tourism

Draft tourism laws kept out of sight

Ipat board members will hold a meeting to discuss new laws concerning tourism in Panama.

MANUEL H. DE LEÓN/EFE

PANAMANIAN MINISTER OF TURISM RUBEN BLADES962445

Tourism minister Rubén Blades has requested a special meeting of the board of directors of the Instituto Panameño de Turismo (Ipat) for Jan. 10 to discuss the Ley Orgánica to be created by the Autoridad de Turismo, along with the Ley General de Turismo. But as of yesterday representatives of the group had not received even a draft of the legal initiatives.

Herman Bern, Jorge Loaiza and Aida Quijano, all members of Ipat's board, said they know nothing of the text and are unable to comment on it.

Jorge Loaiza, a substitute representative on the board on behalf of the Asociación Panameña de Hoteles, said he was waiting to receive copies of the draft in order to make recommendations before the Jan. 10 meeting.

Ana Royo, president of the Asociación de Operadores de Turísticos, also said she knew nothing of the text but confessed that she believed it would call for the creation of an Autoridad de Turismo independent of other ministries and that would be able to participate in state meetings.

Last week, President Martín Torrijos requested special powers from the Asamblea Nacional to approve projects related to the creation of a customs and tourism authority and migration and banking laws. Those projects would be discussed by the cabinet between Jan. 1 and Feb. 29.

In an open letter to the media, Minister Blades affirmed that the members of Ipat's board were publicly informed about the drafts of the tourism laws when they were under discussion with other state entities and that they were waiting for their comments in order to include them in the final draft of the two laws.

"Ï have spoken at all the forums about the need to make the legal apparaturs of tourism a reality for more than a year, so it should come as no surprise to anyone," Blades emphasized in his communique.

The minister made it clear in his letter that he did not believe it was "prudent to preempt the opinion of the Junta Directiva with an incomplete draft law."

According to a law passed in 1960, Ipat's governing board has the power to suggest projects to the Executive that it considers convenient or necessary to resolve tourism problems.