This translates to a seven person junta in Panama City will control local water. If you have a problem you will need to depend upon people in the capital. You know how much of a priority you will be!
"There is a proposal in committee of the Asamblea Nacional for the Nationalization and Centralization of all the Acueducts in the Republic.
Current administration voices disappointment in the performance of IDAAN, the current administrative body of potable water.
New 7 persons governing body ... La Autoridad Nacional de Agua Potable y Saneamiento. All volunteers chosen by the president.
Urban areas will undergo the change and 18 months later rural areas are mandated to participate. The premise of the govt is that all water belongs to them. Be it coming from above, surface or subsurface. Therefore any land owner who has pipes installed from the system of an acueduct must participate in this program.
Meters will be installed at the cost of the customers. Monthly fees based on costs and expenses for the Autoridad.
Private Developers after receiving permission will install a delivery system for each home , then turn it over to the "Autoridad" free of charge.
The President has placed public relations firm, "Corporate Diplomacy", as intermediaries between the public and Martinelli. The members of this firm have agreed to meet with us on Wedenesday, April17, 2013, to explain, answer questions regarding how this will affect us especially the rural areas that are independent. Meeting is at 9am at the Feria, the more resident in attendance the more seriously they will consider our concerns. There will be an interpreter."
Replies
Two hundred cubic meters per month is, indeed, a lot of water. It's over 1,700 gallons per day.
I wager your water is not regulated by a new government agency that needs to produce revenue to support the failed systems in other parts of the country. Agricultural water is also different than potable water. Potable water under current rules can not be used for agriculture.
Does this include private wells? If the government is doing a water grab then it wouldn't be far fetched for them to force meters on private wells since they claim to own all water above and below ground. That would also include rain water cachement. Not a good sign if this monster has legs.
Go on Wednesday and ask the question
Since it seems like a safe assumption that the positions taken in a meeting with the public will be consistent with (and perhaps identical to) those recorded at the site put up by El Comité de Transformación del Sector de Agua y Saneamiento (TAS) it might be good to take a look at http://www.nuestraaguapanama.com/.
The proposed legislation is filed there: http://www.nuestraaguapanama.com/upload/pdf/1.pdf
And there is a press release, http://www.nuestraaguapanama.com/noticias_id_120.html, which states:
A definition from the proposed legislation:
If that was only so. IDAAN is history because they failed to do exactly that. At lest with local control you and your neighbors have the ability to fix a problem as we have been doing on Jaramillo. With the new system we lose all control and just need to pay.