Cerro Patacón: The environmental disaster to be inherited by Panama's next administration

Panama's central region continues to be affected by polluted air and water containing toxic residues from the Cerro Patacón landfill, which was declared an "environmental disaster" by President Laurentino Cortizo's administration.

To solve the problem, urban and residential waste collection authority AAUD is carrying out a bidding process to hire a company to operate the landfill for 36 months, efficiently managing and disposing of waste.

According to a statement from AAUD published on Thursday, 25 companies expressed interested in operating the landfill, which holds more than 40% of the waste generated in the country.

AAUD's head Rafael Prado de Obaldía held a meeting with representatives from parties interested in submitting bids, which are Atesa, AVIC Intt, Celebre Obras e Servicos, Consorcio Cambridge, CorpoAseo, CSM-PROMO, Ecolimpia, Ecotermo de Panamá, Equibal, Gesproyect, Gestión Verde de Residuos, Green Waste, Grupo Caabsa, Grupo Cusa, Hydrexa Latan, IFM, IGC Asociados, Interaseo, Panama Waste Management, Pro Geo, Proinpetrol Group y Asociados, Promotor Ambiental, Pronto Aseo, Soluciones Ambientales Atlántida and Veolia Aseo Panamá.

According to newspaper La Prensa, the contract – which includes stabilizing the site and digging a new pit – is worth US$46.8mn and offers will be presented on February 7.

The 130ha-landfill, that serves Panama City and the San Miguelito district, is frequently affected by landslides and fires, impacting the air quality of surrounding areas as well as polluting underground and surface water with toxic residues. Polluted water and air can spread across 9,000ha, reaching the Panama Canal, according to a report from AAUD cited by Forbes in June 2001. 

“Cerro Patacón is an environmental, sanitary and PR disaster for the country… solving the situation will prove a problem,” environment minister Milciades Concepción was quoted as saying in the same report. 

The administration blames the Urbalia Panamá company, which managed the site from 2008 to 2023 when the government cancelled its contract after the environmental disaster declaration and took over operations.

On January 26, Cortizo announced that his government, which leaves office on July 1, was preparing a separate plan to move the landfill from its current site to prevent further environmental damage. 

The document will be left in the hands of the next administration, “so they can revise the draft of reference terms and launch an international bidding process to resolve a problem that has been ongoing for years,” he said on January 26, according to TVN2.