Project: Highway Santa Fe – El Guabal – Rio Luis – Calovébora
Location: Veraguas Province, Panama
Development: Ministry of Public Works (MOP) / Asociación Accidental Transeq - Concor - Itecpa

Hundreds of people, including students who walk about four hours to reach their schools will benefit from this new road. With the arduous work of moving earth, stabilization of land, placement of concrete pipe and environmental mitigation measures to control negative environmental impact through actions that ensure sustainable use of natural resources are the first activities are seen as part project for Design and Construction of Highway El Guabal - Rio Luis - Calovébora organized by the Ministry of Public Works through the company Asociación Accidental Transeq - Concor - Itecpa.

This project called "The Conquest of the Atlantic" produces great expectation to the people of the district of Santa Fe (Veraguas) as their lifestyle will change in a positive way, including the benefits that this work will carry out in health and transport. In addition to encouraging commercial, livestock and agriculture, benefiting more than 17 thousand inhabitants most of whom are engaged in the production of items such as tomatoes, lettuce, onions, potatoes, oranges, rice, mandarin oranges, coffee, among others.

Currently, the Ministry of Public Works, works with an Environmental Management Plan using mitigation measures to reduce the adverse effects of the project in its implementation phase and compensation measures to implement actions that allow conservation and restoration in environmental terms. "The idea is to involve the entire community, with the implementation of environmental education plans, incorporating children who are spokesmen at first instance on the care of the environment," explained Ing. Guillermo Torraza Environmental section of the MOP of Veraguas. He added that it is developing an Environmental Education Plan to implement it on site and conduct training in order to incorporate the community, the education sector and private enterprise to raise awareness about environmental conservation.

This work whose investment is USD$37,522,800.00 consists of a length of 33 kilometers. Currently tasks running on the first phase of work ranging from the Guabal to the community of Alto Ortiga. The project involves the construction of sidewalks and houses near schools; paved gutters, drainage systems, placement of select material, base coat, primer, asphalt seals, dredging channels. It also provides for the repair and maintenance of pedestrian bridges, road signage, road conformation, retention walls, among others. It also involves the construction of four vehicular bridges with two traffic lanes over the Ortiga, Las Trancas, Rio Caloveborita and La Empalizada rivers. The completion of this new road increases development options for the province of Veraguas that will boost tourism, social, economic and commercial development by integrating the province with the rest of the country, by improving the quality of life for of all Panamanians.