CANAL AN INCREDIBLE ENGINEERING JOB

By Bob Van Leer

  (PANAMA CITY, PANAMA, OCT. 18, 1990) - There are problems in Panama, and they predate the U.S. invasion Dec. 20. Theft appears to be a real problem. Windows on most buildings, including residences, are covered with bars.

  Street floor window air conditioners are encased in cages of bars. Better houses are all surrounded by walls and we saw one topped with broken glass set in concrete. The last place we saw this was South Africa. Prices are not cheap. Gas is $1.98 per gal. A sign on the hotel Coke machine says it is empty, there is a shortage of cans.

  The exception to these security rules are buildings on what once was the U.S. Canal Zone, ceded to Panama by Pres. Jimmy Carter in 1979. The buildings that reverted to Panama are beginning to receive the security treatment and the buildings retained by the U.S. are now surrounded by razor wire.

  Jubata grass, which has recently invaded Curry county, grows extensively here. There are fields of acres of the noxious grass.

  Of the people we have talked to here no one has anything going for former General Noriega. He is usually referred to as a "gangster". At the same time, several have told us that Noriega's army was trained and used by the U.S.

  Dec. 20 is the date that everyone here remembers, the night of the U.S. invasion. Everyone has a story of where they were including some who were asleep and missed it.

  One of those who remembers is the hotel assistant manager who was at his home a couple blocks from our hotel, the Marriott, at the time of the invasion and called back to the hotel after the invasion. At first he was reluctant to tell me the story saying he was not sure he could tell it to me even at this late date without shaking. He said Noriega's men came into the hotel and wanted Americans and took a half dozen away. This was after midnight.

  He spent the rest of the night cataloging guests by nationality for the benefit of foreign embassies. In the early morning another delegation of Noriega's men came in and demanded Americans. He told them they had previously been picked up but, at just that time, two Americans stepped off the elevator. A gun was pressed to his head and he was accused of lying and taken to police headquarters. He was released later in the day along with the Americans.

  He went back to the hotel and he and the staff shuffled the remaining 26 Americans around the hotel to avoid another capture.

Shoot Hotel Staff?

  This was not entirely for the benefit of his American guests. Noriega's men had told him they would shoot one of the hotel staff for each additional American found there, probably starting with him.

   Then the U.S. troops came in and he was ordered on the floor and again guns, now U.S. ones, were pointed at his head. He finally convinced them he was the hotel manager and was released. In the end, none of the hotel guests or staff was injured in the invasion.

  The chief of security of the hotel was not working at the hotel at the time of the invasion and slept through the early part. He said he came downtown later looking for blood running in the streets but said he didn't see any, to his regret. He said there are some still walking around who shouldn't be.

  The principal security problem of the hotel, according to the security chief, is keeping out hookers. Security emphasis is placed on prevention of problems and, in the average day, there aren't any. An occasional drunk and disorderly and underage youths trying to get in the disco are his other problems. There is a gambling casino in the hotel but he says it is owned and operated by the government and not his responsibility.

Miraflores Locks

  In the afternoon we visited Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal. The canal itself is an incredible engineering achievement. The canal took 10 years to build at a cost of $387 million and was opened Aug 15, 1914.

  The canal people point out it was completed under time and under budget. It was built so well that most of the system is still the original equipment even after more than 75 years. Firm figures on today's operations are hard to get. I received different figures in adjacent rooms in the Miraflores administration building. The most creditable are that the canal has 7500 employees who are 85 percent Panamanian. Under Carter's treaty the canal is to be turned over completely to Panama Dec. 31, 1999.

  The average toll is over $25,000 and the average transit takes 8-10 hours. Counting waiting time, a ship still takes less than 24 hours to go through the canal. The canal is 50 miles longs. The $20 Million Bridge (Bridge of the Americas) at the Pacific end is the only fixed bridge across the canal. There is a swinging bridge at Miraflores and a drawbridge at Colon at the Atlantic end.

Three Shift Schools

  Our first stop of the day was at the education ministry and we were told there is a shortage of physical facilities and schools are operated in three shifts. The morning and afternoon shifts are for children and the evening for adult education.

  Teachers' salaries start at $400 per month with increases every two years. Literacy is 87 percent. Attendance is mandatory in the lower grades. English is a mandatory study from the fourth grade on.

  Next we visited the offices of La Prensa, a large daily shut down by Noriega during his regime. It reopened the week after the invasion, patched together the trashed plant, and resumed publication Dec. 25, 1989, and is solidly profitable now. But the damage loss was estimated at $2 million.

  Juan Luis Correa, a general manager, said Noriega's troops stole the computers, furniture, files, even the wiring in the plant, and damaged what they did not take. Correa is one who is glad to be rid of the gangster, Noriega, but is distrustful of U.S. motives. He thinks a reason for the invasion was to get records showing U.S. involvement with Noriega.

  Correa said U.S. aid has a lot of strings attached including requirements for changes that would include changes in Panama's bank secrecy laws which he feels would seriously damage the country. He said Panama laws are already tightened on laundering drug money. His estimate of the Panamanian casualties was 1000 or less and he feels a lot of these were Noriega's "dignity battalions". He said the invasion was well planned and was surprised more people didn't die.

Housing Homeless

  Officials of a bank, Caja de Ahorros, the bank selected to handle rehousing of those made homeless by the invasion, took us on a tour to show what was happening. Those who qualify receive bank accounts of $6500 put up by the U.S. The money is earmarked for housing. It can be used to purchase existing houses, condominiums, or new houses. The building business was devastated and some builders are now geared up to build houses for $6500.

  We were taken to a subdivision of duplexes built for this purpose. The duplexes are small, only about 225 square meters each. Basically they are small one bedroom apartments, but quite livable. The main housing damage was in a slum area, Chorillo, made up mainly of housing built for canal builder employees 75 years ago. Chorillo was over 90 percent destroyed leaving 2000 families without housing. Other housing was damaged but Chorillo was the worst.

  The bank expects to have 1500 houses underway by December and 2000 units overall plus three condominium units that can be rebuilt for another 450 units. We went from there to the Albrook hangars, former U.S. Air Force hangars given to Panama by Pres. Carter. These had housed 2000 evacuees and 1200 remain. Each family has about a 10 ft. by 10 ft. open top cubicle in one of the two hangars. This is better than no housing, but not by much. It is just pitiful. Yet we were told that, for many, this is better housing than what they had.

  The bankers assure us all the people who qualify will be moved to new housing of their choice.

  Tomorrow our day will start with a visit to the U.S. Southern Command, our military arm in Panama. It is so large and dominant that the best local television channel for English speakers to watch is SCN; the Southern Command Network. In place of commercials the network has handy tips on such topics as how a general court martial works and how to avoid shelling hospitals. Following that, we will travel across the isthmus to Colon on the Atlantic side.