$30 Million for Land Remediation with U.S. Ammo and Payment of International Arbitrations Is Requested by MEF
The land in Piña is part of the areas turned over to Panama after the withdrawal of US military forces, and its remediation is a requirement to ensure its safe use by the Panama Canal.
Panama City: The Minister of Economy and Finance (MEF), Felipe Chapman pictured above, presented to the Budget Committee of the National Assembly a transfer of funds for more than 30 million dollars destined for two main purposes: the cleaning of areas contaminated with munitions in Colón and the payment of international arbitrations against the Panamanian State. Of this amount, $25 million will be allocated to pay a company specializing in the remediation of land located in Piña, Colón province. These areas were sold to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and in previous years were used by the United States military for activities that left behind munitions and other polluting waste.
“We tried to substantially improve the terms and conditions of said sale with the commitment to clear the lands that the Panama Canal Authority has acquired,” the minister said during his presentation. Chapman explained that, without the cleanup clause, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) was prepared to pay $26 million for the land. However, by including the environmental remediation commitment, the final payment, made in January 2026, amounted to $126 million. The total cost of the cleanup is estimated at $30 million.
The Reverted Assets Unit (UABR) currently has $5 million available, so it requires the transfer of an additional $25 million to complete the amount and comply with the agreement with the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). “Without cleaning these lands, the Panama Canal Authority was willing to pay $26 million, but a cleanup clause was included. Ultimately, the payment, which was finalized in January of this year, was $126 million,” the official explained. The land in Piña is part of the areas reverted to Panama after the withdrawal of US military forces, and its remediation is a requirement to ensure its safe use by the ACP in logistics expansion projects.
Arbitrations
The remaining $5 million from the transfer will be used to cover specialized technical assistance to face international arbitrations filed against the Panamanian State. The minister noted that the MEF frequently receives arbitration initiatives in a “highly litigious world,” and therefore requires high-level technical support. The specific cases are: Petaquilla Minerals: for the Molejón mining project and Orla Mining: for the Cerro Quema mining project. These processes require legal and technical representation specialized in international investment law, the cost of which justifies the requested budget allocation.
Environmental Commitment
In response to questions from lawmakers about why the State should bear the cost of the cleanup, Chapman reiterated that the remediation was a condition for finalizing the sale of the land to the ACP and that the higher payment received from the authority compensates for the investment in sanitation. Minister Chapman emphasized that the transfer of funds responds to contractual and legal commitments that cannot be postponed without affecting the country’s credibility in international negotiations.
