Bye Bye, Patrimonio Mundial

La trama se complica. The end is nigh. Dice La Prensa de hoy que

El ministro de Obras Públicas, Federico Suárez, aseguró que la Unesco está siendo mal informada por los “acaparadores inmobiliarios de San Felipe” y algunas personas que allí residen.

Sobre la construcción de un túnel o circunvalación en la tercera fase de la cinta costera, proyecto criticado por la organización, el funcionario dijo: “lo que estamos haciendo es beneficioso para el patrimonio y para el país (…) llegaremos a acuerdos con la Unesco”.

Totalmente posible es que el acuerdo consista en poner este año al Casco Viejo (arrastrando consigo a Panamá Viejo) en la lista de patrimonio en peligro, para luego retirarle su estatus de Patrimonio de la Humanidad al año siguiente; esto le da a la presente administración dos años y pico para esmerarse en invertir en el área sin intervención extranjera, como deben ser las cosas que para eso somos independientes y soberanos, carajo. No hay por qué preocuparse. Más adelante el ministro añade

“La comunicación entre el Gobierno panameño y la Unesco ha sido fluida. La Unesco no sabe qué está pasando acá con las agrupaciones que tienen intereses en el Casco Antiguo”

¿Será posible que nadie se va a dignar en mandarme una copia del famoso informe? Mientras salga algún Deep Throat los dejo con las jugosas citas textuales seleccionadas por Newsroom Panama el lunes:

• Of the many severe problems “the construction of the Cinta Costera is probably the most alarming one.” The report describes the project as ambitious and costly  and refers to the almost completed $53 million phase 2 , running along Terraplen  as “a rather unnecessary and radical transformation of the waterfront.”
• The third phase it says  would either surround the peninsular of the historic district or pass under it through a tunnel. “The first option would aggressively modify the natural seascape of the old town, and the second could result in risks to the physical conditions of the historic buildings, some of which are in danger of collapse.“ In both cases, the values and the integrity for which the District was included in the World Heritage List could suffer irreversible losses.
• “Despite  several requests and warnings from the World Heritage Committee, the State Party  has not submitted the Cinta Costera Project for the review and approval of the World Heritage Centre and the advisory bodies, neither has it presented the requested impact studies.”
• “The  Cinta Costera Project Phase 3 should be immediately suspended and technical information on proposed alternatives submitted to the World Heritage Centre for further analysis and to start the consultative process.”
• The report recommends that Casco Viejo should be listed as in danger of losing its Heritage status and calls for “a new, comprehensive and legally supported national policy … endorsed by the Government of Panama at its highest levels.”
• “A legal and satisfactory solution for those pending cases such as the Hotel Central and the PH Independencia must be elaborated with the support of the top levels of the State Party if necessary, in order to avoid the generalized feeling of impunity as it relates to the historic environment.”

Complementadas por las publicadas en el update de hoy:

• “There have been cases of aggressive  interventions and alterations resulting in irreversible damage to the site’s integrity  and authenticity.”
• UNESCO also drew attention to disappearing funds, “previously allocated by the IDB (Inter American Development Bank) for social housing  have been re-routed to other projects, further compounding the poor social conditions that exist at the site.”
• “Notwithstanding the detailed assessment , the proposals for action are limited and there is no indication regarding timelines, sources of funding, or how corrective  measures and actions will be implemented … criteria and methods for intervention at historic buildings are lacking.”