New Urban Cleanliness Authority Will Start With Funding from Ministry of Health

(Panama-Guide) - El Siglo -  The National Authority for Cleanliness will start work on 3 January 2011, with funding from the Ministry of Health, according to Solomon Shamah, the Administrator of the Panama Tourism Authority. Shamah said they would use funding from the Ministry of Health in order to create the structure of the new Authority. Of the 2,600 workers of the Metropolitan Direction of Urban Cleanliness, about 1,800 could become part of the new Authority, and this depends on decisions made by labor leaders and the administration, said the administrator. Shamah said they are having meetings with people who are specialized in the area to assist in the preparation of plans for new routes that have not yet been decided. The ANA will have specifically scheduled days and times for garbage collection in order to work more efficiently, said Shamah. He said they are planning to implement a recycling program in the country, but this is a big process, because first they have to educate people on recycling.

Shamah said in the meantime they will continue to work with the few vehicles that still work. The Dimaud has between 52 and 60 vehicles of which only about 20 work. Basilides Castillo, the deputy head of Public Relations fir Dimaud, said the government has to publish regulations for the new Authority, and they have not yet been given an internal system for its development. Castillo said they will not be making statements because all decisions are being made by the members of the cabinet. El Siglo tried to obtain the opinion of the Minister of Health, Franklin Vergara, since he is the person responsible to discuss the budget of the ANA, but reportedly he is out of the country.

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Original source. Panama-Guide
Date Retreived: October 17, 2010.