Losses due to closures exceed 90 million dollars per day

The country loses between 60 and 90 million dollars a day due to road closures, warned the president of the Economic, Industrial and Agricultural Chamber of Panama (Cciap) Adolfo Fábrega.

The fact that many people did not go to work for fear of being caught in the middle of the protests means that this Monday’s closure could have a greater impact, Fábrega said.

The union warns of the economic effect that these mobilizations can produce in the last two months of the year, which is the most important for the economy and national trade, he indicated.

The mistrust of consumers, who do not know whether to go out on the street, drastically affects the economy, but also the existence of small and medium-sized businesses, repeated the businessman.

“Panamanians live in a situation that requires the search for new forms of protest that manage to attract public attention and support without harming third parties,” warned the president of this union, Adolfo Fábrega, in his Sunday report.

The Association of Restaurants and Related Restaurants of Panama requested the search for alternatives that would unite their struggle through access to free movement for all citizens without harming them.

By closing the main roads, the development of the economy at the national level in all sectors is closed, access to education, health, tourism, among others, is closed,” the organization said in a statement.

According to the group, the events of the last days, far from building, we are destroying the initial economy that has hit micro, small and medium enterprises, which still cannot reach the sales percentages of the same period in 2019.

And that’s not counting the damage caused by the last strike conducted at the national level between July and August 2022.

We firmly believe in the rights of citizens to defend their homeland, but these rights must be in accordance with the basic rights of the population, which we cannot harm in their free access to workplaces, which generate their family existence, the text states. .

Trade and Industry Minister Federico Alfaro also called for common sense. “We know the consequences of thousands of Panamanians trying to get to their jobs, to medical appointments, as well as the impact it has on the national economy,” he said.

Business associations such as the Association of Restaurants and Related Products of Panama spoke out yesterday, Monday, and called for the need to find solutions that reconcile the struggle of citizens with unrestricted access to free movement without causing harm to any of the parties involved.

Temístocles Rosas, president of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives (Apede), pointed out that it is premature to quantify the economic losses that these latest closures may produce.

However, it recognizes that the paralysis of economic activity will affect micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs who have to face the payroll with a number of days off during the first two weeks of the month of November.

“Each time a street is blocked, citizens traveling to work, school or company are harmed. This means the cancellation of thousands of job interviews, school lectures, medical examinations and significant economic losses,” the Chamber announced.

paralysis

Yesterday’s protests forced Panama’s mass transit company – Mi Bus to temporarily suspend some routes, and traffic was suspended on important roads, including the Southern Corridor, the National Highway Company (ENA) reported.

Likewise, banking entities suspended their operations early as a safety measure, including the National Bank of Panama, affecting customers at more than 50 branches across the country.

Incidents at protests

Several incidents were recorded during the protest. One of them was with patients with kidney problems, who could not come to Santo Tomás Hospital for hemodialysis this morning.

A group of patients traveled in a Community bus that was vandalized, the windshield and windows were broken with stones, a situation that turned into minutes of terror for the patients.

The incident took place on the Pan American Highway near the Las Garzas sector, in eastern Panama.

The person who supported the transfer was injured by a stone in the rib, according to witnesses in the video circulating on social networks.

Between sobs, the patient asked them not to play with their health because they had to get to Santo Tomás to have this treatment on which their lives depended.

The bus had already passed a checkpoint, but at another checkpoint an indigenous woman ordered that the vehicle not be allowed to pass, according to an official from the Community Committee.

Students are also affected in this situation, after the Ministry of Education suspended classes this Monday and Tuesday.

The announcement came after teachers’ unions reported that the strike was being extended for another 48 hours.