Varela set to torch tortoise image

President Juan Carlos Varela, who has been accused of a tortoise approach during his first 17 months in office, has announced an ambitious  “reactivation” of several mega-projects, and the creation of several more.

In his annual address to the nationOn Saturday January 2, , Varela announced that the opening of the Canal expansion would likely be in May, and said it  would be attended by “a significant number” of heads of state and official delegations.

He called on the consortium building the third set of Canal  locks, to leave the “legal claims in the hands of the competent bodies.”

He announced the resumption of several projects “as a result of a rethinking and renegotiation of the terms with the respective contractors.”

Among the works listed were the Hospital City project, which now includes the National Cancer Institute (ION), other hospitals in Colón, Bugaba, Meteti and Los Santos and the Sports City project in Chiriquí.

He said that the issues surrounding the Amador Convention Center project remain unresolved.

“We had to examine the excesses and arbitrariness of the past and take measures so that these abuses will never again be repeated in Panama,” he said while addressing the National Assembly reports La Prensa.

He said that projects planned for the future include the fourth bridge over the Canal, line 3 of the Metro, the expansion of highways between Panama and Arraijan to eight lanes, and La Chorrera to San Carlos to six lanes and the construction of sewage and water treatment plants in a number of communities.

Varela also announced the call for a dialogue to adopt a “national strategic plan” to meet sustainable development goals approved by the UN General Assembly of United by 2030.

He also said that he will form a “high-level committee” to discuss the adoption of additional measures to strengthen ethics and accountability in the public sector.

“We must be aware that corruption affects the development of all citizens and in particular those of the most vulnerable sectors of the population,” he said.