Chiriquí Chatter

My last update on the tragedy in Las Lajas was on August 31. Below you will find Linda’s latest email on what has occurred since then. It appears that MOP continues to take the approach that they would rather study a snake forever, when the obvious conclusion is that the snake needs killed.

Hi Don Ray,
Its been a couple of weeks since I sent along an update on the situation at Playa Las Lajas - its been a busy time, as you can well understand.

The high tides of the September 8th weekend took their toll, as the attached photo will show. The last remaining wall of the Little Blue Casita succumbed, as did a large number of mature trees behind it. The house shown in the photo is thankfully still standing; sand, driftwood and other flotsam covered the main floor, patio and garden behind it. Very little ‘terra firma’ remains at the front or side of this house.

A member of our group has been in contact with the head of MOP’s Study & Design division, Irma de Leon. This is the division conducting the study on the problems at Playa Las Lajas. Ing. de Leon stated that MOP’s study is nowhere near complete - she advised it will be weeks or months before MOP will reach a decision. AND that whatever work that may be undertaken will be expensive. Can’t help but wonder how much money - and time - and how many homes - would/could’ve been saved if MOP had acted when they were first contacted.

Ing. de Leon also provided her personal opinion (in no way official) that the current construction projects underway at Playa Las Lajas should not continue. Two property owners have shut down construction, putting 10 local residents out of work. For an area like Las Lajas, this loss is significant.

In our group’s efforts to contact Ing. de Leon, we stumbled across Ing. Mena - MOP’s resident hydrologist who had inspected the situation at PLL a few weeks ago - or so we thought. Apparently Ing. Mena was aware that his expertise had been requested, but he advised that he had never received official orders to do the inspection! From the description of the damage Mena received over the phone, he made the commitment to inspect PLL on his own time - he did so on Sunday, Sept. 17th. He was shocked at the extent of the damage and advised he would be filing a recommendation on Monday afternoon, that emergency measures be taken to stop the erosion - similar to the retaining wall the property owners constructed. These comments were somewhat encouraging, but he was quick to note that he had no power to authorize expenditures and that his recommendations were just that. We are attempting to confirm that his report was filed as he indicated.

As always, I wish there was better news.

As always, thanks Don Ray for your continued support.

Best regards,
Stan & Linda