Rents to be Raised at Yatch Club on Balboa Avenew

Rent to be Raised on Club de Yates y Pesca
La Prensa

Club de Yates y Pesca

As the Martinelli administration continues to make good on campaign promises to bring more transparency and equality and eliminate abuse of privilege, its attention has turned to the Club de Yates y Pesca on Avenida Balboa.

Long benefiting from artificially low lease rates, the government has decided to increase its rent as a condition of its remaining in the Coastal Belt zone and has also raised the possibility of moving their facilities to a property within the so-called Reverted Areas, reported the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

If it decides to stay put, the club would have to pay $10 per square meter and $1 per square meter of sea bottom, said the Deputy Finance Minister Dulcidio de la Guardia, who explained that negotiations continue with management of the club.

Representatives of President Ricardo Martinelli emphasized the importance of the club's leasing arrangement being adjusted to reflect market prices, rather than the 11 cents per square meter it currently pays.

Another of the conditions placed on the club is that all boats must be moored in the water and not dry-docked.

"The concession area will only be zoned for the construction of a clubhouse with some related facilities, which we would have to define clearly," said de la Guardia. "Hangars will not be permitted."

Gilberto Gotti, president of the club's board, chose not to comment on any of the government's demands. "We heard the government and we are still evaluating what they've proposed, so I can say nothing more this time," he added.

At the last meeting, members of the club claimed that they had worked on a sketch of new facilities including hangars, a design they had discussed with officials of the previous government.