Panama’s Manzanillo port to get $210 mln upgrade

 PANAMA CITY, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Panama’s busiest Caribbean port is to push ahead with a $210 million expansion project to help it deal with ever-bigger commercial vessels, the government said on Wednesday. Panama’s Maritime Authority said it will transfer control of more that 1.2 million square meters of land to the Manzanillo International Terminal, allowing the port’s owners to develop their facilities for increasingly popular mega-ships. These so-called ‘post-panamax’ vessels are currently too big to pass through the Panama canal, but their increased use has prompted Panama to embark on a $5.25 billion canal expansion program that is scheduled to be completed in 2014. (more)

Manzanillo, a popular transshipping center for car exports, is the latest Panamanian port to announce it will expand as a result of the canal expansion program. It currently has just two cranes which are able to deal with post-panamax vessels.

In 2006, Manzanillo handled the equivalent of 1.3 million containers, making it one of the busiest ports in Latin America. The port is owned by Seattle-based firm Carrix Inc and the Motta family, which owns Panama’s Copa airline (CPA.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Manzanillo has been operating at close to capacity and faces stiff completion from other Panamanian ports, most notably Evergreen Group’s Colon Container Terminal and Cristobal Port, which is run Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa Limited (0013.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).

It was recently surpassed as Panama’s largest port by Balboa on the Pacific coast, which is also run by Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa Limited. Balboa is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion plan that will make it the biggest port in Latin America by 2010. (Reporting by Andrew Beatty)

SOURCE: Don Winner @ Panama-guide.com

Jean Figali Loses Concession To Build a Marina on Amador

By Mónica Palm for La Prensa - Group F. Internacional, which has been ignoring orders to stop working on their project to build a marina of Amador, has exhausted the patience of Panama’s Maritime Authority (AMP) and National Environmental Authority (ANAM). Yesterday both organizations took more energenic actions against the company run by Jean Figali. Both the AMP and ANAM say the work being done by Group F. are not part of a marina as authorized in the contracts of concession awarded by the AMP and authorized by the ANAM in their Environmental Impact Study. The AMP ordered Group F. to stop working and to remove their equipment from the area last October, an order that has been ignored by Figali. The AMP communicated their decision yesterday to Figali to “resolve administratively” both of the concession contracts he has with the organization. The first contract dated May 2002 allows them to fill 3.7 hectares and the second, dated October 2002, allows them to fill an additional 4 hectares. According to Rubén Arosemena, the Second Vice-President of Panama and the Administrator of the AMP, Group F. has violated several elements of both contracts, and has completed landfill operations that are “far from the original request in the concession.” Arosemena said that Group F., has “closed off” the concession area without any kind of authorization, with the intention “to turn ocean areas into landfill.” For their part ANAM said these works are not within the approved Environmental Impact Study and therefore they ordered the project to be suspended yesterday. In addition they have started an investigation.

Editor’s Comment: This is one of the most controvertial cases in Panama right now, and it’s mostly political. Jean Figali is a good friend of Panama’s Supreme Court Justice Winston Spadafora and he obtained his concessions on Amador during the administration of Mireya Moscoso. There is a widespread and lingering understanding that there was rampant governmental corruption during the Moscoso regime. Her chosen successor, Jose Miguel Aleman, received only 16% of the votes cast, coming in a distant third behind Torrijos (47%) and Endara (31%). These results represent a clear and resounding rejection of the Moscoso administration and her candidate was for the most part ignored. Figali made the critical mistake of getting too close to a politician and mixing business too closely with politics. The best businessmen don’t care who wins an election, they support all candiates and can work with practically anyone. And everytime Ambassador Eaton utters the words “judicial security” Figali runs to the press to scream about how his rights are being trampled. I spoke with Jean Figali several months ago when he resumed work on this project and he told me “it’s political” and that he has a Supreme Court decision in his back pocket. That decision, of course, came from Winston Spadafora. I don’t suspect Figali will ever be allowed to continue while the PRD is in power, and believe it or not that’s probably fair because there is a widespread belief among political pulse-takers that he probably got the concession using payola in the first place, anyway. They will continue to fight over this forever, and meanwhile the smart guys have made their peace and moved on. I wonder if the Naos Harbor project is in the same pot of hot water. I’ve tried to ask them about it but the MSG Group won’t return my calls. They also have ANAM and AMP work stoppages pending and are way behind schedule.

grupo figali. autoridades dicen que TRABAJOS EN AMADOR NO ESTÁN AUTORIZADOS.
Revocan concesión
La AMP y la Anam alegan que la empresa de Figali realiza rellenos que no corresponden a una marina.
Grupo F. ignoró acuerdos contenidos en los contratos de concesión y en el estudio de impacto ambiental.
LA PRENSA/Bernardino Freire
RELLENO. A pesar de las instrucciones giradas por la Autoridad Marítima de Panamá, de suspender las obras en el área de Amador, el Grupo F. siguió rellenando y este es el estado actual del proyecto.853879

Mónica Palm mpalm@prensa.com

Grupo F. Internacional, que por meses ha desafiado las órdenes de no continuar realizando rellenos en Amador, agotó la paciencia de las autoridades Marítima de Panamá (AMP) y Nacional del Ambiente (Anam), que ayer tomaron acciones más enérgicas contra la empresa que preside Jean Figali.

Ambas entidades alegan esta vez que los trabajos que realiza Grupo F. no corresponden a una marina, como está autorizado en los contratos de concesión y en el estudio de impacto ambiental (EIA) autorizado.

La AMP, que desde octubre ordenó al Grupo F. retirar el relleno existente y paralizar los trabajos, comunicó ayer a Figali la decisión de “resolver administrativamente” los dos contratos de concesión que mantiene con la entidad: el primero, de mayo de 2002, para rellenar 3.7 hectáreas de fondo de mar, y el segundo, de octubre de ese mismo año, para rellenar 4 hectáreas adicionales.

Según Rubén Arosemena, segundo vicepresidente de la República y administrador de la AMP, Grupo F. ha violado varias disposiciones contenidas en los dos contratos, y ha iniciado unos trabajos de relleno “que distan mucho de cumplir con la solicitud original de la concesión”.

Arosemena advirtió que el Grupo F., sin autorización alguna, ha “cerrado” el área concesionada, con la intención “de convertir en tierra firme áreas de fondo de mar”.

Por su parte, la Anam indicó que estos trabajos no están dentro del estudio de impacto ambiental (EIA) aprobado y, por lo tanto, ayer ordenó suspender las obras. Adicional, empezó una investigación de oficio.

SOURCE: Don Winner @ Panama-guide.com