Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here鈥檚 the latest.
Panama is the Perfect Backdrop for MLB’s 2015 Showcase.
Central America is a hotbed for Major League Baseball talent, and scouts are trying to get the most out of it this season. This past week, MLB held a scouting combine at Panama鈥檚 Rod Carew Stadium to showcase the best of the best in the region. The goal? To get the hottest young prospects signed to major league contracts.
The first day of the showcase, which stars 17- and 18-year-old prospects from Colombia, Curacao, Nicaragua and Panama, included timed 60-yard runs, infield and outfield drills, along with batting practice in front of scouts for all 30 teams. The prospects also played against each other in a friendly but competitive game.
“Panama is a place that we have always been interested in, and it’s produced great ballplayers over the years,” said Joel Araujo, manager of Latin American game development for MLB. “We think this is an opportunity to have scouts see these kids who are little older and maybe need a second look in a platform and venue convenient to the scouts. It’s been a good showing so far, and we just hope to give the opportunity for these players to be scouted and signed.”
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Panama聽Suspends Bid for Second Subway Line After Complaint
After a big announcement of a winning bid for the Metro Line 2 contract last week, it looks like things have hit a wall when it comes to the winning consortium. Here鈥檚 why:
The complaint, submitted by the Panametro consortium, alleged that there were errors in the bid process stemming from the fact that at least two members of the evaluation committee had links to the winning group. Last week, Panama announced that a group including Brazil’s Odebrecht and Spain’s FCC Construcciones presented the best proposal for the Line 2 subway, with a cost of $1.857 billion.
The Odebrecht-FCC consortium also constructed Panama’s first subway line for about $2 billion. On Thursday, Panama’s public contracting department (DGCP) said it had suspended the bid and would be reviewing documents related to the tender process to properly evaluate the Panametro consortium’s case.
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Tens of Thousands Visit the Panama Canal Expansion Project
Locals and tourists both had an unprecedented experience this past week as the Panama Canal opened its doors to the public to examine the current expansion. Visitors were able to walk through the new parts of the Canal, and get an up close glance at the monumental project.
Authorities estimate that 45,000 people took the tour, which comes as work is 90 per cent completed. Canal administrator Jorge Luis Quijano said Sunday that the objective of opening the project to the public is so that 鈥減eople can sense and understand the magnitude of the project.鈥
The Panama Canal is installing the last of 16 giant lock gates that are a key part of the waterway鈥檚 multibillion-dollar expansion. Panama in 2006 decided to build a wider canal to accommodate vessels capable of carrying 2.5 times the number of containers held by ships currently using the canal. The canal is expected to open in April 2016.
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5 reasons to visit Panama from New Orleans
Copa Airlines has been adding multiple US direct routes each year for the past three years, and there鈥檚 no sign they鈥檒l stop anytime soon. The latest US destination from the Panamanian carrier is New Orleans. Here鈥檚 a sample of The Times Picayune鈥檚 鈥淣OLA鈥 website鈥檚 top 5 reasons why this is a great destination for Louisianans.
1. Panama is the “gateway to the Americas”
Acquiring a new direct flight to Panama represents a “re-opening of the Gateway to the Americas,” Hecht said. Flying non-stop from New Orleans to Panama allows one to connect to 52 destinations in Central and South American without having to pass through immigration twice.
2. Panama City is the “Dubai of Central America”
Panama City has seen explosive growth in trade with the projected widening of the Panama Canal, which is聽scheduled for completion this year聽and will allow for vessels up to three times the current size.聽The boom in high rises and office buildings that has聽reconfigured its skyline聽has drawn comparisons to Dubai.
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