OPINION: Panama in the Dark

The national energy policy is distorted by conflicts of interest and administrative incapacity. Since the national generation, transmission and distribution system was privatized more than two decades ago, the expectations of consumers were that energy would be cheaper, more reliable and safer.

The reality today is the constant interruptions of services. This is the result of a chronic lack of investment and inadequate maintenance on the part of electricity distribution companies. In 2013, the contracts of the concessionaires were renewed, without there being any evidence that the ASEP had verified whether they had complied with all the agreements.

The interruption of the electric service and the lack of greater incorporation of rural and indigenous communities into the system is a direct cause of poverty and the loss of competitiveness of the country. Byzantine regulations on the protection of users and the fragile institutionalization of the distribution companies keep the country in the dark – LA PRENSA, June 16.