Hil

29 minutes ago, Roger B said:

Hil

Usually a contract like this include all the repairs needed in the street and roads.  I have not seen the contract but surely it is included.   The major and all the people of Boquete should be very careful and watch what the contractor is doing and claim that the roads be repaired accordingly before the contractor finished and leave.  Support the major regarding this subject and be ready.

I dont know, also, who is the government agency who should do Inspection of the jobs.  The contractor couldnt present any account for payment if they dont have the ok from the engineer inspection.  It is possible that the Major and Authorities of the Municipio know who they are.  All the business organizations and citizens should be concerned and ask when something is not seen accordingly.   

Lets remember that in bidding projects the winner of the job is the contractor who gave the lowest price.  It is bad because that contractor will try to cut expenses and that means it will be lower quality.  

Junction boxes could be made of concrete blocks... but, here is always the but...the blocks should be of good quality.  They should have steel passing through the holes, the joints should be made of high quality mortars, the holes in the block should be filled with a good quality cementitious mortars and at least the inner side should have a waterproofed plaster.  

At the end the whole responsability falls in the inspection company of the government agency.  They should be checking that all the jobs have to be done according to the specifications and with known and good construction practices.

 

 

 

 

Yes, transparency would stop a lot of this under management, unprofessional engineering, and unskilled work. It will cost a fortune down the road and be problematic in all of the houses and businesses connected to the system.

54 minutes ago, TwoSailors said:

One of the owners of a business in Boquete, that we are clients with, said that they were told no street paving under this administration. The cost of paving were not in the water improvement budget. The next administration....in two years is suppose to fund the money for the street paving. Crazy? TIP!!! Going into Boquete is a last resort. Look how well Ivan and Dorado are doing business wise!

I would think the 23-25 million dollars Varlea gave to Boquete for the upgrade of the water system and "new sewer system" will cover the entire project. We were told yesterday that the street repairs and piping would be done in six months for the sewer system. I will NOT BANK on that. PVC, glue and fittings are not that expensive, labor is not high hear, equipment is relatively high, engineering that I've seen so far Can Not be that expensive, management of the project will be a serious cost over run if you have watched them dig up streets two times correcting mistakes. The biggest problem I see after completion will be the junction boxes (possibly collapse). I have seen some of them hand made from blocks. I don't understand why they didn't use a manufactured concrete junction boxes (maybe they are now). I'm afraid the 6 inch feeder lines will be problematic down the road, If it is a forced main which I doubt it will be----then it would be okay. It appears the lines have been engineered for down hill gravity flow all the way to South Bajo Boquete. I haven't seen a construction manager anywhere on the job. A forced main will require back pressure valves and grinder pumps at every entry point to the main lines. If grinder pumps are not used the main 6 inch line will be clogged all of the time. I haven't seen one installed yet. If this is a build as you go project (which it appears to be) there are major problems ahead. On a good note, everyone  will have a backup Septic Tank.(hopefully)I watched a small city such as Boquete do a entire city upgrade on the sewer. It was actually a new install. Everything was changed. But, they did it in sections in a logical order. Then they would move onto another section. The engineers on the Boquete project or the construction managers missed the boat on planning the construction. The city's businesses were never thought about or they would have managed the project accordingly. Just an observation.

I can live with what ever they do. The only complaint I have is the damage to cars undersides and mechanical issues caused by the wacos. Gravel works wonders for holes. They have teased the public with a little gravel but I have YET to see a waco filled and leveled. Such is life in Boquete.

I have driven it two times. Once in the wet season and once in the dry season. It is a seriously dangerous drive in the rainy season. We had a great drive during the dry season. The road is in good shape from Paso Canoas Arriba all the way to Volcan. But, if you've never driven in the mountains prepare yourself for some slow going. It is dangerous anyway you view it. Nice Video.

14 hours ago, Trish Christofferson said:

I live in Potrerillos Arriba and have talked at length with my Panamanian neighbors about Noriega. There are two houses in the area that belonged to Noriega. One property which is just above El Banco is called Pagoda. It was basically Noriega's party house. He entertained guests from various countries and it is rumored that Fidel Castro was there at one time. This house is owned by Americans.The other property is the white house above Pagoda that you can see from the road on the highway to Boquete. The house was built by Noriega but it is questioned whether he spent any time there. I have been on that property several times. The latest I have heard is that the house is owned by the owners of Tia Maria rice company. It has been awhile since I've been there but at the time I was there a caretaker was living in the house. Noriega had another property in Potrerillos Arriba proper called Escondido. It was a farm that had a type of zoo in it. According to my neighbor he had a lot of exotic birds and animals in cages on the property. That property is now the location of the Teen Challenge facility.

The property that had all of his exotic animals is run by the Teen Challenge out of David. The young boys are housed there. They had to seperate the girls and boys. The girls are housed between the Bomberos and Chiriqui Hospital in David on the same street. A few of us did some volunteer work at the boys place near Portrerillos. The animal pens and main buildings are still there. The minister that runs the place has all the history. He says; "This is where Noriega kept his girls for partying and for his visiting friends. It is not in good shape and the minister operates on donations. The locals burned the place during the invasion." All that was left were the blocks and concrete structures. The roofs, doors and windows were repaired. It is a beautiful piece of property. The kids garden, raise cows, hogs, sheep and goats. They are self contained and it is in serious need of donations such  as rice, beans, and other things such as mattresses and chairs. 

I'm going to buy a tin foil hat and visit the business. Maybe I can market the hat to them for the electronic inspection FREE.

Good idea on recovering the bribe money and putting it to good use. But, the rock thing a "must" be safety thing here. We see it all of the time. I guess they don't trust the Park on automatics, in gear manuals or the emergency breaks!!! I have ask myself many times why the rocks behind or in front of the tires.

I'll bite the hook for free.

Panama has been flooded with chinese products for a long time.

Yes it has affected Chiriqui. The cubanos brought the h1 n1 virus with them and financial stress. Some cubanos died here with the virus and also infected Panamnians.  Ecuador started enforcing visas and Costa Rica said no more undocumented cubanos. Panama didn't do much other than house them and fly the last group to Mexico. Locals told me they were mad because they had to foot the bill for the cubanos.

Good for Obama. And, good for the Carribean, Central and South America, and the USA. Get there legally!!!! Immigration changes everywhere now days!

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/12/politics/us-to-end-wet-foot-dry-foot-policy-for-cubans/index.html?adkey=bn

8 hours ago, Bud said:

Marcelyn and I returned to Panama from international travel within this past week. On this entry we were NOT fingerprinted, but both of us were photographed. As in the recent past, the lines at immigration have been changed so that there now are three (actually, four) lines:

1. returning Panamanian citizens
2. returning Panamanian legal residents
3. tourists
4. diplomats and flight crew

The immigration line reconfiguration actually works to our benefit because groups 1 and 3 were the longest. There were exactly zero in line for group 2, and so we were through immigration in less than five minutes.

Fingerprinting or not is perhaps a changing policy based on their experience and results.

BTW, the immigration officer (a lady) was very pleasant, had a warm and engaging smile on her face, and ended our interaction with "welcome home" (in English). We said "gracias, muchas gracias."

No one was in line 2 when I returned also. This is good in Tocumen. Fast entry. Although they did require 4 fingers of right hand and not the entire scan again.

It doesn't matter about your status in Panama everyone entering will be in the registry. The first finger printing is all fingers on both hands and both thumbs. The next time you pass through it catches you original prints in the data base and does an instant match when you place your right four fingers on the pad and they wave you through after stamping your passport. You will not go through the entire process again. They needed a good data base to start with. I've been through 5 times after the first printing and it's quick. It's a good idea to catch international and local criminals. I used the native line all four times after the first printing and no problem. All entry and exit points have the scanner working now days.

A lot of us thought this would happen. Some will leave and some will stay because of the new rule. Border hopping is still legal. If they change the time out of the country to more than 72 hours probably a lot more will leave. Some can't afford the 90 day turn around. Most countries don't allow 72 hour exit and return on tourist visas. We'll see. Panama had to protect itself. I forgot to say that some of these so called lawyers will make you lose  your money not completing everything within six months. Mine took 4 months and she has connections in Panama City.

45 minutes for two fish filets(small squares) 4 inches square, bad taste, four spoon fulls of cole slaw cut in large slices, curly fries, two glasses of lemonaide ($2 a glass) and price $27 for two total. Not for me. I spoke with Chris about how long it took. He didn't have much to say. And, my girlfriend has a relative working there out front. I have to say the staff out front is ok. The portions seem to be smaller under the new owner/management and the prices are much higher. So, I'll do Sabrasons and get more and better food. Pretty difficult to make a piece of fish 4 inches square taste bad. I can get a serious nice seafood plater in one of David's nice restaurants for $15 (including  drinks) and three could eat from it. So, $4 for gas to and from David is a good couple of hours spent.  And I'm talking everything that swims in the pacifice on this plater. There are better choices in Boquete and David. As for giving the owner/manager time to get it right------he's been doing this for a good while. Sorry, I'll go elsewhere.

Everyone pays 7% sales tax in panama. Raise it to 16% and it's fair to everybody. Then  Allocate money to single projects, like schools, roads,  etc-----through the proper agency. The other taxes get abused just like in the USA I get that.

i wish i had your vocabulary. salute

We were rerouted going into David because of the tree down. The tree was in the highway near the Majagua River bridge before you reach the straight flat stretch of road headed to El Reys on the old Boquete highway. They diverted traffic traveling in both directions. We were in David for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and tried using the old highway returning and they turned us left over to the four lane heading back. The bridge is down the hill from the Delta Gas station and Los Algarrobos housing development community on the left. I don't understand why power was out in all of Boquete, Dolega and North (or west if want to call it that) David. It must be a switching problem on the grids. Oh well, when we got home power was up and running and I didn't miss Alabama getting beat.

Tax more and you get better storm sewers, sewage treatment plants, water treatment plants, electrical grids, schools and roads. Just got back from Colombia. 16% sales tax for everyone. roads better than the U.S., modern buildings, clean roads, great infrastructure and schools in good shape. And no pablo escobar didn't build Medellin. 7% tax in David and Boquete (don't know about ANY other taxes or other city taxes) so you get what you pay for. 7% based on the population purchasing goods and services in Panama isn't much. Maybe 40 to 45 percent of the population work and pay taxes---not sure. I do agree spreading the pennies they collect is not done wisely at the local level and there isn't much collected considering what the country needs to move on from being second world. My 3 cents worth. At least Varela is giving the money collected in the province back to the province. Martenilli's format was not the same. The thief President living in Miami and his buddies short changed the provinces when dividing the money out unequal in Panama City. I read about the change right after Varela took office. Some things have gotten better and somethings have gotten worse. Over all in the last two years I've seen improvement in most areas. Just not wise distribution of funds or someone is skimming. A small country of mostly Poor people has poor ways. Florida has an ad valorem tax/property tax adjusted in mils at the local level for schools (county tax) and most states do the same. And the state kicks in millions to the counties from the Florida state 6% sales tax. Florida has some of the best schools in the USA and funded well. Tax at the county or parish level for the schools insures local control. Here it's a national system. It can't be fair at all. I don't look for the national system to change in Panama.

thanks B

no. it implies minimum requirements for pensionado. "baseline" doesn Not imply other income or property owned.

salute o potentate

I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.

Good job Tom and Bob. Now everyone has a choice. It's about affordability.

No one knows how many illegals cross at Paso Canoas everyday. It's a wide open border.

2 hours ago, Bonnie said:

Sorry. I had my Irmas mixed up.

Hil, I don't understand your choice to repeat these posts relating to Irma in this thread, which is devoted not to Rodny Direct but to AAC. It may confuse people. For the record, Irma Castillo, who DOES speak English, is the medical facilitator associated with the Mae Lewis plan offered by Rodny Direct. She is not associated with the AAC Hospital Cooperativa plan.

You misunderstood my statement;

"Irma  Speaks Fluent English"

Nothing more  nothing  less. I could care less who represents who.