The hectares allocated to the mine are the same as in the previous contract

Within the consultation period of the contract signed between Government and Mining of Panama Voices have been heard claiming that this is harming the nation, while the Minister of Trade and Industry (Mici) claims that this represents the best interests of the Panamanian people.

Federico Alfaro Boyd, head of Micipoints out that Panama will get 10 times more with this contract than it would have received on the basis of the previous contract.

“We are talking about 375 million dollars a yearwhile in previous years they paid between 40 and 50 million,” said the official. However, economist Felipe Argote considers this contribution insufficient and questions that Panama, which has so much wealth, “its rulers decide to give it while there are children who left today to bed without eating”.

Another argument against is that of political analyst Antonio Saldañawho believes that the third clause, number 2, extends the concession of the treaty to any part of the country, in his letter that appeared online Bayano Digital.

In this regard, Alfaro Boyd said that it is the concession area remains exactly the same and the use of additional areas is limited, something that was unlimited in the previous contract.

“Approximately 5 thousand hectares of use and easementwhere the company cannot exploit, but has infrastructure such as a port, a power plant and a road from the mine to the port”, said the Minister of Economy.

Another point that is criticized is that the contract can be renewed without consent National Assembly.

Alfaro Boyd explained that the concession is 20 yearswith the possibility of an additional 20 years (one extension), as long as the company respects the contractual obligations set out in it.

However, he did not decide on ratification by the National Assembly additional expansion.

Another topic for discussion was mineral for exploitationbecause the contract allows for copper-related minerals.

It is estimated that approx 92% of the ore extracted from the mine is copper and the rest are small concentrations of gold, molybdenum, among others.

The Minister of Trade said that this is allowed and that if in that case the company wants to exploit another mineral I would have to apply for another grant.

Frequency

Alfaro Boyd did not say how binding that was consultations carried out by the Panamanianswhich can change the content of the contract.

However, he recognized its importance so that they could understand concerns of the populationeye.

“Remember, this is a concession contract for the exploitation of mineral resources that belong to all Panamanians. It is very important that people become familiar with it“, said Minister Mici.

He reminded that what is obtained from royalties will help the state to invest infrastructure projects in the communitywith contributions to the pension program of the Social Security Fund (CSS).

For the economist Argote, this is the worst thing he has read about the contract, because the day the Government changes its mind about what the contributions from Cobra Panamá will be used for, “He will have to ask the mining company to amend the contract to avoid suspension of payments for non-compliance.”