utilities

Water spurs protest

Every day the Federico Guardia treatment plant in Chilibre produces 135 million gallons of drinking water.

But that water is pumped to Panama City, while the 50,000 residents of the area are left high and dry. Instead of being connected to the public supply, they have to rely on tanker trucks, wells or, in the worst cases, local streams.

Dominga Villamil, a residente of Alto Lindo, said that she has to go to a local stream every day to wash her clothes and dishes, "because there is no water."

She and other residents have had enough. After years of putting up with the lack of service, about 200 residents decided to let the government know how they feel.

Those residents gathered at Vía Transítmica early yesterday morning and blocked the road at the Don Bosco bridge. During the protest they chanted "agua" over and over.

At 7:30 a.m., police cleared the protestors off the highway by firing tear gas into the crowd. Nine people were arrested in the incident as some of the protestors, some of whom were children, clashed with police.

The protest was called because water trucks, which had been the lifeblood for many residents in the community, had not been dispatched for three weeks.

Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (Idaan) officials said that the situation should be helped when a 1 million gallon water storage tank begins operating next week.