More than $2 million in Ministry of Government rents questioned in Panama

A proposed allocation of more than $2 million for rents at Panama’s Ministry of Government drew scrutiny during the agency’s 2027 budget hearing.

Deputy Jonathan Vega, a member of the Budget Committee, questioned the funds earmarked for the provincial governments of Panamá Oeste, Veraguas, Herrera and Bocas del Toro. He focused on why some offices had continued operating in rented premises without the contracts receiving the required approval.

Minister Dinoska Montalvo said much of the requested money would cover rental debts accumulated by previous administrations. In Bocas del Toro, she said, the government owes about $352,000 to the owner of one property. The building had housed government services, but the related contracts were never formalized or received the required approval.

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The request is practically to pay what is owed to these premises that had been rented.

“The request is practically to pay what is owed to these premises that had been rented,” Montalvo said during the hearing. She added that the current administration was looking for ways to meet obligations to owners who provided space in earlier years but had not been paid. Some debts date to 2021, 2022 and 2023, while other contracts go back to 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Vega called the situation unacceptable. “Rented provincial government offices without a contract, without approval, this is unheard of,” he said, questioning why services were allowed to continue before officials sought to regularize the debts. The hearing also covered funding for new prisons and their operations.

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Rented provincial government offices without a contract, without approval, this is unheard of.