Panama City, Panama. The construction of the El Paco police commissariat has been halted following the discovery of new issues with underground utilities. The project began in 2017 under the government of Juan Carlos Varela, with a contract awarded to a company for over 1.6 million balboas to build a facility to provide food and products at low cost to police officers. However, hidden defects were soon discovered, making the project's execution unfeasible. The Ministry of Security (Minseg) blamed the construction company and terminated the contract in May 2019. The company appealed to the Administrative Tribunal of Public Procurements (TACP), which ruled in its favor, stating that the defects were unpredictable and largely due to the contracting authority's lack of due diligence. In 2023, the parties reached a new agreement, but in 2025, an underground medium-voltage power line was found on the site, not shown in official plans. This prompted the energy company Naturgy to order a stop to work near the line. The project, which was over 70% complete, is now suspended. The El Paco commissariat remains incomplete and abandoned.
