Off the cuff

The TV station that decided to put on a big screen projection of The Panama - Nicaragua soccer game on Sunday, in a public car park, on the Cinta Costera, did a good deed for the Transit Police. As scores of cars lined the new expressway and Avenida Balboa, the police, without fanfare, handed out parking fines by the dozen. In the meantime the parked cars caused traffic snarls in both directions. Which raises the question: who issued a permit for the event? While it was good publicity for the Station, were there no stadiums available?

The crowds were so thick that it was impossible to jog, walk or bicycle on the newly designated exercise paths, and when the affair was over, there was a massive clean up job left behind, and the noise from the crowd was replaced by the drums and bugles of a band that decided the parking lot was a great place to practice. It left local residents wondering about the mirage of increased property values because of the new coastal strip.