Little progress on visual pollution clean up

If you were one of the citizens who applauded the decision to clear up the visual pollution provided by the tangle of overhead cables on Panama’s streets, don’t hold your breath.

Six month ’s ago, the public services authority Asep made the decision to remove some of the overhead clutter that despoils the sight lines in Panama City.
The measure required telecommunications companies to hang wires at specific  heights and prohibited keeping rolls of wires on utility poles. It also required wires to be marked so they could easily be identified.
The biggest change, was to be the total removal of wires from several areas, and plans were put in place to put them underground.
Companies had three months to comply with the resolution, but six months later, little has changed.
Asep Administrator Dennis Moreno said that progress has been made, in marking the cables.
"Until now, we did not know who the owners of the wires were," he said. Director of Telecommunications Edwin Castillo, warned that owners of cables who are not in compliance will begin to be fined … although care will be taken to ensure that complying with the regulations will not impact service.