BRIEFS: Public works

Shopping center bridge frustrates community

The horseshoe-style bridge located within the Los Pueblos shopping center, on Vía Domingo Díaz, continues to provoke controversy in nearby townships whose residents use the bridge to access their neighborhoods.

Residents of Cerro Viento, for instance, complain that taking the bridge in the direction of Tocumen is inconvenient, because it lies too far from the entrance of their community.

The same goes for those traveling from Tocumen toward Vía José Agustín Arango, whose access through the shopping center is barred until the stores open at 7 a.m.

Orietta De Léon, manager of the Centro Comercial Los Pueblos, said that the bridge was once available 24 hours a day, but that changed when the responsibility for maintenance of the roadway was transferred to the shopping center’s owners.

Luis Morán, a resident of Cerro Viento, however, argued that the original intention of the bridge was to benefit the residents of the local neighborhoods, and the Ministerio de Obras Públicas has gone back on its word.

“Now they say that it’s not [for our use], and have blocked the entrance to the bridge and given the rights to Los Pueblos,” he said.

Adriano Ferrer, director of Inspección for MOP, was not available for comment.