The Autoridad Marítima de Panamá (AMP) secretly granted a 20-year seabed concession to the Club de Yates y Pesca. However, the Ministerio de Obras Públicas (MOP) has begun consulting on a project to convert that exact waterfront space into public parkland, igniting a major clash over public space versus private interests in Panama City.
The AMP Concession
- The Deal: In May, the AMP quietly awarded a new 20-year concession to the Club de Yates y Pesca for over 101,000 square meters of seabed along Avenida Balboa.
- Financials: The Club agreed to pay a rate of roughly $0.12 per square meter, which will total approximately $2.98 million over the two decades.
- Precedent: This follows a history of special treatment. When the Cinta Costera 1 was constructed, the MOP granted the Club 3 hectares of reclaimed land (costing the state $9.8 million at the time) to compensate for construction disruptions.
The MOP’s Vision
- Feasibility Studies: The MOP commissioned a $247,000 consultancy to assess the feasibility of transforming the prime waterfront property into a public park or recreational area.
- Potential Reallocation: Despite the newly approved AMP concession, the MOP’s plans suggest a desire to re-examine the private occupation of the coastal strip and open the area up for civic use.
- Transparency Concerns: The clash has triggered demands from watchdog organizations—like the Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresa (APEDE)—to investigate potential conflicts of interest within the MOP.
The 3-hectare landfill built by Odebrecht was given by the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) to the Yacht and Fishing Club in 2008. In May 2023, the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), surreptitiously, granted a new concession for the use of the seabed (for 20 years) in favor of the Yacht and Fishing Club, on Balboa Avenue. But perhaps it is no coincidence that this precise moment was chosen to quietly finalize the concession. The country’s attention was distracted by other matters, such as the Cabinet’s attempts to facilitate the eventual renewal of the mining permit in Donoso.
