OPINION: Deaf and Blind by Choice

Everything indicates that the Government considers it a very good idea to contract public works through the “turnkey” mechanism. This year, the Ministry of Public Works plans to make 25 contracts of this type, of which it already has 16. These are works that will add up to hundreds of millions of dollars, which, in essence, means buying now and paying later. The irony is that Panama – because of the pandemic – has had terrible fiscal deficits for two years that would complicate those payments, probably to the point of having to incur new debts to face old ones. Despite this, the government’s operating expenses continue to rise, to the point of having to borrow to pay the payroll. This situation is simply unsustainable and sooner rather than later this will have consequences for the Treasury and all Panamanians, since the only way to obtain said income will be with more credit or increasing taxes, because it is proven that savings will not leave a penny. This government is taking the country to extremes that other countries have already experienced and with experiences that we do not want to suffer in Panama. But here they are blind and deaf by choice.  – LA PRENSA, Nov. 30.