Edmundo M. advertised islands for sale in the Las Perlas Archipelago in the classifieds section of the newspaper. A simple call to his cell phone and he offers all of the details immediately. “I’m selling the Isla Lampón and the Isla de Afuera to the north and south of the Isla del Rey. They measure nine hectares each one and cost one million dollars” he says, and adds that each island will be sold with the respective title. One the Internet there thousands of websites offering Panamanian islands for sale. A Google search for “Panama islands for sale” returns 10.7 million results. Islands appear for sale in Boca del Toro, Chiriqui, Veraguas, and Colon. Island Majagual, two hours by boar from Panama City, has 44 hectares and is for sale at $1.2 million dollars. Island Paradita, 56 kilometers to the south of Costa Rica in the Gulf of Chiriquí, has 26 hectares and is available for $3.7 million dollars. Facing a rising tide of speculators in lands sales, the Panamanian government created Law #2 of 7 January 2006, which establishes the concessions for the tourist investment and the distraction of insular territory.
The regulation of the law last Monday still has many people in the dark.

Ever since debate over the law began in the National Assembly last year, affected citizens said they would lose lands they have occupied for generations and environmental groups alleged that the natural patrimony would be injured.

The mayor of Portobelo, Carlos Chavarría was one who raised objections to the law along with other leaders from the province of Colon for fear they would lose their rights to lands, but with the reforms incorporated the situation improved.

“I have not known a single environmental organization, nor individual worried about the environment that has not re-probated the insular law” said biologist Ariel Rodriguez, for whom the law is step backward that not only denies generational rights to lands, but would permit over time the sale of sites, islands and coasts with valuable natural patrimony that should be conserved.

The island systems are by their very nature fragile, the land as well as their surrounding marine areas.

“The Archipelago of Bocas del Toro and the Perlas Islands have marine resources of great value like coral reefs, sea turtle egg laying areas, and areas where whales reproduce. If we allow the construction of houses, resorts, roads, wharfs, airfields, and golf courses, we will be sacrificing island ecosystems to the false promise of development” he said.

Environmentalists have file a lawsuit claiming Law 2 is unconstitutional before the Supreme Court.

PRD assemblyman Raul Rodriguez says the law is good for the country and offers greater legal security to investors.

A great part of island and coastal lands are Rights of Possession (ROP) or have property titles “that do not provide security.”

The reforms to Panama’s Constitution of 1941 made island lands non-adjudicable (áreas inadjudicables or áreas insulares). These are lands that the government has set aside and are NOT subject to title or rights of possession.

But several islands were titled and sold before 1941, and in agreement with the new law those titles will be respected.

Real estate agent Felix Carles says the new law will facilitate the investment in legal terms, specially for the foreigner, who found many difficulties when investing.

The Panamanian Institute of Tourism has great hopes for the new law and says it will bring order to the sale of island lands apt for tourist investment.

National Authority on the Environment of the Atmosphere recognized that the new law does not make any changes to environmental requirements and all projects in Panama will have equal treatment with regards to environmental impact studies.

So far the Tax Office of the Ministry of Economy and Finances has not revealed which concessions have been granted since the insular law was passed.

A source of that organization speculates that there might not have been any, considering that the law was just recently implemented.

SOURCE: Don Winner @ Panama-guide.com