environment

Project endangers whales

Environmentalists worry that an island development will disrupt the migratory route of certain whales.

Anam is currently reviewing Viveros Development’s request to fill in a 1,000-meter area.

la prensa

encroaching: Developers behind a mega-project in the Pearl Islands want to fill in a section of ocean used by migrating whales.1118418

The controversial activity of reclaiming land where there once was ocean is no longer an issue limited to the Coastal Belt project on Avenida Balboa or the Figali harbor on the Amador Causeway.

In recent weeks, Viveros Development has requested permission from three government environmental agencies to fill a thousand-meter stretch in the heart of the Pearl Islands archipelago in the Bay of Panama, a sea corridor frequented by migrating humpback whales.

If granted, that area would constitute an extension of the 17 hectares of an island property already deforested by the company for a future airplane runway.

Like other mega-projects currently underway throughout the country, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) submitted to Panama’s chief environmental agency, Anam, presents data unrelated to the development’s original dimensions, a fact that has environmental groups concerned, since Viveros Development has already been fined twice for ecological offenses.

One of the EIA’s discrepancies was highlighted on Oct. 27, when the company officials told inspectors and technicians from various government agencies visiting the work site that the sea filling measured only 150 meters long.

That information contradicts the EIA document currently under review, claiming that 550 meters will be reclaimed to extend the airfield, bringing the total territory filled to a thousand meters.

Anam’s headquarters in Albrook is preparing a study that attempts to resolve the questions surrounding the project, namely the exact dimensions to be filled, what type of material will be used and the area’s reputation as a sea corridor used by migratory whales.

Belisario Polo, a representative for Viveros Development, acknowledged that whales passed through the archipelago seasonally because of the area’s rich colonies of plankton and algae, but pledged that the designated filling would be completed before the beginning of those annual migrations.

The company also contended that expanding the airfield being built is imperative for receiving international flights. That project is just a part of a larger $100 million tourism development on the island that includes the construction of three hotels and luxury residences ranging between $2 million and $3 million.

Alida Spadafora, president of environmental group Ancón, found the magnitude of the project’s disruption to the island’s biodiversity worrisome, particularly since it represents just one of many planned for the popular destination.

“The authorities should evaluate the airfield carefully and verify its potential impact on the whale corridor,” she said. “They must reject this type of construction.”

Those concerns were echoed by marine biologists at the Smithsonian Institute. “Yes, humpback whales pass by the place,” confirmed scientist Héctor Guzman, who explained that though it may sometimes seem that few whales travel through the island passage, many of the sea mammals do not surface, rather preferring to stay five or more meters below the sea.

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) denied that it is responsible for approving or rejecting this project, and referred inquiries to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

In fact, Augusto De Leon, chief of concessions at AMP, said that the plans for the island airstrip were sent by mistake to his office.

“We only have the authority to review the dock that [the company] also wants to build on the island,” he said.