environment

Power projects protested

Environmental groups closed the Pan-American highway in Chiriquí to protest two hydroelectric plants in the province.

Activists claim the plants will have negative affects on communities near the Chiriquí Viejo and Gariché rivers.

LA PRENSA

POwer struggle: Police arrested at least nine environmental activists who marched in protest of hydroelectric projects in Chiriquí.1043561

Police arrested at least nine environmental activists who blocked traffic on the Pan-American highway in the province of Chiriquí to protest the development of two hydroelectric projects powered by the Chiriquí Viejo and Gariché rivers, in the Bugaba district.

Opposition groups marched two kilometers, from San Andrés to the two bridges that cross the Río Gariché, and were met there by Harmodio Santamaría, regional director of the Authority National Environment (Anam), who came out to hear the demonstrators’ arguments against the dams.

“I don’t know if it is fair or not,” said Santamaría. “All I can say is that we live in a state of laws, and all Panamanians and businesses have the right to what the law gives them.”

Activists read a manifesto explaining how communities in the districts of Bugaba, Barú, Renacimiento and Boquerón would be affected by the hydroelectric plants, justifying their request for halting the projects.

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Ismael Herrera ordered riot police to disperse the protesters. Police arrested one woman and eight men, including Luis Espino, an activist with the Movimiento de Defensa del Río Chiriquí Viejo.

One of the people detained had been taking photographs of the event with a cellular phone.

Paso Canoa resident Eliécer Aguirre said the project would affect the water purification plant located on the river.