Another blow to Panama mayor's Seafood Market dream

The Third Chamber of the Administrative Litigation of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) agreed to the provisional suspension of a resolution of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) that authorized the mayor of the district of Panama, José Luis Fábrega, to use two farms of the coastal strip for the new seafood market.

The decision is adopted after a contentious administrative lawsuit filed by the forensic firm Bufete De Sanctis, on behalf of the former deputy mayor, Raisa Banfield, and other citizens such as Carlos Eduardo Varela, Luis Eduardo Alfaro, and Angélica Maytín, the former director of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information.

Last year the Executive transferred several farms to Fábrega for his controversial seafood market project, which has been tendered twice and has been declared void on both occasions.

According to the resolution of January 24, 2022, the three plots of land transferred by the Executive to the Mayor’s Office add up to 21,808 square meters, which is equivalent to 2.1 hectares. its total value is $35 million.

Of the three plots transferred in the coastal strip, one will be to expand the new market. Another of the farms would be used to build parking lots and the last to enable public spaces, such as parks.