$4.5 million for garbage consultant
A STATE-OWNED Spanish engineering firm, headed by the country’s former ambassador to Panama will get $4.5 million for consulting services related to waste management.
The Ineco engineering firm will develop a comprehensive waste management plan for the next 20 years and focus on improvements at the Cerro Patacon landfill.
The plan includes environmental studies for the degree of contamination of surface and ground water sources at the landfill, and the measurement of air pollution.
Ineco’s president is Jesús Silva, while serving as Spanish ambassador in Panama, came under criticism for allowing a bar to be installed in a cultural center in an historic building in Casco Viejo reports La Prensa.
Eladio Guardia, the director of Panama’s waste agency AAUD, said the master plan will include recommendations for the handling of various types of waste, including hazardous waste from hospitals and industries. It will also include a recycling component.
The contract is part of a technical cooperation agreement between the governments of Spain and Panama.
The decision to hire Ineco came after two meetings between President Juan Carlos Varela and his counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, held in Madrid and Panama.
