Business People demand a law that guarantees the operation of the Panamanian electricity sector

Moderator_02 · July 22, 2018

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Businesspeople demand a law that guarantees the operation of the Panamanian electricity sector

Fri, 07/20/2018 - 14:03

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) proposed that a new law be introduced to the Parliament to improve the efficiency and operation of the state-owned Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica S.A. (Etesa) and thus ensure the country's energy security.

The board of directors of the CCIAP expressed its concern on Thursday after the general manager of Etesa, Gilberto Ferrari, explained the acquisition of a series of equipment for the transmission of energy depends on a law that was already introduced to the National Assembly (AN).

"Any bill concerning Etesa should help these processes" of buying equipment, "however, it cannot be the only solution. At the moment mechanisms must be found to be able to respond for the energy security of the country," said in a public statement, the acting president of the CCIAP, Jorge Juan de la Guardia.

In this regard, he said that the Chamber, which brings together more than 1,600 companies from 15 economic sectors, "proposes that the current bill be withdrawn or replaced, and to introduce a bill that considers issues related to improving the efficiency and operation of Etesa without mixing with other market issues, as it is currently enshrined in Bill 573".

The Chamber also proposes that the board of directors of Etesa be composed of two members appointed by the Executive, three by the business associations, among them the CCIAP, two by the generators, one by the distributors and one by the Trade Union of Workers.

The business leadership said it believes that in the short term it should "hire a model company to help the reorganization of Etesa and the pending operational issues."

"In addition to the above, the CCIAP calls on the authorities to completely review the structure of the state company, in order to improve its processes of administration, operation, finance and contract management, among others," said the union.

It argued the operation of the state electricity company is vital for the reliable supply of energy in the country, so "timely and accurate decisions are needed, so as not to continue paying the cost of these inefficiencies".

The situation of the electricity sector again became noticed after the Government's attempt to apply an increase in the price of the service, which finally had to be suspended due to the generalized rejection of the population.