metro

State of statues prompts debate

Conservationists are calling on the government to better protect the country’s monuments.

Currently, there is little oversight for how statues and monuments are maintained.

NORIEL GUTIÉRREZ/LA PRENSA

At odds: The painting of the Balboa statue in Parque Anayansi has prompted a debate over how such monuments should be cared for.1097122

The painting of the statue of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, located in Parque Anayansi, has raised concerns about how the country’s public monuments are cared for in general.

According to officials with the Dirección de Patrimonio Histórico of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura, the agency must receive a formal complaint before it will step in to fix a problem.

Even then, it is up to the municipality where the individual monument is located to pay for the actual work. Those municipalities are also supposed to maintain the monuments, with the Dirección de Patrimonio Histórico simply ensuring that such work is done.

David Lindo, a spokesman for the Municipio de Panamá, said, however, that the municipality often hires private contractors to maintain parks and other public areas. This includes any maintenance work done on statues or other monuments.

In the case of the Balboa statue, which was painted instead of properly restored, the municipality deferred to the contractor, which in this case is Norberto Odebrechet. That company is also supposed to relocate the statue, which has to be moved because of the Coastal Belt project.

Under the terms of its agreement, the company only has to ensure that the statue is “in the same condition which they found it” when it is moved.

For Edgar Urriola, a member of the Asociación de Restauradores de Panamá, situations like these are caused by a lack of a cultural conservation that exists in the country.

Urriola described the problems with the statue of Vasco Núñez de Balboa as a “major issue,” and added that the association is demanding that the government intervene to repair it.

The association also wants the government to better outline the way historical monuments are maintained, so they are protected for future generations to enjoy.