Who Holds the Key to the Future of Panama?

By Dr. John Stagl – Monday September 2, 2024

The Republic of Panama is a beautiful isthmus of land strategically located connecting central and South America. This tropical nation is renowned for its diverse topography, natural beauty, vast plant and animal life, including hundreds of birds and tree species. Much of the intrinsic beauty of Panama exists within its lively mix of cultural influences expressed in the country’s cuisine, artwork, music, and literature.  As Panama is bounded to the north by the Caribbean Sea and to the South by the Pacific Ocean, It is surrounded by water, a multitude of islands and natural beauty.  However, with an estimated population of 4.3 million people, there are growing concerns as to the fate of its land, its people and its standing within the global community.  Many of these concerns center on its capital of Panama City.

With respect to its land, the copper mines have faced a number of issues including environmental damage, human rights, abuses and transparency concerns. Naturally, with a landmass of less than 30,000 square miles, the preservation of this beautiful country is paramount.  As the population grows, we know its natural sequelae of increased consumption results in more waste. While this is basic science, as a civilized nation, it remains an incumbent responsibility of its people to secure a viable and sustainable solution. Ultimately, this will depend on its leadership.  Today, Panama faces several pollution problems; including plastic waste, air pollution, and water pollution.  It was well documented that in 2022 Panama faced a plastic pollution crisis generating over 380,000 tons of plastic waste. Of this, approximately only 1% was being recycled. This is not going unnoticed as there are a number of organizations working to mitigate its negative impacts on Panama’s environment and economy. Yet, it is simply not enough.

Recently I spoke with attorney David Murillo located in the city of David. When I explained my proposal, he exclaimed how passionate he felt about this problem. We discussed a variety of practical solutions hoping to bring them to the attention of the minister of the environment.  Juan Carlos Navarro, acting senior advisor and executive director of the highly esteemed NSolar, possesses an innate desire to continue to move his beloved country in a healthy direction. As such, Sr. Navarro plays a crucial role in protecting the future of Panama. We need this type of leadership.  Aside from parts of Bocas del Toro, Panama has clean drinking water across most of the country. The Panama Canal watershed provides the greater Metropolitan areas of Panama City and Colon with water. However, urbanization and pollution continue to threaten this watershed and the quality of its water. Yet, there is a solution.

The question remains; who will be the one to save the future of Panama?  Today much of Panama’s woes center on its capital. Pollution, growing need of fresh drinking water and the congestion at the Panama Canal are taking their toll each year as they go unresolved.  New leadership for Panama City; Mayer Mizrachi, a Panamanian technological businessman, enters the arena as their newly elected mayor. With a strong business background, there’s is no question that he still has his work cut out for him as mayor. After having been in his appointment queue, to speak with him directly for over a month, it is difficult to ascertain his effectiveness at this point in time. Nevertheless, he could be integral in helping to solve the problems faced within central Panama and poised to make a real difference.  Not only faced with potentially crippling pollution, the congestion that exists at the Panama Canal challenges world commerce. Unfortunately, every ship that sits and waits without passage does so at the great expense of this country.

Apparently, the overarching problem is periodic lack of rain. This is something we cannot control. One solution suggests building a massive reservoir at a significant expense to the country and its people. The idea is that when it does rain, to collect it and save it and again, at the sole mercy of Mother Nature.  According to the AMP they want to add a new reservoir on the Indio River. The canal authority has planned out a way to damn the Indio River and divert some of the water into Gatun Lake. As such, it calls for a giant concrete dam and a 5 mile tunnel through the hillside to reach the canals reservoir at a projected cost of about $2 billion. Additionally, it could require the displacement of approximately 2,000 local inhabitants.  Ricaurte Vasquez Morales is the canal administrator and stated that the project would take about 6 years and somewhere between $1.2 and $1.6 billion to complete. This is proposed to solve ONE serious problem; the passage of vessels through the Panama Canal.

An alternative, more affordable and sustainable solution currently exists to solve FIVE serious problems this country faces today. This solution would cost less than $500 million and is projected to be completed in less than 18 months.  Naturally, Ricaurte Vasquez Morales is a very knowledgeable and cooperative man from what I’ve been told. Therefore, with his experience, he may be open to a more effective and timely solution and could play a significant role in changing the future of Panama for its people, its land and world status. I look forward to speaking with him soon.  Most importantly, the man with the greatest voice, insight and promise to the people of this great country is our new president, Jose Raul Mulino.

President Mulino is a Panamanian attorney and diplomat. The people of Panama appreciate a man who is decisive and dedicated to Panama. In a very short time he has already proven his leadership and dedication to his country in his efforts to prevent the flow of drug and human traffickers through the Darien Gap.  In addition to migration, Mulino will have to manage one of the world’s key trade routes, the Panama Canal, which is forced to limit traffic through persistent drought. This requires the ability to listen to innovative and sustainable solutions that will impact Panama and its people in a positive way for years to come “For the Benefit of the World”.


The solution I am suggesting will;
1. Provide fresh water for the canal on demand resulting in no downtime.
2. Store ‘rain’ water without the use of a reservoir.
3. Provide clean, fresh drinking water for the people of central Panama.
4. Provide a waste management system to reduce pollution in a clean and effective way.
5. Provide an additional ‘free’ energy source to central Panama

As an added benefit, this solution will create and manage byproducts and resources to be used for road and building construction and additional products for profitable redistribution.  Therefore, success requires a leader with a broad vision to be able to see the entire scope of the problem and understands that each part of the solution works synergistically for the benefit of this beautiful country.  None of this would have been possible without the leadership that we have today in Panama. Therefore, I believe that we are in the right place at the right time.

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Note from the Author – If you have questions or just want to discuss the potential project, feel free to reach out to Dr. John Stagl directly at jfstagl@gmail.com.