'Creating more corregimientos increases bureaucracy'

A total of 33 new corregimientos could be created if several draft laws are approved by the Legislative Committee on Municipal Affairs, according to the website of the National Assembly.

Creating these new communities, according to some specialists in municipal issues, would be creating more bureaucracy instead of solving the problems of these sectors in the country.

In that sense, former mayor Mayín Correa said 'we need to further empower the municipal authorities, instead of creating more corregimientos'.

"Dividing the country into bits increases costs, intensifies bureaucracy and gives more positions to the politicians", said Correa.

She reiterated that we should empower the authorities that we have at the moment and nominate serious and capable people. "The corregidores are appointed with no knowledge about laws and no vocation of service, which leads to failure in their management," said Correa.

She pointed out that on many occasions the corregidores do not attend cases of their communities properly when their job should be helping and being the liaison between the citizens with the governmental authorities.

"Laws have to be checked so as to see what is going on, because otherwise, bureaucracy increased, bribes are sought, the political debauchery is produced and the public service is not improved at all levels."

Legislator of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and Chairman of the Committee on Municipal Affairs, Javier Ortega, said they have not started discussing the request made by several legislators of creating more corregimientos.

He explained that he submitted a law to regulate all the issues related to the creation of the new corregimientos, which could turn into a manual.

"The Ministry of Government has to make the necessary changes and regulations and then submit all requests to make changes, and until that is resolved, we cannot analyze the draft laws," he added.

When asked if the creation of new districts would affect the implementation of the decentralization law, he said that it would not.

"They would not affect anything because the funds for these new corregimientos would be within the budget as of 2019".

Economist Juan Jované considers that with the new corregimientos "political space" is being sought because through the decentralization of the municipalities law increases the possibility of receiving public funds.

He added that some corregimientos are probably needed, but so many corregimientos make the municipal administrations to become more costly.

"What the country needs is that the people actually participate." "Creating more corregimientos will not ensure that people participate but simply ensures that there will be people who will manipulate these new structures for political purposes", said the also former independent presidential candidate.

In addition to the 33 corregimientos, creating three new districts is sought, one would be Santa Fe separated from the District of Chepigana, one in Almirante separated from the District of Changuinola and one in North District (Distrito del Norte), in the province of Panama.

Correa considers that with the creation of the decentralization law, this Government has said to mayors and corregidores "do not bother, here is your money".

She said that the only thing that has been done is to distribute the money, and not a real decentralization of the State. "What has been done is to merely distribute the money so they won´t bother the President, and that is not really decentralization of the State, that is something else" she said.

This is a simple copy of the Project of Community Development and Public Infrastructure (Prodec), fostered by the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD), through which millions of dollars were distributed among representatives so that they carried out community works, and much money was lost. "That did not work, and bureaucracy increased and in the end nothing worked well," she added.

She pointed out that in Panama there is no sufficient control to monitor the money handed over to be execute works that the community needs. "I already see the authorities buying buses, sponsoring festivities, things that are actually politically driven but are not necessary structures," she argued.

Forty-nine municipalities already received funds that the decentralization law mandates, once the National Directorate of Treasury of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) made a disbursement of more than $59 million.

As required by the decentralization law, in 2016, 78 municipalities and indigenous regions of the country should receive the sum of 151 million dollars, which will be coming from the income tax collection.

Narciso Machuca, director of local governments, said that the system of investment in the municipalities through decentralization is a shielded method preventing acts of corruption by means of the diversion of purchases to directly benefit the municipal authorities.

He explained in order for the funds to be disbursed purchases must be duly documented by the mayors in their projects.

He pointed out that to do so there will be a fiscal control of the General Comptroller Office in each municipality so that purchases match what is described in the projects that have been approved; every purchase must also get the approval of the City Council of each municipality.