Five hour shut down for Flagship Metro

PANAMA’S METRO, the flagship project of the outgoing government was closed for over five hours on Monday May 12, the second shut down in less than two months with passengers complaining of lack of direction and information

600 passengers were trapped without air conditioning for 40 minutes in a tunnel at Albrook, reports La Prensa. 

Passengers complained about the lack of information and guidance from the subway operators. Hundreds of users traveling on the 12 Metro stations poured onto the streets to find other ways of getting to work
The first explanation of the The secretary of the Panama Metro and Minister of Canal Affairs , Roberto Roy was that service was suspended because metal mesh fell on the overhead power line or station in El Ingenio , in Bethanie. Workers at El Ingenio told La Prensa that a six meters high gypsum wall that was not reinforced and had recently been built fell. According to the workers, the vibration of the trains helped the collapse.
Roy denied that the problems were the result of the rush to complete the$2.1 billion project, which was opened with much fanfare by President Ricardo Martinelli although work was still continuing at many stations.
He said that the fall of the screen on the power line of the Panama Metro had nothing to do with the blackout. He said that the construction of the station El Ingenio is an addition to the stations in operation ,that were delivered in February.

The user representative to the board of the Transit Authority, Lucia Perea, cslled for the presence of specialized police units to deal with such emergencies , as there were users who did not know what to do.

" Where were the police , someone has to monitor its work. That gives a bad expectation of safety, "said Perea .
The president of the Civic Committee of Transit Panamanian Association of Business Executives , John Bennett , said that the event highlights the need for transparency in the management of public administration . referring to the work, quality of design and structure.
We hope this does not turn and swallow a whole summer," said Bennett on recent mishaps in the system.

The Panama Fire Department reported that users should not call 103 to report incidents, but follow the instructions of the police of the Metro police who set the security protocol. They added that they only intervene if requested by the Metro police