Airstrip in Coiba under fire

Environmentalists protest against the or the approval of an environmental study to rehabilitate an airstrip in the Coiba National Park .

The president of the Environmental Law Association, Donaldo Sousa , accompanied by activists and community leaders from the province of Veraguas, filed a complaint on Tuesday, August 14, with the Public Prosecutor against the environment minister, Emilio Sempris, and the president of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela , for the approval of an environmental study to rehabilitate an airstrip in the Coiba National Park .

In the document, Sousa said that the environmental study contains "false" and "inaccurate" information, since they mention that the work consists only of the renovation of the runway, but what is sought is to create a structure so that larger aircrafts can land.

In fact, he considered that this can generate negative impacts in the protected area, which is a world heritage site according to the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco).

Ecologists from the Environmental Advocacy Center and the Mar Viva Foundation questioned why the environmental study was approved within 24 hours. That is, the document arrived at the Ministry of the Environment on June 26 and on the 27th of that same month it was approved.

However, the environment minister said that the only thing that will be done is to repair the existing airstrip.