Inter-American highway reopened after 14 hours signing agreements

The Inter-American highway in Chiriquí was reopened to traffic in the San Juan sector at 2:00 am Tuesday  August 8 and half an hour later in the Horconcitos sector, at the entrance to Boca del Monte, after the indigenous groups of Nedrini and a high-level commission of the National Government reached agreements, in the early morning.

TVN reports, that it took more than 14 hours to sign the agreements , which establish, among other things, the designation by Emergency Decree of $147 million that would be used in road infrastructure works in Nedrini, in the Ngäbe Buglé region.

Rafael Sabonge, Minister of Public Works, and Roger Tejada, Minister of Government, headed the National Government commission that agreed with the protesting groups.

The appointment of a special commission was agreed to follow up on the agreements and projects, which will be installed this Wednesday in the Hato Corutú sector of the Ngäbe-Buglé region.

Minister Sabonge indicated that the resolutions of the agreement will be presented for approval in the Cabinet Council on Wednesday.

Joel Franceschi, spokesman for the indigenous people, apologized for the closure of the highway, but they assure that the population was very unhappy. He hopes that the agreements reached with the government will be fulfilled.

For more than 13 hours, hundreds of drivers were stranded on the highway, including, merchants, businessmen, and truckers.

According to the directors of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Chiriquí, the economic losses resulting from the closures at 10 million dollars.