University rectors controversial real estate deals

REAL ESTATE deals with land owned by the University of Panama (UP)  made by its long serving rector Gustavo García de Paredes have been “highly disadvantageous” to the school, according to experts.

An investigation conducted by La Prensa following a complaint filed against the controversial, rector for offences against public administration reveals that  during his 19 years as head of the school, García de Paredes leased and sold university properties that were originally intended for expansion and to strengthen its assets.

Some 160 hectares of land have been leased or sold in questionable transactions, which include the absence of appraisals says La Prensa. It includes land a short distance from Tocumen International Airport and land near beach areas on the Pacific coast that were meant for the development of the faculty of agricultural sciences.

García de Paredes has declined to comment on the allegations.

The properties include those donated by private individuals and others acquired in the 1940s during the administration of Octavio Méndez Pereira, the school’s co-founder and first rector.

The university has refused to provide a complete audit of the properties it owns or details about the lease agreements and sales of these properties.

Due to the school’s lack of cooperation, La Prensa spent several months collecting information about the property transactions from other sources. The investigation began following the complaint filed against the García de Paredes listing  some 50 properties.

Several of the properties are no longer owned by the university because they have been sold. In other cases they have been leased at a rate that is considered to be below market value. Says the report.