CAF provides USD200 million for social programs in Panama involving education and sanitation

(Lima, Dec. 3, 2013).CAF-development bank of Latin America-approved a USD100 million loan for the Republic of Panama to finance the country's Education Infrastructure Expansion and Modernization Program (PAMIE).

Panama's Ministry of Education will manage the funds through the National Directorate of Engineering and Architecture.

"CAF places great emphasis on investments in education, an essential component for greater social inclusion and productive development that Latin America needs" said CAF Executive President, Enrique García.

García stressed that investments in infrastructure catering to the education sector will open the door to a better quality of life for 7,800 students, "including the families of the children who will benefit indirectly in the form of reduced transportation costs and also from better access to schools."    

PAMIE seeks to increase access to quality education, bring about greater social equality and improve the quality of preschool, primary and secondary educational levels by financing the construction and upgrades of educational facilities as well as by improving educational administration in otherwise marginal areas of the country's increasingly urbanized economy. 

The project will finance the construction of educational facilities as well as refurbish school grounds and equipment in the Panamanian provinces of Colón, Chiriquí, Panamá Este, Panamá Oeste and Veraguas. 

The project will focus on three areas of action: building innovative infrastructure in low-income areas marked by elevated dropout rates, providing equipment, technology especially, that will modernize teaching-learning processes, and creating more school facilities and campuses to boost student retention rates.  

USD103 million to finance the country's Panama City and Panama Bay Sanitation Project 

Separately, Enrique García and Frank De Lima, Panama's Minister of Economy and Finance, signed a loan agreement allocating USD103 million to finance projects that will complement the government's broader Panama City and Panama Bay Sanitation Project spearheaded by the Ministry of Health, which seeks to alleviate side effects arising from the city's rapid urban development in recent decades.

García highlighted the project's many positive impacts, stressing that investments will "improve health and environmental conditions in the metropolitan area as well as eliminate pollution stemming from untreated wastewater in urban rivers and coastal areas of the Panama Bay, which translates into better health conditions, a cleaner environment and a better quality of life for all." 

García also praised the project's lasting social implications, adding the program "has become an international point of reference for comprehensive wastewater treatment plans in Latin America". 

Money from the loans will fund direct construction costs on public projects, supply materials and equipment for Panama City and Panama Bay Sanitation Project projects, as well as fund feasibility and other studies, external oversight, environment impact and management costs, among other expenses.