• 3 min de lectura
• 3 min de lectura
The Panama Canal today, Friday, delivered 130 property titles directly benefiting 575 people from communities in the Río Indio basin and surrounding areas, as part of the land tenure regularization and legalization efforts being carried out in this zone.
The delivery is part of the Cadastre and Titling Project in the Río Indio Hydrographic Basin, through which 2,201 property titles have been delivered, with the aim of strengthening legal security over the assets of the beneficiary families.
"Receiving a property title means much more than completing a procedure. It means obtaining formal recognition of rights built over time and having the legal security that family assets are properly protected," said the administrator of the Panama Canal, Ilya Espino de Marotta, during the activity.
The procedures corresponding to these titles began some years ago and included cadastral surveys, evaluations, verifications, and registrations, necessary stages to support the rights of each beneficiary.
The process is developed through a joint effort between the National Land Administration Authority (ANATI) and the Panama Canal, with the support of the Technical Support Unit (UTA), managed through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the participation of the Ministry of Environment and the Public Registry.
"Today is not a favor being done to anyone. Here, a right that belongs to them, that has belonged to them, and that will continue to belong to them, is being recognized," said Andrés Pagés Chanis, general administrator of the National Land Administration Authority (ANATI).
The titling also covers facilities and spaces directly linked to community life. Four titles correspond to the Ministry of Education, one to the Ministry of Health, six to the Community Board of La Encantada, and four to the Diocese of Colón and Guna Yala.
Among them are the Boca Chica or Nueva Esperanza School, the school cafeteria of La Encantadita School, the school gardens of La Encantadita and Nueva Unión, and the Santa Rosa Health Post. The La Encantadita playing field, the local houses of Nueva Arenosa and Santa Rosa, and the cemeteries of Nancito, Las Cruces, and Los Cedros also receive legal backing.
In this way, the benefits of titling extend to both family properties and spaces where communities study, receive care, meet, and carry out collective activities.
"Land means much more than a piece of land; it is where we have built our homes and watched our families grow, where we have worked with effort and honesty. For families, the delivery represents the culmination of years of procedures and efforts. The title formally recognizes their property rights and provides legal certainty over an asset that can remain in their families," said Ana Edilma Jaime from the community of La Encantadita.
The titling work will continue through planned and orderly cadastral sweeps so that more people in the Río Indio basin and its surrounding areas can advance towards the regularization of their lands.
From a broader perspective, the Panama Canal has contributed to the delivery of more than 25,219 property titles throughout the Canal Hydrographic Basin over the past 26 years.
