End to Panama Bay environmental probes

PANAMA ENVIRONMENTALISTS  have received  a  series of blows to the ribs in their fight  against ecological damage to mangroves and the ecosystem of the Bay of Panama as a prosecutor’S  office  has requested the provisional closure of 12 investigations.

FIfth Circuit  Prosecutor Thalia Palacios, told  La Prensa,  in an interview,  that her office requested the dismissal of the cases because it has not found evidence of possible violations of environmental impact studies.

NO RESPONSE
She said that  the office  had requested information from the Ministry of the Environment, the civil defense agency (SINAPROC), the Ministry of Public Works, the Panama City municipality  and the Ministry of Housing, but so far it has not received the requested reports.

The lack of response from City Hall has surprised environmental opponents of development around the Bay as Panama’s deputy mayor Baisa Banfield was, before her election to office, a long time environmental activist, whose place  alongside  Jose Isabel Blandon during the last election campaign helped garner the votes that gave him a narrow victory over his PRD opponent in the race for the Mayoralty.

Palacios  explained that, since there is a deadline for completing the investigation, she saw the need to send the files to the courts with a request for an interim stay of the proceedings so that, once the data is provided, she could request the reopening of these cases.

Likewise, she said that these investigations have been very complex because they require the assistance of experts skilled in the verification of damage to the environment.

MANGROVE DESTRUCTION
The investigation is focused on alleged anomalies such as the destruction of mangroves and the illegal extraction of sand.

The prosecutor said that some of the projects that are the subject of the complaints are almost finished, so it will be very difficult to reverse the damage.