utilities

As buildings go up, Idaan plans for sewage expansion

Idaan plans to start charging building developers to hook into the city’s sewage system.

LA PRENSA /Carlos Lemos

at work:Idaan is planning to expand its sewage system to include new projects, especially in the San Francisco area.1022088

Due to the large amount of construction taking place in the neighborhoods of San Francisco and Obarrio, the Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (Idaan) plans to expand the city's sewage system in those areas.

In San Francisco there are currently 78 projects under construction, according to figures from the municipal government. To meet the needs of the new residents, the sewage system needs to be upgraded.

Idaan Director Juan Antonio Ducruet plans to come up with a price structure, which will be based on the number of square meters in each project, to charge developers to hook into the system. That will help offset the cost of the upgrades.

The agency is currently overhauling its sewage treatment system to prevent raw effluent from being discharged into the Bahía de Panama.

Ducruet said that project is 18 percent complete.

The system will also have to be expanded to deal with the large number of projects that will come on-line in the next two to five years. Counting the projects in the San Francisco area, there are 191 buildings under construction in Panama City.

While addressing the needs of those buildings is a priority, the agency also has to extend service to the estimated 200,000 people who live within the city but who do not have access to sewage service.

An estimated 30 percent of the city's homes are not hooked up to the system. Most of those homes are located in Curundú, San Miguelito and Tocumen.