By Dafydd Young

Panama without lotteria is like a bird with no wings, baseball with no bats, Trump with no quiff and life with no hope say sellers and buyers calling for the drawings of the National Charity Lottery to be reactivated.

For three months and 16 days, scores of thousands of Panamanians have been without faith, hope, and charity in the absence of their twice-weekly fix. and the eternal hope that lady luck will return some of the money they have handed over to create 20,000  direct and indirect jobs, and give local governors the chance to flash their smiles during the televised draws.

Owners of selling “wallets”  claim that they have met with the Lottery authorities and even have a proposal for the Health Ministry to avoid contagions and crowds when they recommend opening., although the rush to the tables seem likely to outstrip the invasion of bars in the US  sunbelt states when  COVID-19 lockdown was eased.  

Julissa Camano, spokesperson for the Wallet owners explained that among the measures they propose are: acrylic separators, personal cleaning kits, plastic boards that can be easily sanitized, and distance between buyers. They also propose reducing the raffles to once a week which like early closing in a bar would concentrate the minds of customers or at best ease withdrawal symptoms.

In 2019  lottery sales contributed $120 million to the government,  plus support for numerous charities according to figures from the wallets who say they have survived during the closure on the government $80 bonds distributed to low-income workers.

Meanwhile, holders of winning tickets from the last draw have yet to collect their reward to enable them to renew hope of the big win.