Restaurant owners demannd 'exemplery punishment' for rule breakers

The Panama Restaurant Association (ARAP)  which has been lobbying for the reopening of the industry is now demanding from the health authorities “exemplary punishment” for restaurant owners who violate the regulations established by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We demand from the authorities once again the publication of the offending restaurants, as well as the certainty of exemplary punishment, without privileges, as established in the Constitution of the Republic of Panama,” said ARAP.

The group of businessmen that make up the ARAP condemns the unfair competition and the constant “play alive” of bad businessmen who have been exposed on social networks and the media.

They added that the group of disloyalists continue to “insist on violating the standards established for the entire sector, even more so when their wrongdoing affects the entire industry.”

The ARAP recalled, in the statement signed by its president Domingo De Obaldia, that its sector remains “highly affected by the situation caused by the health pandemic.”

“Complying with the rules is not easy, even though our dreams are falling apart day by day when we see our companies go bankrupt, but it is the only viable legal option accompanied by dialogue with the authorities and as a formal union we believe so .