metro

Torrijos supports park head

President Martín Torrijos said that he is confident that Mingtoy Giro will be cleared in an investigation of a missing statue.

Some fear that the statue, which cost about $1.5 million, may have been melted down and sold for scrap.

LA PRENSA

without a trace: Officials have been unable to locate the missing statue, Juego de Antaño, which was removed from a warehouse in Parque Omar.1099825

President Martín Torrijos yesterday offered his support to Mingtoy Giro, the administrator of Parque Omar who has come under scrutiny in the disappearance of a statue from the park.

Torrijos said that he is sure that the investigation will eventually clear the name of the park's administrator.

“The Ministerio Público will have the opportunity to clarify everything,” the president said.

Torrijos' reaction came a week after a request from the Attorney General's Office for records related to the appointment and duties of the park's administrator.

The missing statue, titled Juego de Antaño, was being stored in a warehouse in the park, which is under the jurisdiction of the first lady's office.

The disappearance of the 42-piece bronze statue, which cost taxpayers about $1.5 million to commission and transport to Panama City, has stumped investigators, who have carried out several searches of property owned by prominent citizens without success.

Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro said the full weight of the law should be levied against those responsible for the theft.

“There can be no impunity. It's a shame,” Navarro said.

The statue was done by Colombian artist Héctor Lombana for the celebration of the 10th Cumbre Iberoamericana of heads of states that was held in Panama in 2000.

After the event, which was held in the Atlapa Convention Center, it was moved to Parque Omar, where it was put in storage.

In addition to the theft of the statue, the government is also investigating costs related to the commission of the statue, as well as the money that was spent on another work, “Huacal de Madera.”

An audit could find no evidence that the second work, which cost about $3,000, was ever delivered.

In the case of the missing sculpture, money was allegedly spent to install doves on the sculpture that apparently were never made. An audit also revealed that a purchase was made for 2.7 tons of bronze that was apparently never used.

“The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores made payments for the implementation of works that did not meet specifications,” the audit stated.

A judge recently ordered prosecutors to keep investigating the statue's financing, after they had asked that the case be dismissed because too much time had passed.

As for the statue itself, some have theorized that it was melted down and sold for scrap.