Last week, the government of Panama paid 1.3 million dollars to 160 landowners in the western part of the country where it plans to reactivate banana production, thanks to a contract signed with the US transnational Del Monte, which includes an investment of 100 million dollars.
It is the first disbursement of a total of at least 12 million dollars that will be paid to the 1,592 owners of 1,632 farms that will be leased by the State and subleased to said firm, according to an official statement released this Friday.
The representative of the Ministry of the Presidency, Javier Marquinez, said that "the payments will continue during December, until we've paid all the landowners. After this phase, the Banapiña SA company will be able to start operations."
Banapiña SA is a company from Del Monte. The president of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, sanctioned on May 25 the contract that will allow the US company to invest more than 100 million dollars in the reactivation of banana zones in the western provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro.
"Banapiña Panama, SA is expected to make a minimum investment of 100 million balboa dollars in a term not greater than 7 years and have an estimated average productivity of 2,725 boxes of bananas per hectare per year," stated the Presidency of Panama.
Source: EFE