Familiar names in widening University scandal

NAMES linked to  former presidents  as  favored insiders have surfaced in investigations into the deals involving land owned by the University of Panama (UP) perpetrated by the controversial Rector Gustavo García de Paredes.
La Prensa reports that valuable land next to Tocumen International Airport, was rented by te rector at the incredibly low price of 5 cents per square meter per month for the construction of the Parque Sur logistics center.
It’s a lease for 20 years that is extendable.
UP is also contractually pledged to reimburse – up to a maximum of $7 million – investments made on the land, further reducing the cost to the renter.
The rector said all legal provisions have been fulfilled whenever school property has been sold or rented says La Prensa.
The park covers 42 hectares and includes several commercial buildings and warehouses.
In January, La Prensa called to find out the availability of space and its cost. There was nothing empty. “Perhaps in March”, responded the center’s representative.
The rent is $9.50 a month per square meter.
Salomón Víctor Hanono Wisnitzer and his companies known as La Colina are some of the beneficiaries of the sweetheart deals offered by the university.

In total, his name is linked to companies controlling 65 of the 160 hectares of land that the UP has leased near the airport.
In addition, Hanono Wisnitzer is, together with Alberto Vallarino, directors of the company Agro Playa Blanca, owner of a plot of land of 54.5 hectares in Rio Hato that the UP sold previously to a society linked to entrepreneur Mike Gabby Btesh, a Martinelli insider who skipped the country after being linked to a corruption investigation.
He was also an insider in the Martin Torrrijos administration(2004-2009)
An Estrella report in 2011 said he had years of history tied to the PRD, the party of rector Garcia de Paredes. “Btesh was very close to the government of Martin Torrijos He participated in the economic team that handled donations during the campaign that led to Torrijos becoming president.
The land for the logistics center was leased in 2006. Questions have been raised about the process behind the awarding of the lease, as it was apparently not open to the public. The size of the land also apparently changed, as the original deal was for 18 hectares, but that was later more than doubled to 42 hectares. The center occupies 33 hectares, reports La Prensa.
Based on the lease agreement, the UP should receive $17,000 a month in rent. This is far below the market rate in the area, where land is valued at $650 a square meter and rents average $2.25. As the UP is a state entity, it cannot charge below market value for its properties, as doing so is considered to be harmful to the country.
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