Brakes on Panama consulates gravy train

CONSULS, long regarded as cosy appointments for political insiders who often returned home as millionaires had their wings clipped on Tuesday, November 18, when Panama’s Cabinet Council agreed to cutting the travel and regulating fees of consulates.

Chancellor Saint Malo Isabel Alvarado said that with the cuts the state will save $ 20 million over a period of five years. They also agreed to create a transparency commission for consuls, the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The manager of the AMP, Jorge Barakat reported that a single account that will enter the money raised by the consulates will also be created. “This will be “online”, he added.
Besides becoming a functioning security system for documentation and financial information, it will enable the Foreign Ministry and the Maritime Authority to monitor real-time performance, processes and transactions of the efforts of each consulate.
He said a pilot scheme was launched in the consulates best fundraisers such as the Tokyo and Kobe [Japan] and Seoul [South Korea]. “The consulates are to provide technical services and not to return millionaires,” said Barakat.