Government flip kills island oil terminal

 Panama’s  National Economic Council  (Cena), made up of different ministries, did an about-face on Friday, April 26  and said in a statement that it “rendered ineffective” the under wraps lease signed between the Municipality of Taboga and the company Bona Pacific Corp. for creating an oil terminal on Isla Boná. considered a sanctuary of marine birds.

 The Cena, which initially endorsed the contract in  March, explained that it changed its opinion “unanimously” after receiving complaints from the  Comptroller General and the Ministry of Environment, which says that Isla Boná is part of the Panama Maritime Corridor.

“The purpose of the lease would be incompatible with the purposes for which this Maritime Corridor was created,” the statement added.

The 74 hectares island located near the Panama Canal, is a unique ecosystem where thousands of marine birds nest and reproduce each year, among other species.

Environmentalists have been protesting for several weeks to demand the suspension of the project and that the island be declared a wildlife refuge to be totally protected.

The protection of the island is a demand also from international organizations such as the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), one of the most important centers in the United States says an EFE News Agency report.

The project that the company Bona Pacific Corp (BPC) had planned to build on the island – and which was also opposed by the hotel sector – is a high-altitude oil terminal, which required an investment of $260 million.

The work included the construction of a 50-meter floating dock, a heliport, and eight tanks with a capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil each, according to the company’s website.

The terminal was to supply fuel to the thousands of vessels that use the interoceanic canal, through which 6% of world trade passes.