BRIEFS: Environment

Mayor wants hydro projects put on hold

Boquete Mayor Manolo Ruiz has pledged to fight against hydro projects in his district, particulary on the Río Caldera, where nine such projects have been proposed. Ruiz said he will not sign off on any hydro agreement, “regardless of who it comes from.” He has also asked the Asamblea Nacional to draft a law protecting Boquete's rivers.

Ruiz argues that the district is already producing its fair share of hydroelectric power for the country, and that further development in this area would compromise the area's natural resources. Yesterday, a group of environmentalists attended a municipal meeting in Boquete and asked Ruiz to declare the Río Caldera a national heritage site.

The president of the Asociación para la Conservación de la Biosfera, Ezequiel Miranda, said the group is seeking the designation because of the river's importance to the local water supply and agriculture.

Miranda said that because the river originates in Parque Internacional La Amistad, it should receive the same protection offered to that biosphere.