Seas of mud: Red Frog Beach Club
W W W . A L M A N A Q U E A Z U L . O R G .
The Red Frog Beach project is a plan pushed by some rich gringos who want to build a golf course, 800 homes with swimming pools and two marinas for yachts in the middle of Bastimentos Island.
This is what they want. The developer has already sold some lots. But the project has faced several logistical, environmental and social problems. Residents of the communities of Old Bank and Bahia Honda in Bastimentos voice their opposition to the project, in public as well as privately. The media and environmental groups in Panama have begun to look closely at Red Frog Beach over the last couple of months. And on top of this, the construction workers, who were being paid US$1.33 an hour, got unionized and went on strike to demand a fair salary.
But the question remains, how did these gentlemen intend to transform Bastimentos in such a way?
So far
In the beginning the plan was to make 150 homes, including apartments and individual houses. This is what was originally approved and is now in construction. Then the developers got offered 1500 more acres in Bastimentos and they got a bit carried away. Red Frog Beach Club went from large to huge: the second phase, for 650 more housing units, is in the process of being approved – or not.
What little has been built of the first phase of the project gives us an idea of what’s coming. Just after construction began, the national environmental regulator (ANAM) fined them for US$10,000 for illegal logging and for making an unauthorized landfill. Now they are being investigated for all the mud produced by the bulldozers, which gets to the creeks and out to sea, killing the coral. And so far, there are only three or four half-finished homes, half a swimming pool and the model home (which, according to workers, is made out of sheetrock) almost completed.
A new Company
Pillar Panama SA operates from a wooden, two-story house in a good location in the town of Bocas del Toro, on the much more urbanized Colon Island, near Bastimentos. Here, the company in charge of bulding the future Red Frog Beach neighborhood in Bastimentos coordinates the complex logistics of the project. There is an electric golf cart painted in green camouflage parked in front, which is used by the staff to run errands around the paved streets of the little big city.
It seems lots of people go in and out of this office, because when you get there none of the young gringas in the reception take their eyes off their computer monitors. The AC hums powerfully in the background. The first door to the left is Aaron’s office.
Just being in Bocas gets you ready for the weirdest and most unexpected stories and characters, and Aaron Jones, the director of the Red Frog Foundation, is certainly one of them. Here’s a guy brought by the company, paid by the company and with his office in the company building, but if you hear him speak he sounds like someone from some progressive development NGO or like one of those priests organizing peasants in the mountains.
They all come here and say they discovered Bastimentos
Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon in Spanish) came to Bocas del Toro some 500 years ago and declared it property of the king and queen of Spain and gave his name to Colon Island and also to the natural mainland ports of Almirante and Cristobal, without asking the locals of those times what they thought about this. This reminds us of the Red Frog Beach website, which tells the story of how the president of the Pillar Panama company, Joe Haley, spent several years looking for the “perfect” place to build his dream house, as a reward for all the years of hard work in the construction business.
But alas, Joe is a very hardworking gringo, and he couldn’t just buy a little piece of land to build a little house and share it with his wife. Joe was unable to resist one last job and decided to build his dream neighborhood, here in the perfect spot, in the perfect place, which unfortunately for the locals turned out to be Bastimentos. He then organized his team, hiring mining company lawyers Pardini y Asociados, the architect George “bad dream” Moreno and the Panamanian construction company COCIGE, SA to bring his vision to reality.
But it wasn’t until Aaron and the foundation came about that they realized that there were people in Joe Haley’s island, and that some were black and some were Indian, and that people may have some objections to Joe’s big ideas.
Mr Polo came 42 years ago to a beach in northern Bastimentos that now everyone calls Polo Beach. He explains how Pillar Panama has been harrassing him to try to make him leave his home and the 15 hectares of land he lives in, given Red Frog Beach’s plans to build some waterfront homes in Polo’s land. Polo says that they tore down a shelter he had on the eastern tip of his land and that they got the police to go and search his home and arrest him. People in Bastimentos love Polo, and they are not happy with the way they’ve treated the old man. The Red Frog Beach environmental impact assessment (see below) says that the case is in the courts and that they will wait until this is settled before they build their villas on Polo’s land.
Aaron explains that Pillar Panama does not have a PR person, but that’s ok, says he, because the company wants to have good relations with the people, and that’s why they created a foundation that will help ease the impact of the Red Frog Beach Club on the lives of its neighbors.
He has helped, says Aaron, to get the company to develop only a third of the land, leaving the rest as a private nature reserve to be managed by them. In Old Bank they have sponsored some garbage bins, the sheriff’s computer (she didn’t have one) and the uniforms of the soccer team. In their literature they talk about donations to the health center and their commitment to donate a percentage of the company’s income to foundation projects.
Advertising is your best investment
The developers have spent a lot of money to make it seem as if this project will actualy improve the environment of Bastimentos. If you look at the website or the colorful promotional brochures you might imagine an eco-tourism project, green and full of trees and red frogs and turtles. If you look at the website you might even think the Red Frog Beach barrio actually exists.
They say, for example, that the planned golf course is environmentally friendly. That the “Audubon Society” will be there to “certify” the golf course, including agrochemicals and the pollution they will cause.
In reality it is not the prestigious National Audubon Society working with Red Frog Beach, but a questionable organization called “Audubon International”, which is funded by the golf industry to greenwash their activities. The true Audubon Society, a conservation and birdwatching organization which is more into stopping the construction of golf courses, has to answer dozens of emails and phone calls every week from people feeling betrayed, thinking it was them who had approved this or that mega-development. The Panama Audubon Society is not happy at all with the company’s claims and has come out publicly against the Red Frog Beach development.
We don’t all leave the same footprint
The project’s environmental impact assessment, commissioned by Pillar Panama to the environmental consultants Ingemar Panama, is thick and heavy. This type of document uses very technical language, for example, instead of saying “people” they say “socioeconomic and cultural milieu”. Whoever looks at the huge binder may think that, with so many strange words and incomprehensible diagrams, everything is under control.
Environmental impact assessments are many times little more than tools for justifying the developer’s business plans, no matter how mad the plans, and this is no exception. As they say, paper (and the internet) endures anything. Besides advertisements for “Audubon International” and other similarly meaningless material, the Red Frog Beach study stays in the surface, unlike the silt from the construction running into the sea. It’s all purely descriptive, without quantifying possible impacts and without analyzing different alternatives, all of this presented generally with little scientific rigor.
The study, which is in the “public consultation” phase but is not even available in Bocas, much less in Bastimentos, has parts that make you wonder if they are a joke or what. Like where it says that the construction of a marina for 250 yachts in the placid waters of Bahia Honda will be good for the environment because of the little critters that will go live in the chains and anchors of the marina.
The key issue here is not even considered by the project’s environmental impact assessment. It’s the simple fact that the inhabitants of Red Frog Beach’s 800 housing units will not be Panamanian but American. It doesn’t matter if they are nice people: on average, persons from rich countries have a much larger environmental footprint than those from countries like Panama. Their levels of consumption, waste production and energy use demand much more resources and have a much larger impact on an ecosystem’s carrying capacity.
In other words, Bastimentos can’t handle 2000 gringos turning on lights, playing golf, shitting, tossing garbage, filling up pools and running around in jet-skis.
To be fair, the study acknowledges the fact that the island of Bastimentos, being the buffer zone of an important natural protected area, must only be used for low-impact tourism activities (as stated in the Management Plan of the Bastimentos National Marine Park). But, since there is no definition of “low-impact”, say the developers, we have no option but to do whatever we want.
Biting the hand
It may be useful to hear what the people of the indigenous community of Bahia Honda have to say. It seems they are not very happy with the prospect of a marina in the middle of their community. In a petition signed by most adults in the community and sent to everyone, from Panamanian president Martin Torrijos to Greenpeace, they oppose the project because they say they want “Bahia Honda to remain as it is, free and natural. We don’t want yachts”. And also that “occupying the sea to make a marina is not good. It’s unbelievable that they have bought land and now they want to take the sea”.
Aaron had promised that he would make them a school. And also that he would donate a piece of land for them to expand the town’s center. The company has big plans for the town of Bahia Honda. And also many of the men of the community work for Pillar Panama.
Even then, the wise inhabitants of Bahia Honda have decided to bite the hand that was trying to feed them. They say now Aaron is angry. That now he won’t say hello and that he tells them they are ungrateful, that there will be no school if they don’t support the project, people say. A resident of the community reflected, “Could it be that Aaron was actually doing all this to try to bribe us?”
For Aaron these comments are no more than pure politics. He says that at no time has the school been conditioned to acceptance of the project. “The Foundation is commited to the school, the architect is here in Bocas”. And he adds that in fact, he has made sure to keep the people of Bahia Honda informed about the plans of Pillar Panama. “If they hadn’t had access to information, some would not be opposing the project now”, he says.
There must have been something they didn’t like in what they saw. In their petition, the people put it this way: “we don’t want Bahia Honda to be like Almirante”, referring to the banana company town on the mainland.
Speaking truth to power
The public forum on “phase 2” of the project was held Tuesday, August 22. One of the first to speak was Joe Haley, through an interpreter, to say that he knows that his project is “large”, but that they are willing to listen.
Joe got what he asked for, that is, to listen, when a few minutes after he began to speak a demonstration assembled outside the building where the forum was being held. Attendants had the opportunity to see the president of Pillar Panama sweating and swallowing hard as he tried to speak above the cries of “down with the construction of the marina in Bahia Honda!” of the workers with their union flags together with the indigenous Ngöbe families of Bahia Honda.
After a presentation by the technicians who made the study, it was the time for comments and questions. Among the assistants to the forum were several employees of Pillar Panama, who remained silent on their chairs as several members of the audience got up to express their objections to the project. There were people from Bocas, activists from Panama City and then suddenly a man with a baseball cap took the microphone.
It was Polo, the hermit from Bastimentos. “You may be millionaires and I may be poor, but I will fight to the end!”, said Polo. “Pillar is my enemy!”, he shouted at Joe as the audience’s applause drowned his voice.
[Almanaque Azul is a guide that promotes sustainable tourism in the beaches and coasts of Panama. This is a translation of the original article in Spanish.]
Links:
Red Frog Beach project
Stop Red Frog Beach Club
Publicado por editor el 29 de Agosto de 2006.
Actualizado el 24 de Noviembre de 2006.
Categorías: sub.
Mir Rodríguez,
I apologize in advance for not posting in Spanish. I am working on that. I am learning Spanish, I will only be able to post in English at this time, but hope to master (or at least come close) our new country’s language soon.
Thank you for your prompt response to my note about your article. I will go to the website regularly and post comments. Thank you for suggesting it.
When I visited Panama several years ago, we stayed in a little hotel on an island in the Caribbean near the San Blaas Islands. We slept on hammocks and the toilets flushed right into the water… No sewage treatment. As bad as we thought that was at the time, Mother nature seems to have overcome that on her own!
And things certainly have come a long way since then. I was impressed with all the renovation that is going on in Panama City. It was nice to see the historical section being restored to its beautiful magnificence when we toured on our second visit. We were also thrilled to enjoy the quaint flavor of Isla Colon and really loved the island of Bastimentos which is why we chose to buy there. I am a surfer and go with the great Rory Russell (and even have him programmed into my phone!) who is now teaching on the Big Island. I am guessing from your website that you may also love surfing. I am looking forward to riding the waves in Panama. EJ, one of the “young people” you mentioned in your article, runs the office in Bocas and is also a surfer. He has promised to take me out and show me some good spots next time we visit.
The Panama government has the foresight to let us build the Red Frog Beach project because of the investments we happily bring to your country in order to be a part of this beautiful and enchanting land. And the money should help the area’s economy. As John F. Kennedy said, “A rising tide raises ALL boats.” We expect that will be the case.
Costa Rica and Belize have also benefited from the influx of capital that foreign investors bring from tourism and investing in property. Panama is wise to do the same. Instead of focusing on industry as the United States did to build its wealth as a young country, Panama is using tourism as its industry by promoting its natural resources as tourist destinations. Our hope is that Bastimentos will also be one of those spots.
What would it take to get you to look favorably upon the project? There must be something good you’ve seen from Pillar. Surely you don’t object to the foundation, though I saw in your article that you don’t particularly care for the fellow who is running it. But he is a sweet young man with great intentions and the passion to do a great job.
I beg of you to please take the time to talk to people who are buying at Red Frog, not just the people who are doing the developing. You will find that we are not “evil” Americans coming down to steal your land. Instead, we want to be a part of your beautiful country.
I have been on 2 exploratory trips to visit the Red Frog Beach project and think that all the people involved with Pillar are top notch. So are the people I have met who are going to be our neighbors. And we are all coming to Panama to enjoy the natural beauty, not destroy it. We hope you will welcome us.
– Miguel2006.9.25
Yo voy a responderle en español a este falso surfista, y digo falso porque la gran mayoría de los surfistas son conscientes con el ambiente.
Lamentablemente el gobierno panameño está totalmente equivocado con este gran negocio. Claro que Miguel, como americano, lo ve muy bueno; no se lo reprocho. Total, el gran negocio es para los promotores americanos quienes venden nuestra tierra pero el dinero se lo llevan para su país, dejando luego que los problemas que queden los resuelvan los panameños.
Señor: eso no es turismo por ningún lado. Con este tipo de proyectos estamos perdiendo nuestros lugares de turismo y poco a poco perderemos el turismo, que es el que realmente nos da beneficios a todos. ¿Que turista europeo va a querer venir a Bocas a ver un montón de casas por todos lados, en lugar de nuestros bosques y nuestros ecosistemas marinos?
Yo le recomiendo que en vez de hablar con los compradores hable con los pobladores de Bahía Honda, con los científicos locales, con la gente de Bastimentos a quienes se engañó vilmente.
Y lo más fatídico de todo es la falsa fundación, no es el primer ejemplo que vemos de este tipo de organizaciones montadas por los promotores para engañar a las comunidades con las bondades de donarle computadoras y otras limosnas a cambio de poder hacer lo que les dio la gana. Es verdad que condicionaron la construcción de la escuela de Bahía Honda a que la comunidad bajara la cabeza y dejara que le contaminaran su lugar de pesca y de vivienda. Me lo ha contado un dirigente de la comunidad que no miente.
Yo estuve presente en la presentación de ambas fases del proyecto y me dio vergüenza que nos trataran de brutos, tratando de hacernos creer las bondades de sus propuestas. El ejemplo que el editor ha dado, lo de la ventaja de la marina de Bahía Honda es el mejor ejemplo.
Yo sé qué va a decir Miguel despectivamente: es otro ambientalista fanático. Pero aquí hay en juego muchas más cosas que el ambiente: están los recursos alimenticios de la población, está la economía del lugar pues estas residencias solo resuelven el problema de empleo temporalmente no a largo plazo, como el turismo, está el agua y la salud de la población (de donde van a sacar el agua, a donde van a botar la basura, que va a pasar con la contaminación del mar con esa famosa marina y todo el ambiente marino alrededor del emprendimiento, etc. etc.), están los recursos del país que se van para el extranjero.
Por ejemplo, ustedes saben cuantas exenciones tienen todos estos señores que llegan a Panamá (pierde el fisco panameño pero a los locales no se les dan exenciones, tienen que pagar impuestos), que pueden traer vehículos, enseres, todo cuanto quieren sin pagar nada? Que los que son pensionados en USA aquí son tratados MEJOR que los jubilados panameños a pesar que estos han aportado toda su vida al Seguro Social mientras que aquellos no?
Son suficientes estas consideraciones o somos tan ciegos que no podemos ver que este no es un buen negocio para Panamá, que si han venido aquí es porque es el único lugar que encuentran, en este momento, para hacer plata fácil y rápida. Que ya el resto del mundo ha abierto los ojos y los echa a patadas.
Insistamos con el turismo (ecoturismo, turismo rural, turismo de aventura, turismo comunitario y todas las clases de turismo que sí nos aseguran el futuro) y que vengan a invertir los que realmente desean contribuir con un desarrollo sostenible, que los hay, se lo aseguro, y no estos modernos Atilas que ya han pasado por otras partes quemando la hierba que pisaron.
Miguel: me gustaría que el lugar donde has nacido, donde se ha criado tu familia pasara por todo esto, aunque posiblemente no te importe…
– Angel Gonzalez2007.2.14
Es evidente y lamentable que las autoridades encargadas de, no solo revisar los documentos de estudio de impacto ambiental sino también de hacer las evaluaciones en el campo para corroborar si se cumple o no con los procedimientos establecidos en dicho estudios y de aplicar las leyes existentes, no lo están haciendo.
A los funcionarios de la ANAM, un llamado de atención ya que la ley es clara y castiga tanto por actuación en contra del medio, como por omisión por parte de los funcionarios encargados de darle seguimiento a proyectos como este, incluso con prisión.
La ley general de ambiente y la ley de delitos ambientales que están vigentes en Panamá les facultan para regular las operaciones de este tipo de industrias, en favor del medio y de los pobladores de estas localidades.
Quisiera poder hacer algo para que estos lamentables hechos no sigan repitiéndose día a día y en cada rincón de mi bello Panamá, como si aquí fuera tierra de nadie.
– Cristhian J. Rodríguez2007.3.6
Bueno, por suerte el equipo “Bastimentos Stars” de Isla Bastimentos ha encontrado un nuevo patrocinador de Old Bank para el 2007, y NO es el proyecto Red Frog.
Hablando de sus donaciones… cuando uno habla con la población de Old Bank se preguntan cuando y donde, ya que nadie ha notado ningún tipo de ayuda o mejoras allí, como por ejemplo un sistema de agua y drenaje que funcione? Ahh, olvide que ese tipo de cosas son solo para los Gringos ricos que vendrán y destruirán la naturaleza del lugar con sus bolas de golf e ignorancia hacia la conservación de la naturaleza.
Para muestra, fíjense como viven en su propio país y como se comportan ante otras naciones.
Ahh, ya comprendo, cuando dicen “ayudar” se refieren a regalarle a los niños de la región camisas Red Frog gratis, para que se conviertan en vallas publicitarias ambulantes.
Buenas noches, Bastimentos. Esto es simplemente triste, pero con su dinero lograran todo lo que se proponen… toda persona tiene su precio, y Red Frog tiene el dinero para comprarlos a todos.
[Original in English]
Well, luckily the soccer team “Bastimentos Stars” of Bastimentos island has found a new sponsor from Old Bank for 2007, and it is NOT the Red Frog Project.
Talking about their donations….when you speak to the people of Old Bank they wonder where and what, nobody has noticed any help or new things there, how about a properly functioning water and sewage system? Oh, I forgot, such things are solely for the rich Gringos who will come and destroy the nature there with their golf balls and their ignorance to true nature conservation.
Just look how they live in their own country and how they treat other nations and you get the idea.
Ah, I get it, with “helping” they mean the kids of the region get free Red Frog T-Shirts, so they can run around as walking advertisements for them.
Good night Bastimentos. This is just sad, but with their money they will get everything done that they want… every person has a price and Red Frog has the money to buy them all.
– Jana2007.3.24
Me siento un poco ofendido por los comentarios de Jana acerca de los “gringos,” y cualquier prejuicio hacia algún grupo o cultura es inaceptable. Estoy totalmente de acuerdo de que Red Frog Beach Club es una abominación, y si dejan que siga desarrollándose tendrá efectos devastadores para toda la región. Debe ser detenido, sin lugar a dudas.
“…como por ejemplo un sistema de agua y drenaje que funcione? Ahh, olvide que ese tipo de cosas son solo para los Gringos ricos que vendrán y destruirán la naturaleza del lugar con sus bolas de golf e ignorancia hacia la conservación de la naturaleza.”
Quisiera saber cómo usted percibe las hileras de basura a los costados de las carreteras que van hacia Isla Colon (sin mencionar muchas otras áreas), el asesinato de tortugas, dejar que aguas contaminadas de los alcantarillados salgan directamente hacia el mar, la manera irresponsable de la tala de árboles, etc. como “conservación de la naturaleza?” Opino que si hay que echarle la culpa a alguien, es a los habitantes que permiten estos sucesos. También soy de la opinión de que los habitantes que cometen estos actos harán lo suficiente para destruir su propio medio ambiente sin la “ayuda” de los gringos.
Sin embargo, creo que un gran número de gringos platudos no respetan a las personas quienes a su parecer son menos importantes que ellos mismos, comportamiento que también comparten los Rabiblancos. Es sensato decir que un buen porcentaje de los es-patriados de los Estados Unidos tienen el deseo de conservar la belleza e integridad de la tierra que han venido a llamar su hogar. Claro, existen aquellas “personas,” como las de red Frog, que solo quieren violar las tierras para ganar dinero, pero como les digo esa mentalidad no es exclusiva de los gringos; hay igual cantidad de Panameños y otros extranjeros que hacen lo mismo.
Estoy extremadamente asqueado con la situación actual de los Estados Unidos, y pienso que estamos cavando nuestra propia tumba con nuestro gobierno actual, pero eso no debería ser un reflejo de todo gringo. No todos somos ricos, sin tacto y hambrientos de plata. Hay muchos de nosotros que aman y respetan a la naturaleza, la gente y el único planeta q se nos va a dar durante nuestra existencia.
Paremos al Red frog Beach Club!!!
Respetuosamente,
Craig
[Original in English]
I take some offense to Jana’s last comments about gringo’s, and ignorant generalizations about any single group or culture is unacceptable. I fully agree that the Red Frog Beach Club is a true abomination, and if allowed to proceed will have devestating effects to the Isla Bastimentos and the entire region for that matter. Without a doubt, it should be stopped.
….”how about a properly functioning water and sewage system? Oh, I forgot, such things are solely for the rich Gringos who will come and destroy the nature there with their golf balls and their ignorance to true nature conservation.”…
I would like to know how you perceive the trash dumps all along the roads on Isla Colon (and countless other areas), killing turtles, allowing raw sewage to go directly into the ocean, irresponsible clear cutting of forests, etc… as “true nature conservation”? I think the proverbial finger needs to be pointed at the inhabitants that allow this to happen. I also believe the locals commiting these acts will do enough in their own time to destory their own environment without the “help” of the gringos.
I do believe however that a big majority of rich gringos have little to no respect for people they perceive to be less important than they are, but so do the Rabiblancos. I would say that a good percentage of the expats from America have a desire to conserve the beauty and integrity of the land that they have chosen to call their home. Certainly there are those, such as the Red Frog “people” that only want to rape the landscape for a profit, but again that attribute is not ONLY reserved for gringos, there are plenty of Panamanians, and others doing the EXACT same thing.
I am extremely disgusted at the current state of affairs in America, and believe that we are digging our own grave here with our existing administration, but that should not be a reflection on every gringo. We are not all rich, careless, and money hungry. There are plenty of us that absolutely love and respect nature, people and the only world that we will ever have.
Let’s stop Red Frog Beach Club!!!
Respectfully,
– Craig2007.5.4
I purchased a condo from Red Frog Beach a little over a year ago. Shortly after my purchase I was delighted to hear that RFB had a foundation set up to contribute to the local community. I was encouraged to find out that not only did 100% of my donation go to helping the local community but RFB would match my contribution dollar for dollar.
Since I have always believed that we need to give back to the community in which we live, I told RFB that I would like to participate. After all, I hoped someday that I would be a guest in this beautiful country. So we set up a monthly charge on my credit card of $600.00. But with RFB matching my contribution it now totaled $1200.00 a month. I felt good about what I was able to do and I felt good about Red Frog Beach.
So, needless to say I was saddened to read in your article that the money doesn’t reach the local community. Because of this I have emailed RFB and have asked them to remove my contribution. If what you write is true, you have saved me $7200.00 a year. Thank you for this. But if what you write is not true then you have deprived the local people of $14,400.00 a year. I hope you have not done an injustice to these people.
It’s a shame that the local people and RFB can’t work out their differences. Since there is a good chance that there will be more developers down the road it seems that it would benefit the local people to find a way to work with them. Unless their goal is to run off all the developers, which would be fine if that is what they want. But I would think that there must be a way that the local community can find a way to work with developers so everyone can benefit. I think the best way to do this is by sitting down and communicating with each other.
Costa Ricans are proud of the fact that they have been able to build their economy by working with outside investors and will be the first to point out that they have done this without the help of hundreds-of-millions of dollars from a canal. If the Costa Ricans can do it I am sure the people of Panama can as well.
Thank you.
[Traducido al Español]
Adquirí un condominio en Red Frog Beach hace ya mas o menos un año atrás. Poco después de mi compra me encanto oír que RFB tenia una fundación establecida para así contribuir con la comunidad local. Me fue muy bueno enterarme que mi donación seria usada al 100% para ayudar a la comunidad, pero que RFB donaría la misma cantidad a su nombre.
Como soy de la filosofía que necesitamos ayudar a las comunidades en donde vivimos, le dije a RFB que me gustaría participar. De todas formas, era mi anhelo que algún día seria un huésped en su bello país. En fin, acordamos un cargo mensual de $600 a mi tarjeta de crédito. Sin embargo, con la promesa de que RFB pondría la misma cantidad, mi contribución seria de $1,200 al mes; me sentí bien por haberlo logrado y me sentí bien con respecto a Red Frog Beach.
Así que no debe ser sorpresa lo triste que estaba al leer en su articulo que el dinero no llega a la comunidad local. A raíz de eso, le mande un email a RFB pidiéndoles que retiren mi contribución. Si lo escrito aquí es cierto, me ha ahorrado $7,200.00 al año. Muchas gracias por esto. Pero si lo escrito aquí no es cierto, le habrá negado al pueblo local $14,400.00 al año. Espero que no se le haya hecho tal injusticia.
Es una lastima que la gente de Bastimentos y RFB no puedan llegar a un acuerdo. Ya que hay una gran posibilidad de que lleguen más empresas de desarrollo urbano en el futuro, opino que seria beneficioso para el pueblo que encuentre la manera de poder negociar con ellos. Al menos que su objetivo sea espantar a toda empresa que se atreva a llegar, cuyo en tal caso estaría bien si es lo que quieren hacer. Sin embargo, pienso que debe haber alguna forma para que la comunidad encuentre la manera de negociar con los desarrolladores del proyecto para que todos puedan beneficiarse. Creo que la mejor forma de hacer esto es sentarse y comunicarse.
Los Costarricenses están orgullosos del hecho de que pudieron establecer su economía negociando con inversionistas extranjeros, y son los primeros en señalar que lo han logrado sin la ayuda de cientos de millones de dólares provenientes del canal. Si los Costarricenses pueden hacerlo estoy seguro de que Panamá puede también.
Gracias.
– Dean D'Ambrosia2007.6.2
Hey Miguel, the time when you used to rule Panama , and did whatever you wanted with us is long gone, the time when the United States of America killed Panamanians and governed over our territory is over. To post an opinion that doesn’t concern you because you’re not a citizen of Panama regarding a problem that only concerns Panamanians because we are the only ones how were affected by it, when we here in Panama, we the people are saying that a project like Red Frog Beach is destructive; our opinion is more important than any of the propaganda you put in this page. It’s ironic that the project is call “Red Frog” because that’s the animal the project is destroying. No more neocolonialism from the north, its time for us to be free… Country or Death.
[Traducido al Español]
Hey Miguel, la era en donde ustedes gobernaban Panamá, e hicieron lo que quisieron con nosotros terminó hace mucho tiempo, la era en donde los Estados Unidos asesinaron Panameños y gobernaron nuestro país ya acabo. Que escribas una opinión que no te concierne porque no eres ciudadano Panameño concierne un problema que es de nosotros los Panameños porque solo nosotros lo vivimos, cuando nosotros acá en Panamá, nuestra población dice que un proyecto como Red Frog Beach es destructivo; nuestra opinión es mas importante que la propaganda que puedas poner en esta página. Es irónico que el proyecto se llame “Red Frog” ya que ese es el animal que el proyecto está destruyendo. No mas neocolonialismo del norte, es tiempo de que seamos libres… Patria o Muerte.
– Julio M.2007.9.21
Antes de comentar, siento que tengo que darle luz a mis credenciales como panameño: soy cédula 8, de padre bocatoreño y madre colonensa, me gusta el arroz con pollo y he vivido en Panamá toda mi vida. Ya dicho esto, quiero decir que moderando/traduciendo los comentarios publicados en este articulo me es reiterado el trastorno de estrés postraumático que muchos panameños sufren a raíz de la invasión de ‘89/tratados Torrijos-Carter. No es que quiera defender a Pillar Panamá y RFB, porque tanto el proyecto como la empresa constructora son, para mi, un insulto hacia mi persona como panameño.
Pero me parece muy gracioso que al panameño todavía se ponga arisco cuando se involucran los extranjeros en cualquier aspecto de nuestro país, llamándolos “gringos” de forma despectiva, como cuando nos referimos a los “niggas,” “paisas,” “chinos” y demás. Opino que tienen igual derecho a trabajar y vivir en nuestro país como muchos de nosotros que buscamos oportunidades en sus países y exigimos respeto. No se ustedes, pero me encabronaría si escuchara a alguien referirse a mí como “ese panameño” en forma despectiva, como si fuese mugre de uña o qué se yo. Hey, durante la invasión un francotirador gringo me apunto con su rifle y casi me mata, y a mi mamá se la llevaron saliendo de su oficina por andar vestida de blanco (por poco y nunca más la habríamos visto), pero no estamos tan traumados como algunos panameños que simplemente no pueden olvidar, o canalizan su ira a los americanos cuando realmente deberían dirigirla al dictador que provoco la “Causa Justa” para empezar. Claro, las raíces de este odio van mas allá que la invasión, sin embargo este no es el espacio para discutirlo.
Volviendo al tema, creo que dejar a esta compañía construir su proyecto es uno de los peores errores que el gobierno puede hacer. La corrupción impera, y lo se porque en cualquier otro país un proyecto como este, que amenaza directamente a la flora, fauna y población de un área importante en el aspecto ecológico, seria abolido y no tendríamos este problema. Ya sea gringo, europeo, asiático o de otro planeta, la intromisión de un grupo poderoso (en cuanto a recurso económico/influencias) a los terrenos de otro mas débil es intolerable. La gente de RFB debería sentirse avergonzada. Tratar a la gente de bruta, y hacerlas trabajar en un proyecto que destruirá su forma de vida es despiadado… es como si RFB fuera un amalgama de los Nazis, Al Quaeda, Cobra, La Hermandad de Mutantes y Sauron. Una fuerza invasora para el nuevo milenio, y a punta de contratos invadirán y conquistaran si así el pueblo de Bastimentos deja que lo pisoteen.
Por eso me alegra muchísimo que Bastimentos (y el país en general) se oponga tan rotundamente a este proyecto, y lo denuncie públicamente. No podemos dejar que personas quienes no le dan la importancia que se merece esa tierra se salgan con la suya. El sitio web de Red Frog Beach puede hacerme cuanta serenata quiera para tratar de convencerme que es una buena idea, pero eso no quita el hecho que tanto el proyecto como la fuerza administrativa que lo impulsa no le dan importancia a la gente que vive allí, gente que ha vivido en Bastimentos por mucho antes que cuando Joe Haley la “descubrió.”
– Rob2007.9.25
man, así es esta vaina. después dicen que por qué uno no hace otra cosa que cerrar calle. en este país no hay ley para el pobre y menos para el ambiente (que sirva).
– lili2007.9.25
Totalmente de acuerdo. Soy una ciudadana española y estuve hace unos meses en Panamá, y tuve la ocasión de visitar Bocas de Toro y de disfrutar ese maravilloso paraíso y sus islitas, delfines, playas preciosas, corales y por supuesto, Red Frog Beach, en Bastimentos. Sería una gran pena que esa isla se desarrollara, lamentablemente tenemos mil ejemplos desastrosos en España, y creo que Panamá tiene que tener en cuenta que una vez desarrollado, el encanto se pierde, y por supuesto, también el turismo. Al menos ESE tipo de turismo…
Personalment no creo que Costa Rica sea un buen ejemplo de correcto desarrollo turístico, está claro que tiene un impacto económico en el corto plazo, pero, ¿alguien ha pensado en qué aspecto tendrán todos esos condominios invadiendo la costa dentro de 30 años? ¿y dentro de 50? por favor.
Siempre me han hablado de Bocas de Toro como un paraíso natural, por todo, su naturaleza, la forma de ser de su gente.. por supuesto ese encanto se va a perder si de repente se produce un estallido urbanístico.
Los proyectos tienen que ser asimilables desde todos los puntos de vista, y hasta cierto punto se puede entender “la buena fe” de los que a lo mejor adquieren un terreno o compran una casa, pero por favor, nunca hay que olvidar los que ya lo habitan… la naturaleza tiene su ritmo, ¡y Panamá tiene que ser un ejemplo de ello!
– Corali¡¡Aún estáis a tiempo!!
2007.9.28