Monday, June 30, 2008

Bocas declared Special Tourist Zone

Notice came today from the Red Frog team:

We just received notice today from our legal team that the latest Panama Government Official Gazette that was published yesterday included the great news that the long-awaited Declaration of the Special Development Zone for Bocas Del Toro was finalized!

In the words from one of our team, "The declaration is for the Bocas Del Toro Province. Isla Bastimentos and the National Park are definitely included. Yes, it is a light in the tunnel. We still have a lot of work to do. Tomorrow I will go to Catastro to check on the next steps since they were waiting for this declaration too. Then I will go to Pronat to get the copy of map of the declared area. I know that Red Frog is included, but it is good to have a graphic view of the declared area."

So while this is just one step in the process, we are very happy to finally see it completed. Maybe all of those meetings with government officials have finally paid off. But as our attorney mentions above, we still have a long way to go in this process as there is definitely going to be a lot of internal government debate on all of the precise rules and regulations. Especially important to us all will be how they decide to value our various parcels of land. And from what we have heard, no one in the government is anxious to stick out their neck and make policy which will be criticized no matter what is decided. Some outside attorneys have speculated that the titling process could be pushed into the next administration (which starts September 2009). Let's hope not.

-Red Frog Team