Preserve wetlands at all costs -business leader

PANAMA’S WETLANDS have to be preserved at all costs says Roberto Troncoso, president of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDA).

He said that the use of wetlands has always been a problem but looking after them should be elevated to a state policy".

In a La Prensa report on Saturday, Junbe 15, Troncoso said it is important that the state take serious position in relation to what is priority and assessing what weighs more: "the public good or private good."
He said that it is better to invest now in the preservation of the environment, than have to regret 50 years later.
Elisa Suarez Gomez, executive director of the National Housing Developers (Convivienda) said that although housing developers and builders fully understand environmental issues, the reality is that "in this country we have 137,000 families in housing deficit. "
The situation that exists right in the wetlands lies in an engineering problem, on one hand, and social responsibility on the other, and that while they continue to allow non-legal forms of construction, this will always be a problem.
She said serious builders continue to develop their projects in an efficient, sustainable and organic, but also called for citizens keep the surroundings clean and for exemplary sanctions to be imposed on companies that are not following the rules.

Zuleyka Pinzon national director of MarViva, said it is necessary to reach an agreement on housing solutions, but we cannot claim that ultimately "we're going to put all mangrove and wetlands area under construction, which seems to be the message. "

He said that "you cannot just do whatever you want," because you are subject to the regulations given for this territory.
He also questioned the fact that the authorities called to set and enforce the rules ignore the law, and ignore repeated calls that are made. Then, you have to expect the worst, he said.