Panama's President José Raúl Mulino said on Sunday that the rehabilitation of roads damaged by the powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake last Friday is allowing the delivery of food and other items to be accelerated in the most affected areas, located in the center and south of the country, where by a «miracle» no victims were recorded.
On a tour of a state-owned Herrera Institute of Agricultural Marketing (IMA), Mulino reported that thousands of food bags are being set up to be distributed in that central province and in the vicinity of Los Santos and Coclé, affected by the earthquake. Drinking water is also being resupplied.
«The important thing is the food bags. They come mixed bags of rice, beans, a series of things, to be distributed home to home, with a lot of order, with a lot of care, so that they will not party political with this, that this is for the people who need it most,» said the president, who from the same Friday he has been going through the affected regions.
The food is distributed on a large scale on the ground and «yesterday the problem of the roads was started, they were broken, they could not pass,» Mulino explained.
Pending aid
One of these rehabilitated routes has been the one that leads to Tonosí, the small coastal town closest to the epicenter of the earthquake and located about 180 kilometres from the capital of Panama, which was visited on Saturday by the Panamanian president.
«I was in Tonosí yesterday, helicopters from the National Aeronautical Service (Senan) were» carrying to this town «a lot of water, dry food, etc, for the people of the village, who were all there on a court with tents,» he said.
The Ministry of Public Security reported that between Saturday and Sunday, some 26 tons of humanitarian aid, including bottled water, food and essential items, had been distributed by air in the areas most hit by the earthquake.
Photo showing a road destroyed this Sunday, in Búcaro (Panama). EEF / Welcome Velasco
Mulino stressed that this Monday the classes will be suspended at national level «to finish a little of calming this and start on Tuesday, already with the country fully activated.».
«The good thing about all that has happened is that there are no victims and that the Panamanian people are calm. The material we're going to solve, but the important thing is that there are no victims and that's a miracle,» the president added.
No report of dead
According to the latest official report of the Panamanian authorities, about 30 minor injuries were reported due to the earthquake and no missing or dead persons were present.
As inspections are carried out, the number of affected structures has increased, which already exceed 1,400 throughout the country, including 840 residential and housing buildings, 419 schools, more than 60 government buildings, 24 health centres, 12 hotels and 27 churches.
The authorities have not yet quantified the material losses due to the earthquake, but have already declared a state of national emergency to channel up to $100 million to address the situation
