Lost Vehicles and $1.8 Million Missing: Chaos at the Panama Sanitation Authority

The Urban and Residential Cleaning Authority (AAUD) is under scrutiny after a series of serious administrative irregularities were revealed.  Ovil Moreno Marín, the administrator, reported the disappearance of vehicles and a million-dollar loss from the institution’s warehouse.  In addition, Moreno Marín detailed the findings of internal audits and the impact that recent closures and blockades across the country are having on garbage collection.

Disappearance of Vehicles

Moreno Marín reported that upon arriving at the AAUD, he found administrative disruptions of all kinds. After conducting audits, several complaints were filed, including one about the disappearance of vehicles during the pandemic. 

“The vehicles were moved to be kept safe on Patacón Hill including sedans, trucks, pick-ups, all kinds of vehicles in fact.  And when we started investigating, searching through the other internal customs department, the trucks disappeared, the equipment disappeared, and the cars disappeared. They’re not there; there’s absolutely no record of anything,” he explained.

He emphasized the seriousness of the matter: “The truth is that this issue totally surprised me because we’re talking about more than 140 cars. I mean, we’re not talking about one vehicle, we’re not talking about a tire, we’re talking about entire cars that, I don’t know, they’ve taken them, they’ve scrapped them, I have no idea.”  Moreno Marín also criticized the state’s property disposal system, calling it “a disaster,” and noted that there isn’t even a vehicle disposal report. He clarified that even if a vehicle is destined for disposal, there is a legal process that must be followed for its disposal, and in this case, the vehicles are missing.

Missing in Warehouse

Another important complaint concerns a shortage in the Sanitation Authority’s warehouse. Moreno Marín detailed the operation of the Istmo inventory system.  “So, you make the purchase, you do the entire process, you have the record of the purchase, you have the record that you bought 150 tires. Well, 150 tires came in, there’s the invoice, you made a record that 150 tires came in. As you dispatch the tires, you reduce them in the inventory. Well, when we get there, the 150 tires are actually only 75. Physically there should be 75 left, but that is not the case.”  The shortage in this case amounts to $1.8 million. The last formal inventory was conducted in 2018, so the new administration conducted one upon arrival and discovered this irregularity.

Other Complaints

Moreno Marín mentioned that approximately six complaints have been filed, and more are being filed. There was also a case reported involving a person who resigned a year and a half ago, but they weren’t removed from the system and continued to cash their paychecks.

Moratorium and Collection

The administrator called on citizens to regularize their payment of the sanitation fee.  “We invite the community to come to the Sanitation Authority to regularize the issue with the sanitation fee. We have a debt owed to us by users of $116,000,000.  $94,000,000 from the residential sector, $20,000,000 from the commercial sector, and $2,000,000 from the government sector,” he reported.  To encourage payment, a moratorium was implemented from April 30 to October 31, offering discounts of 50% for the residential sector and 30% for the commercial sector.

Management of Patacón Hill

Moreno Marín assured that the crisis at Cerro Patacón is under control. However, he acknowledged problems with leachate and methane. He indicated that the Sanitation Authority’s board of directors approved a public bidding process for three major projects.  “One is for the construction of a new landfill, which will provide a technically prepared area to receive waste; a project for the leachate system to transport it to an oxidation tank, a water and leachate treatment plant; and the other is a methane collection system to provide proper treatment for the methane,” he indicated.  Regarding the search for a new company to manage the landfill and relocate it, Moreno Marín stated: “We are still conducting some evaluations; it’s too early for us to put out an international tender. We are fine-tuning certain things; there is an inter-institutional commission to work on this matter. This issue is a major concern for the President of the Republic, as are the landfills in the interior of the country.”

Impact of Closures

Finally, Moreno Marín acknowledged that the closures and blockades in the country have affected garbage collection.  “At least here in the capital city, we can deal with problems: we already have formal, established routes that have already been announced, and these routes have been affected.  In effect, if we suddenly go somewhere, we can’t get through, and that route accumulates for the next day; if we can’t get through the next day, it accumulates for two or three days, and it is affecting us,” he concluded.