Panama still awaiting burying of overhead cables

Via Argentina, One of Panama’s most loved pedestrian thoroughfares, is suffering from an abundance of overhead cables hanging down close to street level.City plans to put the cables underground are stalled in the National Assembly.

More than a dozen wires hanging from two light towers are creating a curtain of wire, across the street says La Prensa.  The cables closest to the ground are just short of 1.70 meters and for some pedestrians it means their hair rubs against the cables.

The area is the most European in Panama and is lined with busy restaurants cafes and bars.

The cable problem, according to residents and business owners in the area has been longstanding,  some even speak of years.  The Cabinet Council approved in November, a bill that  includes the burying of cables that must  still pass the National Assembly.

The long promised burying includes the banking area,  the Colon Free Zone and streets in David, Veraguas. The burying of telecommunication lines, according to industry sources will cost  between $21 and $ 24 million, not counting the cost of burying power lines in these same areas.

The overhead  power cables have long been decried as visual  pollution as well as a potential danger to pedestrians.