| The Construction Bible of Pedasi, Panama |
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| Written by Jesse Levin | |
| Wednesday, September 03 2008 | |
There is a massive construction boom occurring in Pedasi. Massive is a relative term, but for a one horse town the amount of building activity is impressive. There are three new bed and breakfasts, and all of the retirees, investors, and individuals who have been renting for the past year waiting for the town to become a bit more developed are now starting to build their homes.
 While this is great for the area, a tremendous strain is being put on the supply of available materials and labor, inevitably causing the prices to rise. Again, in relative terms labor and materials are still cheaper then the States, but the costs have tripled in the past two and a half years. The only two places to buy materials in Pedasi are la Tormenta and Casa Ruiz. The owner of la tormenta is Cero, a brilliant, energetic little man with a huge smile. This is the smaller of the town operations; prices are a bit cheaper and the ambiance a bit more entertaining. Casa Ruiz is run far more professionally. They have no problem extending lines of credit and working with foreigners on a level they are more accustomed to (that does not mean anyone speaks English). Bear in mind that the flete (transport cost) of materials to Pedasi adds about a dollar+ to anything. Most people buy the bulk of their materials in Las Tablas or Chitre, two larger towns within an hour of Pedasi. The most economical option is to purchase a workhorse pickup truck and to pick up the materials yourself, but if that is not in the plan, suppliers have no problem making bulk shipments, in which case, small discounts can be negotiated. Below is a contact list of suppliers and other service providers in the area, along with some basic current material and equipment costs: Pedasi suppliers: * Casa Ruiz 995-2293 * La Tormenta 995-2725 Las Tablas suppliers: * Ferrocanelo Calle 3 de Noviembre 994-8284 * Conivan Ave. Belisario Porras 994-7127 * Matieriales Las Tablas Calle 12 de Octubre 994-0681 * Constructora Las Tablas CalleRogelio Gaez 994-0668 * Bloquesa Calle Emilio Castro 994-6780 * El Constructor Santeno Calle Estudiante 994-0080 * Inversiones Santa Llibrada Calle Moises Espino 994-8265 Chitre Suppliers: * Electro Servicios de Azueros, Bda Rayo de Luz 970-1507 * Hopsa Carretera Circunvalacion 978-6000 * La Galera Paseo Enrique Geenzier 996-4740 * Arcillas de Chitre Carretera Nacional Via La Arena 996-0270 Materials: * Bag of cement $8.55 * cubic Yard of sand $23 * 1⁄2" rebar $15 Labor: * Day laborer: $10/day * Skilled Carpenter: $15-$23/day The majority of skilled local labor is bussed into the Azueors project on a daily basis. Its possible to get crews from Azueros to work after hours, but most willing to do so are already gainfully employed. The most important thing is to seek recommendations from multiple sources prior to engaging a crew to work. Those who are unemployed in Pedasi at the moment are unemployed for a good reason, because there is no shortage of demand. There is a retired expatriate who is a master welder living full time in the area, there are a handful of talented contractors from the states who spend a fair amount of time in and around Pedasi, and there are plenty of entrepreneurs who have jumped through a lot of hoops. Spend some time getting a feel for the lay of the land. Talk to the individual foreign nationals who live in the area before you begin. There is no rule book to follow when developing there. The best place to find these people is at El Gringo Dusek's, a restaurant on the main drag as you enter Pedasi on the right hand side. Not only is it a great place to get advice and talk shop, but you can also get the best rack of ribs in Panama. The importance of networking is magnified in Pedasi because it's such a small place. Heavy machinery: * D6 Caterpillar $65/hour * Front end loader and baco $35/hour * 20 Yard dump truck $40-$50/hour * Grader $45/hour * Compactor $55/hour * Cement mixer $25/day There is a lot of road building going on in Pedasi. There are four local outfits that either own or have access to the equipment necessary to build a road or to move large quantities of earth. The major projects in the area have tied up the one contractor Ilka, with the most equipment and experience. Experience is another one of those relative terms when it comes to engineers with road building know-how. Realize that the larger outfits are over committed as is. If your project is on the smaller side I recommend working on a per hour bases with a smaller contractor. This gives you far more power and flexibility should things not go smoothly. Those who have large contracts often have expensive heavy machinery sitting unused on their projects as the contractor rushes from site to site trying to cover all their bases resulting in missed deadlines and sloppy work. Prices for road construction have skyrocketed as a result of rising material costs and large groups paying large amounts for contracts. That being said don't look for the cheapest option as you get what you pay for. For a rough comp: a 1.5km or .9mile road with three 1-meter cement drainage crossings and 2 1/2 meter crossings with cement drainage canals and 15 centimeters of compacted Tosca cost: $30,000 Cement reinforced drainage tubes: * 1.05 $120 * .90 $90 Road contractor contact: * Ilka out of Las Tablas runs the largest operation and is the engineer the larger developers have employed. There is no doubting her superior know-how but I have heard that she is somewhat unreliable and unreasonably expensive. One word of caution, if she quotes a job and you do not end up employing her, she will go out of her way to make things difficult for you. Phone 666-15736 * Gasisa run by Ovidio Castillo is a smaller outfit with decent equipment 6655-8373 * Another great asset is Peter Schiess, who is a professional road engineer original brought to the Azuero Paninsula by Paul Stallings. He trained Ilka which is why she is the best. It is a very good idea to put some thought into your road system before you begin cutting. This man is a bit expensive but well worth it. He will map your roads out, go over all possible variables including drainage, grade etc. He is usually in Panama three to four times a year His e-mail is This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Water and electric: * electric poles 1/100 meters $1,200/post* * 150' well with 300' piping and electric pump $1,000 * 300 gallon septic installed with leech field and all plumbing material $500 *Union Fanosa, the electric utility has to connect you for free if within 100 meters of last pole Jesse Levin is a Pedasi real estate expert who has learned many of these tricks of the trade, the hard way. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, September 03 2008 ) |
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