Presidency adjusts budget in more than $477 million

The increase in the budget of the Ministry of the Presidency for 2017 will be for 477 million dollars compared with the current fiscal term.

It is worth noting that for works of social interest, which is part of the budget line of investment, there will be a reduction of $ 14 million, while in others such as Community Affairs linked to the Office of the First Lady, the intended amount will be from 3 million (2016) to 13 million dollars (2017).

For improvements to facilities and equipment, the increase will be $ 41.4 million and this will include the $ 9 million for the restoration of the Palace of the Herons (President´s official residence) and, in particular, $ 2 million to remodel its kitchen.

This fact calls the attention of politicians and members of other forces of the nation, because this (the Palace) is a facility that is of little use, since the it makes an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in service contracts for catering or banquets for specific activities organized by the Government.

In events such as patriotic parades and the Summit of the Americas (April of 2015), the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry have ordered services of catering for guests by a cost that exceeds 400 thousand dollars.

Just a few months after taking office, on November 3, 2014, the Presidency hired 163 thousand 502 dollars in food, not taking into account the presidential kitchen.

This expenditure is added to the purchase order of meat -beef and pork- by the Presidency published last month, by direct purchase for more than 100 thousand dollars on the grounds of entertaining national and foreign delegation guests that attended the Palace.

At being asked on this subject, the Minister of the Presidency, Álvaro Alemán, has justified that the reconstruction has health reasons behind it, and also space and efficiency needs.

However, for personalities such as the member of PRD, Zulay Rodríguez, It makes no sense since there are so many needs in Panama. "If it´s not our money, it must be wasted ", she wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, PRD Samir Gozaine also said during his speech at the session of the plenary, yesterday, that the money which will be used to remodel the kitchen of the Presidency, the State could purchase an MRI equipment for patients in the province of Chiriquí.

For his part, the Executive President of the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International, Carlos Gasnell, recalled that the Ministry of the Presidency is one that reflects the least transparency in budget execution, so he wondered how the millions were calculated to restore the Palace of the Herons.