At least 1,760 hectares of land belonging to workers who decided to acquire them individually will be put into production by the National Banana Cooperative Bocas del Toro (Coobana), in order to reactivate this activity and stimulate the economy of Baru, in the province of Chiriqui.
The directors of the Rodolfo Aguilar Delgado Workers Association stated that they had reached an agreement with the managers of Coobana to revive these lands and produce bananas, a job that was initiated during the weekend when workers started clearing the lands and rehabilitating the farms.
Felipe Rodriguez, who works at the Center for Competitiveness of the Chamber of Commerce of Chiriqui, said this was a positive agreement as it would revive banana production and generate direct and indirect jobs in this depressed area of Chiriqui.
Isaiah Bonilla, the head of the workers that hold individual banana titles, said that, as part of the first phase to reactivate the banana industry, they had already compacted 300 hectares in the Jobito farm and that they would complete the remaining 1,770 hectares to be planted within next few months.
Rodolfo Maleck, director of the Panamanian Autonomous Cooperative Institute in Chiriqui, said the Coobana cooperative already had markets and experience in this crop, so it wouldn't have any problems in the production, harvest, packaging, and export of bananas.
According to the banana workers, this project is a light at the end of the tunnel as it promotes employment and economic recovery for this region, which has an unemployment of over 70% and citizens defections of about 40% of the population.
Source: tvn-2.com