Proposal To Regulate Noise Left In Limbo While Complaints Continue
Date
11/13/2024 11:12:12 PM
(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama)
San Francisco Rep. Serena Vamvas threatened restaurant owners over loud noise at night. Noise control initiative awaits sanction.
The noise in establishments, restaurants and commercial premises in Panama City does not stop. Although since 2021 the then deputy Juan Diego Vásquez promoted an initiative that was approved in the National Assembly in September 2023 in which noise control measures were established, however, the proposal was left in limbo in the Executive. It was only on November 10 that the representative of the San Francisco district, Serena Vamvas, met with restaurant owners after receiving complaints from residents of the area about the noise emitted by the establishments at night. “The residents are fed up and I have a lot of them who tell me that they can't take it anymore. They have been told, you know what the problem is. You knew even before I became a representative,” Vamvas reluctantly told the business owners in a video that the municipal authority herself published on her social networks. The loud music and karaoke events organized by some restaurants and businesses cause problems for local residents in the area in getting to sleep, making this task even more difficult than it already is in the middle of the city. “I will give them one more chance, and next time I can tell you with certainty that I will stand firm and if I have to close down businesses along with the Mayor's Office, I will do it,” she said.
And the Noise Law?
Despite being approved in the third debate of the National Assembly in September 2023, Bill 751, known as the 'anti-noise law', faced obstacles to being regulated and sanctioned by the Executive.
Various groups, such as the Panamanian Car Audio Association (APCA), opposed the Law and demanded a partial veto; they even called for demonstrations in October 2023. This was added to a delicate moment in the administration of former President Laurentino Cortizo, who was beginning to perceive the first signs of the situation that was coming due to the approval of Law 406 between the State and Minera Panamá SA.
On April 17, 2024, the Executive issued an objection report to Bill 751 and it had to be reviewed by the Labor Commission of the National Assembly.
Currently, the Mayor's Office of Panama is based on Municipal Agreement No. 141 of September 23, 2014 to regulate activities that generate noise.
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