Bill 449.

Summary.

The bill proposes declaring Isla Escudo de Veraguas and its surrounding waters part of the administrative jurisdiction of the Municipality of Kusapin (Municipio de Kusapin). Art. 1 places that jurisdiction in the corregimiento (district) of Tobobe, within the Ngabe-Buglé Comarca (Comarca Ngabe-Buglé), and also identifies the island as Oego. The declaration expressly covers both the island and the waters surrounding it. Its purpose is to determine which municipality and corregimiento would administer that territory.

Art. 2 provides that this incorporation changes the boundaries of Bocas del Toro Province (provincia de Bocas del Toro) and the Ngabe Buglé Comarca (Comarca Ngabe Buglé). In describing the change, it again places the island and its surrounding waters within the administrative jurisdiction of the Municipality of Kusapin, in the corregimiento of Tobobe, Ngabe-Buglé Comarca. This article uses the name Dego alongside the island’s name. The proposed change concerns the boundaries of the territories named in the bill and the administrative assignment of the island and its waters. It does not identify a numbered law or a provision of another instrument to be replaced.

Art. 3 assigns the Commission on Political and Administrative Boundaries of the Republic of Panama (Comisión de límites políticos y administrativos de la república de Panamá) the task of establishing the new administrative boundaries arising from the proposed law. It gives the commission 6 months to do so. The provision connects those boundaries to the law’s entry into force, making the commission’s delineation the means of specifying the territorial change described in the preceding articles. The bill thus assigns the determination of administrative boundaries to a named body after declaring the island’s administrative placement and providing for the change to provincial and comarca boundaries.

Art. 4 provides that the law would enter into force on the day following its promulgation. That rule would apply to the declaration of administrative jurisdiction, the boundary change and the assignment of the delineation task established in the bill. The articles contain no penalties, payments or application procedure for private persons; their operative provisions address territorial assignment, boundary changes and the commission’s work.

The bill concerns the territorial administration of the Municipality of Kusapin, the corregimiento of Tobobe and the Ngabe-Buglé Comarca, as well as the boundaries of Bocas del Toro Province and the Ngabe Buglé Comarca. It also concerns the Commission on Political and Administrative Boundaries of the Republic of Panama, which would establish the new delineation. The proposed assignment could be relevant to residents and activities connected with Isla Escudo de Veraguas and its surrounding waters because it determines the administrative jurisdiction to which they would belong.