News
Wednesday 14th June 2023.
June 13, 2023
The cost of the Basic Family Food Basket registered a maximum of $325.39 and a minimum of $273.98 last April in some supermarkets and establishments in the city of Panama and San Miguelito, according to the monthly report of the Consumer Protection Authority and Defense of Competition (Acodeco).
The cheapest food basket of $273.98 can be found in supermarkets in San Miguelito and the most expensive in the area of Via Porras San Francisco up to $320.41 and in the area of El Cangrejo at $325.39.
According to Acodeco, the average cost of the basic family food basket was $289.96 in April, 1.2% more than in March when it was $286.38. In one year, the average price of the food basket increased 5.18% from the $275.65 that it cost in April 2022.
The products that increased the most in price in April were the diamond yam, which went from $1.17 per kilogram to $2.19 (86.37% increase), low-salt pressed white cheese registered an increase of 6.12% in one month, going from $12.93 per kilo in March of this year to $13.72 in April. The kilo of black pulp beef increased 7.26% in April to quote at $8.09 per kilogram.
The 300-gram box of corn flakes, which was quoted at $2.18 in March, rose slightly to $2.37 in April (8.31% rise). The tomato sauce of 113 grams increased in some supermarkets 7.54% from 0.44 cents to 0.48 cents in April.
In convenience stores and other establishments such as grocery stores, the greatest price variations were in diamond yams, which rose 12.79% from $1.87 per kilo in March to $2.10 in April. The cost of dehydrated chicken and noodle soup sachets also increased by 10.54%, which went from 0.61 US cents for a 60-gram sachets to 0.67 US cents. The 200-gram cream of corn increased 11.83% from 0.86 cents to 0.97 cents. And meat for soup (rib) increased 9.73% from $4.52 per kilogram to $4.96.
The Acodeco report details that in supermarkets the main decreases for the month of April occurred in: yellow onion that fell 0.45 cents per kilogram to settle at 2 dollars, national vegetable oil fell 0.16 cents per container of 1.42 liters and costs $3.47 dollars, traditional ground coffee 0.11 per 425-gram package to settle at $3.90 and corvina fish registered a decrease of 0.25 cents per kilogram to settle at $9.89 per kilogram.
There were also decreases in the prices of lettuce, chicken eggs and orange juice in the commercial channels of mini-supermarkets and grocery stores.
The Ministry of Education (Meduca) announced in mid-May this year that books and school texts for some 700,300 students would be delivered to schools in the coming weeks.
However, this has not happened at the start of the second quarter. This was denounced by Professor Diógenes Sánchez, from the Association of Teachers of the Republic of Panama (Asoprof), who described it as “one of the best kept secrets that Meduca has at the moment.”
“We are talking about the fact that the first quarter is over and this week we are starting the second and we still do not know why the books have not reached the educational centers. Could it be that they will deliver them at the end of the school year?” questioned the teacher.
He regretted that students are losing the possibility of using the aforementioned texts as teaching resources for their learning.
Meduca was consulted about the distribution, but so far it has not responded.
At the beginning of the school year, the entity reported that they would distribute more than 2 million 850 thousand 428 books and school texts for students of different educational levels, to promote the best conditions for the proper development of the teaching-learning process.
The 2.8 million books will be guides for natural sciences, social studies, Spanish, mathematics (primary) and natural sciences, Spanish, mathematics, civics, geography and history (preschool).
Books were only delivered to 200 prioritized school sites and the other schools will be completed in the following weeks.
In May it was also said that they were in the printing process, according to the coordinator of the Improving Efficiency and Quality of the Education Sector (MECSE) program, Lisbeth Ramos.
Panama launched this Tuesday, June 13, the third regional disaster response and humanitarian assistance drill, which takes place with various scenarios at the national level.
Around 12 noon Tuesday, the alarms sounded and the alert was issued for the security teams to proceed with the planned actions in the event of a 7.5-degree seismic event.
The horns of the vehicles and the sirens of the security cars could be heard at a long distance, while the people, from the structures that are within the drill plan, left their places in an orderly manner and were located in an open area.
Specialized personnel continued with the plan drawn up for these cases and after a certain time, the people gradually returned to their jobs.
Depending on the region of the country, a certain action was also put into practice in response to an event. For example, in Darién, Coclé and Colón, protocols were applied against the passage of a tropical wave. In Veraguas, it was due to an earthquake on the Tonosí fault, Los Santos province.
This activity has the participation of public entities, official and private educational establishments, as well as some private companies. The objective is to put into practice the preparation and capacity to respond to disasters and emergencies.
The simulated exercise takes place in various scenarios in the provinces of Panama, Colón, Darién, Los Santos, Panama Oeste and Chiriquí, under the leadership of the National Civil Protection System, the Joint Task Force and the technical cooperation of the Coordination Center for the Disaster Prevention in Central America and the Dominican Republic.
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake, oil spill, water rescue, gas leak simulation, and forest fire are among the simulated scenarios put into practice.
After the effervescence of the primaries, Crispiano Adames sent this Tuesday, June 13, a message of thanks to those who supported his presidential candidacy in the internships of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) last Sunday and asked them to maintain the same “spirit of militancy”. and “hope.”
“Soon we will make important political decisions hand in hand with you as it should be,” said Adames, current president of the National Assembly, whose term expires on June 30.
Adames obtained 29% of the votes (107 thousand), behind the Vice President of the Republic, José Gabriel Carrizo, who won the candidacy for the PRD with 54% of the votes (198 thousand).
According to the deputy, his Torrijista proposal is still valid and after the results he achieved “cannot and should not be ignored.”
He indicated that as of today “we will resume, together with you [party bases] and my work team, the actions to enforce the will of the more than 107 thousand voters who fairly claim to be taken into account in Omar’s party Torrijos”.
The former head of the General Directorate of Income (DGI), Luis Cucalón, returned to prison after the Judicial Investigation Directorate (DIJ) of the National Police captured him on Tuesday, June 13.
Cucalón’s capture occurred after the Superior Court of Appeals, during a hearing held on May 16, confirmed an opinion by compliance judge Roberto Sánchez, who revoked the probation measure that had been granted.
At that hearing, the anti-corruption prosecutor, Anilu Batista, explained that it was found that Cucalón did not appear regularly at his workplace, which is why he was asked to revoke his benefit and re-admit him to prison. That day, Cucalón told reporters that he had fulfilled his financial advisor job.
Cucalón was sentenced to 96 months in prison for the crimes of embezzlement, corruption of public servants to the detriment of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
The prosecutor’s office also requested Cucalón’s return to prison, because the convicted person could not provide an address where he could be monitored by the authorities.
At the moment it is unknown to the penitentiary center he was sent.