Panama Drivers Debts Must Be Paid by Time of License Plate Issuance

President José Raúl Mulino stated Thursday, September 5, during the weekly press conference that users of vehicles in the North, South and East corridors who are in arrears will see their debt reflected when processing their vehicle license plates in the municipalities.  Essentially, the debt of the drivers will be reflected at the time of issuing the plates, so Mulino warns that they will put the defaulters in check.  According to Mulino, this will be done through an executive decree, in an attempt to mitigate the debt owed to the National Highway Company (ENA) of $28 million.  By linking the issuance of the license plate to the debt of the brokers, a pressure mechanism would be sought for the payment of the debt.  Mulino said that “those defaulters have to see what they are going to do because there is a lot of trickery.”  He described how he recently personally saw a BMW worth around $100,000 speeding, with a debt of more than $4,000 reflected in the toll booth of one of the drivers. “You have to be a scoundrel.  That is unspeakable,” he said.