP.
Before the vote, the Minister for Canal Affairs, Roberto Roy, said more discussion was needed and he , abstained when the vote was taken. The sources said he did not object to the two names two names, but wanted more discussion.
The ministers Gisselle Burillo, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Alma Cortés, Labor and Workforce Development, were pleased with the appointment of Castillo for being the first woman on the board of the ACP. But La Prensa pointed out that 1990, when the canal was administered by the United States, sociologist Cecilia Alegre was a board member.
Politicians and civil society representatives joined the questioning of the appointments.
" Vallarino, was Minister of Economy and Finance, and is an economist who has great merit," said Yassir Purcait, Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) deputy.
"I don’t know the backgrounds of the other two people. I do not know if both comply with the intellectual level and experience in regard to the operation of the Canal, and the Credentials Committee should require proof of that” he said.
"They must demonstrate their ability, since we are talking about the main economic activity of the country and an institution that all Panamanians believe in," he said.
Yániz Teresita de Arias, vice president of the Popular Party, said that "political influence within the Panama Canal is a grim fact."

She said that, given the background of the other Martinelli designations in the Cabinet, in the Supreme Court and the Attorney General, it paints a "very serious" picture.
Jose Isabel Blandon, deputy Panamanian Party, justified the appointment of Vallarino but questioned Casillo and Mizrachi, arguing that the former meets all conditions but for the other two there are many questions to answer.
"[Castillo] is a person related to procurement scandals, who has ties to the president and not seem to have the profile to be honored with the designation of one of the most responsible positions in the republic," he said.
The only reason for the Mizrachi, choice Blandon said, e is the role of being one of the owners of Epasa, publishers of Panama America, with which Martinelli is involved.

The coordinator of the Front for Democracy, Mariano Mena, said the designations demonstrate that there is a danger of politicizing the
Canal.
" Panamanians did not fight to regain the canal and to put it in the hands of political power in the country."
Mena said that the appointments will give great power to Martinelli when leaving the government. "Out of the executive, but with hands in the Canal," he said.
On October 19, 2012, in an interview Martinelli said that "when he got out of office in 2014, he would have more power,” said Purcait.
"This is a map that Martinelli has drawn to co-govern after the 2014 elections. And in view of these appointments, the Canal is one of the institutions he will control," said Purcait pointing out that this is the first time in the 13 years of Panamanian administration, 8 of the 11 members of the board are appointed by the ACP in the same administration.
This happens even though the law of the ACP states that renewal of the directors must be in groups of three, to ensure that the same government appoint the majority.
In 2010, Martinelli appointed Jose Sosa, Marco Ameglio and Nicolas Corcione as directors of the ACP.
Rafael Barcenas was appointed by the National Assembly in late 2009, while Roberto Roy was commissioned in 2012, as Minister for Canal Affairs and chairs the board.
The three directors who are not responding to Martinelli William Chapman, Adolfo Ahumada and Ricardo de la Espriella, were nominated for nine years, in 2007, by the then president, Martin Torrijos.

If ratified by the National Assembly, Vallarino, Mizrachi and Castillo will have to declare themselves prevented from addressing issues related to their business and avoid the ACP contracts.
Vallarino has investments in real estate projects and Mizrachi is part of the publishing group Epasa where the president. also has interests.
Castillo is manager of Naves Supply, a company that is collecting garbage and sewage from ships arriving at the port of Balboa and transiting the Canal.
The regulations of the ACP state that "to avoid conflict of interest or the appearance, members of the board shall not conclude, by themselves or through an intermediary, any contract with the authority or institutions or companies linked to this as well nor may undertake negotiations with the Authority during his tenure."

The ACP Ethics Rules  also say board members may not "request,  induce or intervene in the administrative order to seek private gain,  or or your spouse, relatives or third parties."

Alberto Vallarino. is a graduate in industrial engineering from Cornell University (USA), with and MBA. He has been president Verdeazul Group, SA, and Banistmo Group for over 20 years until the time of its sale to HSBC.). He was Minister of Economy and Finance of the current government, between 2009-2011. He resigned when his party, the panameñisto, was expelled from the ruling alliance.

Henri Kohen Mizrachi. The name jumped into the light on the evening of December 21, 2010, when he unexpectedly announced the sale of Editora Panama America, SA to a group of businessmen, among which he was included. Later it was learned that the president, Ricardo Martinelli, was linked to the acquisition of the company that publishes various newspapers. Kohen Mizrachi is one of the board members of Petroterminal of Panama, SA, together with Otto Wolfschoon, and Hector Dario Berbey Trejos. He also serves on the board of at least 10 companies.
Lourdes Castillois the legal representative of Naves Supply, Inc. operating since 1999 in the port of Balboa under lease with Panama Ports Company. The company occupies 300 square meters inside the enclosure with an industrial incinerator to process waste that is collected from ships docking at the port of Balboa and transiting the Canal. In 2011 she sued 'La Estrella ' for the crime of libel, after it revealed details of a $2.3 contract awarded by the Ministry of Health, for $ 2.3 million.