Contraversial link road missing from environmental study

An environmental impact assement (EIA) of the third phase of the Cinta Costera, makes no mention of the connection that has been at the root of objections voiced by opponents.

The Ministry of Public Works (MOP)  issued an EIA    which misses out details of  the interconnection of the avenues Balboa and de los Poetas

The document talks of the "New Poets Avenue," which  includes creating a landfill of 1.2 km long and 120 meters wide in  El Chorrillo.

The  EIA also mentions the connection of the Avenue of the Poets, with Amador and  the Bridge of the Américas.

A better road connection with Amador would benefit a private development  being  promoted by a real estate company in a landfill currently in the process of  obtaining a concession.

The controversial road linking Avenida Balboa to the Poets Avenue has become a ping pong ball between the government and groups claiming the alternative routes put forward  by the planners would lead to Casco Viejo losing its World Heritage Site designation.

The National Front in Defense of Natural Heritage has written a letter to the construction contractor, Norberto Odebrecht, warning that  the Panamanian government would violate its commitments to UNESCO, if it goes ahead with the development of the third phase.