cultural heritage

Camino de Cruces project raises many questions

LA PRENSA

well-travelled: The Camino de Cruces was used to transport gold brought from Peru, Baja California and Chile to Spain.1035262

Residents of the reverted areas in Clayton and historians are apprehensive about a project that the company Grupo Los Pueblos says will "recover and rescue" some 101 meters of the historic Camino de Cruces, a cobblestone road used to transport gold from Peru to Spain in the sixteenth century.

The project's promoter, Embassy Club, and the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (Inac) have already signed an agreement of cultural cooperation for "the recovery and rescue of 46 linear meters" of the road and the "recreation" of the remaining 55 linear meters that were "removed or disturbed during the administration fo the old Canal Zone," said the project's coordinator, Gioberti Angelo.

Roberto Bruno, a member of the Sociedad Panameña de Historia, confessed that the project does not inspire him with confidence. "How is it that a business is going to worry about an activity that is the state's responsibility? I suspect they want to throw us a little bone as a distraction so we don't pay attention to the true magnitude of probable damage to our historical patrimony."

Bruno said the project has to be studied in its entirety to verify what portion of the Camino de Cruces those 101 meters represent in terms of restoration and preservation. "It's not clear what they want to do, and if the company proposes to preserve a stretch, what part will remain outside real estate development?" he asked with suspicion. His biggest worry is that the company will destroy more than it will reconstruct. "Hopefully, there are documents in the contract that bind the company to repair any damage they do to the Camino de Cruces".

Azael Barrera, a member of the Clayton residents association, is concerned about the project, too. "I don't know what international standards of recovery, preservation and valuation of paths and historic routes they've applied, and that has to be managed in a special way, different from visible monuments." According to Angelo of Grupo Los Pueblos, their project will include the construction of an exhibition center and museum in addition to "recovering and rescuing" a portion of the Camino de Cruces. "Interest arose after several meetings with Clayton residents and then a public forum about the Embassy Club project," he said.

Assuming the government officials grant the final permits, work on the project could begin within the next two months. The company A3 will do the excavations under the direction of architect Félix Durán, who has experience as a restorer for the Patronato Panamá Viejo.

Carlos Fitzgerald, the former director of Patrimonio Histórico, sees the project in a positive light, since the government does not assume any responsibility for preserving Panama's cultural heritage, which is deteriorating everywhere. "It's an initiative that should be supported and promoted, always and whenever it's clear that the findings and studies are public and benefit the people and are not private and closed." He warned, however, that one must keep their eyes open.