First auction of former CEMIS lands a total failure

PANAMA. The Free Zone in Colon failed in its first attempt to sell 50 percent of the lands of the long gone Multimodal Center of Industry and Services (CEMIS in Spanish). Now authorities are preparing a second public auction.

The first auction was held last December, without any interested parties. half of the lands, 100 hectares, divided into three parts in the area of Cocosolito, were being auctioned.

The 200 hectares belonging to CEMIS, a troublesome project since its beginnings, were transferred to the administration of the zone, after the contract was rescinded by the government.

The director of Planification and Finances of the Free Zone, Raul Moreira, said that the resolution to declare the first auction void was being drafted. He added that alternatives are being evaluated to obtain a better outcome the second time around.

The zone’s administration hopes to incorporate 100 new hectares every year to this economic emporium. In the last four years, the 400 hectares held in 2004 were doubled.

For the former president of the Association of Users of the Colon Free Zolon, Digna Donado, one of the causes behind the failure of the first auction could have been the high prices. The base price was established at $90 per square meter.