Vice President Disagrees With Mayor’s Spending

In reaction to Panama City Mayor Bosco Vallarino’s $923,000 spending on outside consulting services, Vice President Juan Carlos Varela says the Mayor’s Office needs to get its spending back on track, La Critica Reports.

“It seems that these are senseless consultancies,” Varela said.  ”It is lamentable that these funds are spent when Panama’s municipal funds are in a difficult situation and providers are not paid on time.”

He said that as Vice President and Chancellor, he can only disagree with this time of spending when what the population wants from its officials is effective handling of state resources.

“From my position in the Foreign Ministry, I have tried to be austere in the use of public funds and principally in these advisory and consulting costs,” he added.

Incidentally, last March, Minister to the Presidency Jimmy Papadimitriu confirmed that Panama signed U.S. Republican strategist Terry Holt to a one-year contract to shape up the country’s international image at a cost of $15,000 a month.