Panama Causeway fails to pay off

To businesses and government, Panama's Amador Causeway is beginning to look like a  a funding sink  hole.

After an estimated $700 million in public and private investment, including $32 million on infrastructure improvements, it has failed to take off as a major attraction for locals or tourists.

Despite it’s prime location several hotels that were planned for the area never happened. Numerous restaurants have opened and closed, unable to attract enough business. During the week it sometimes seems like a ghost town.
Fuerte Amador Resort & Marina, on Isla Flamenco, was launched with a vision that it would eventually include villas, a hotel, a shopping center and a marina. But the project has not lived up to expectations.

Last week business owners met to discuss problems in the area, and possible solutions.
While some restaurants seemed to have thrived, there are plenty of spaces for rent along the Causeway.
Architect Álvaro Uribe said the government failed to grant concessions in an organized manner, and instead distributed them indiscriminately.
"They have killed the goose that laid the golden egg," he said.
Uribe said that the government should have been more selective in finding investors to develop areas on the Causeway, and found projects that would attract tourists to mesh with public works such as the Museum of Biodiversity.
Government development officials said they have learned from their mistakes, and will now be more cautious in approving concessions. {jathumbnail off}