Bananama Republic

Revolution tower screwed

F&F_Tower_2012-09-24 [dropcap type=”square” color=”#ffffff” background=”#e53b2c”]T[/dropcap]he F&F Tower, also known as the Revolution tower, is closed. For two days already. The reason is that water is leaking into the elevator shaft and has caused all sorts of electrical problems. The elevators don’t work, and the water caused a shortage in a sensor of a water pump, and that pump then filled up a water tank which caused the 51st floor to flood.

The landmark building, designed by Pinzón Lozano & Asociados and developed by F&F Properties Ltd. Inc., apparently suffers from some serious design and construction flaws.

We were told that this is a recurring theme in buildings done by Pinzón Lozano & Asociados, such as the Global Bank building.

There have been many problems due to shoddy construction and design with Panama City’s skyscrapers. The Trump Tower, which entered into bankruptcy, had the lobby flooded during its festive opening with Donald Trump and Ricardo Martinelli. Persistent rumors have it that another building, The Point, is leaning over to one side. There are countless complaints by property owners in the various buildings about bad construction, broken promises and outright fraud by the various developers.

Meanwhile, Moisés Guerra, administrator of the Revolution tower, has been sending emails to owners and renters, assuring them that the building will be open again on Friday.

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Okke Ornstein

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Comments

23 responses to “Revolution tower screwed”

  1. jc Avatar
    jc

    Eric said it best with his classified disclaimer to the sort that fraud is a national sport.

    The biggest story is yet to come when they have a “towering inferno” and the Bomberos can’t get to it in a timely manner and then no water pressure etc.

    WOW! What a blame game that will be!

    Reply
    1. vish Avatar
      vish

      Hehehe forget getting into time dude!
      Most roads dont even have a fire hydrant….!
      I guess all of us must keep fire extinguishers and hazmat suits, and parachutes if we ever live in those skyscrapers.

      Reply
  2. P.h. The point, mirador at the point

    […] rumors have it that another building, The Point, is leaning over to one side." Revolution tower screwed | Bananama Republic The jokes in this country are just being stacked on top of each other! Reply […]

    Reply
  3. Chepe Avatar
    Chepe

    The Point is not leaning anywhere… It was designed by one of the most respected structural engineers in Panama (an old timer) and the foundation is ROCK solid… literally!
    Instead of follow the idiots who keep saying this, take a look yourself! Obviously there are quite a few people who are so jealous that they can´t afford to live there and come up with funny stories like that…

    Reply
    1. faustino Avatar
      faustino

      Closed for two days because of a water leak! I’m sure jealous I can’t live there.
      Designed by one of the best firms in Panama…can you imagine how bad the rest must be? Wonder what will happen when we get an earthquake. Oh I forgot..Panama has advertised itself out of the earthquake zone!

      Reply
  4. The Scarlet Pimpernel Avatar
    The Scarlet Pimpernel

    Any building that looks as creepy as that one deserves to have much more than just water and electrical problems.

    Reply
  5. drdias Avatar
    drdias

    Everything in Panama is built to the dry season! Everything is built cheap to the core! They build cheap and keep the other 90%! No real engineering or inspection that actually use known basic building standards, codes, and regulation! No real Fire or safety standards, codes, and regulation adhered to or followed! The materials used in construction do not meet basic international standards, codes, and regulation! Panama is one horrific manmade disaster hanging on the edge of complete failure by their design and/or by natural forces such as earthquakes, high winds, tornadoes, and storm water flooding far beyond what these cheaply built structures can endure! Panama is built upon an under-engineered infrastructure that has not been repaired properly, maintained, updated, improved in too many years too count! All these Developers and Politicians have done to add on to a fragile highly overworked infrastructure system for a population one third of what is here today in Panama! Time is not on Panamas side as these structures built upon these crumbling infrastructures start their hasty fall from grace into oblivion with excessively massive human tragedy and cost which those affected cannot endure or possibly pay for!

    Reply
  6. Dan Jackson Avatar
    Dan Jackson

    @ Chepe, while the design may have been done by the best Panama has to offer, the actual construction and oversight of of the job must have been in a haphazard manner. The mano de obra didn’t get a working model of the design apparently. And the best Panama has to offer is behind the curve when ranked against other countries engineers. Don’t fret, soon the protected professionals of Panama will have some competition to show just how lacking the pool of their talents are.

    Reply
  7. Lee Armitage Avatar
    Lee Armitage

    Go away you people. You don’t like Panamá, leave!

    Reply
    1. Okke Ornstein Avatar
      Okke Ornstein

      Why don’t you leave yourself if you can’t stand criticism or debate?

      Reply
      1. vishal Avatar
        vishal

        Because he’s a patriot pussy thats why he won’t stand criticism or debate. Hahahah good one anyways!

        Reply
      2. Genny Avatar
        Genny

        Great answer!!!

        Reply
  8. Vishal Avatar
    Vishal

    Here’s what I think. If someone disagrees, I don’t give a crap. I am just like the smart guy who runs this site…. “DONT GIVE A SHIT. THIS IS A REAL AS IT GETS”

    There are no respected structural engineers in this country. In the past there were many, but they died like everyone will eventually. Because there are no respected ones, thats why we are importing them for our infrastructure projects I guess. Because Panamanian engineers are such crooks and idiots, they forget that they had to lay out a fire hydrant water line after they finish building the road.

    All these engineering firms have are nice logos showing contemporary shit thinking, and they have loads of money, most which is illicit…These people were people who sold clothes, shoes, and jewelry. The didn’t know, and still don’t know crap about construction. They have so much money that now they are doomed for life with kids who don’t know what to do with that money, except spend it on prostitutes and drugs.

    All Panamanian “modern” structures, use a bit of cement (obviously) and cover it up with tinted or shiny glass or some aluminum sheets to make the construction look fancy. After a year or two of heavy rains, the water’s weight tears the sheets between the sealed divisions, and the whole construction looks like a piece of shit. After the heat comes up, the badly installed tile lifts up and you gotta pay for putting a new thick bed mortar and reinstalling new tiles. In Panama people believe it is normal for all structures to crack, and all tiles to lift up. Plus, buildings are made so fast, that the concrete doesn’t even get time to settle. Considering the weather in the region, strong and well made constructions shall TAKE time, but recently the real estate wave is actually running against nature’s time. Buildings need at least 2-3 years for foundations to settle in since most of the areas where the skyscrapers are being built were water before, and now there are all fillings. Unlike Dubai, the fillings here are made using both sand and rock, but the time it needs to settle in is too low.

    This F tower is Panama’s most “photoed” building. It fucking breaks me when I see the tourism ministry just repeating scenes of bitches jogging in cinta costera, and scenes of tall buildings and buildings and buildings to attract tourists. I mean what the hell are they going to do with these buildings? There is a lot of beauty in this country that has to be showcased rather than just the concrete jungle which they have built up.

    In Panama it is easy to enroll into only 2-3 universities that provide architectural design as a career, and draw nice shit up that is govered with class and rendered in 3d and become an architect. I have heard dozens of names of fools who used to sell clothes in the free zone and didn’t even know how to replace their car’s tire, drawing fancy buildings and erecting tall structures from their dirty illicit money and copying names from Miami’s buildings

    You want a taste of Panama, go to the interior, enjoy the tranquil life, go to the beaches on the atlantic side, visit churches and historic centers, and try foods and the nightlife. That’s what you should be advertising; Culture.

    Reply
    1. Okke Ornstein Avatar
      Okke Ornstein

      Well said.

      Reply
    2. Mayur Avatar
      Mayur

      Amen.

      Reply
  9. Genny Avatar
    Genny

    In Panamá there are no regulations for anything!! Starting from ineficiant goverment and gansters like pinzón y Lozano that take advenge of the ignorance of this country! Many panamenian call this country a free place, but this freedom is wrong used better call country with no rules and with out love and respect for people!

    Reply
  10. faustino Avatar
    faustino

    I think the real problem in Panama is that if you have a bit of money there are absolutely no consequences for your negligence or outrights crimes for that matter. When people (sometimes hundreds..think antifreeze) die as a result of a Panamanians gross negligence…no problem, a friend in high places will bail him out and some poor bastard will take the heat. No one who has a dime ever goes to jail for corruption, negligence,
    or even murder for that matter. Remember the poor girl the rabiblanco psycho threw off a balcony in Paitilla. After she landed, the police ran over her body trying to make it look like an road accident, the coroner faked the autopsy and a judge ordered that she be cremated immediately without permission from her parents. Her mother received death threats for asking questions.

    So when you buy your condo in Panama and you’re sitting on your 30 th floor balcony rest assured that your well-being is in the hands of these lovely human beings.

    Reply
    1. Okke Ornstein Avatar
      Okke Ornstein

      Of all the scandals and cases I’ve covered over more than a decade in Panama, the case of that Colombian girl, Vanessa Marquez, has made the most lasting impression on me. No other case laid the vile, evil mentality of the rabiblanco crowd as bare as this one. I still have part of the legal file here somewhere, full of documents showing how these scumbags – and that included the management of the Paitilla Inn – were busy covering their asses. Really disgusting. One day, I’ll go back to that story.

      Reply
      1. faustino Avatar
        faustino

        It was the worst example for me also. What shocked me was the speed and coordination of so many different sectors of Panamanian society in effortlessly committing such heinous acts.

        When I first read about someone being thrown off a balcony in front of scores of witnesses I thought surely no one could get away with this. Then they blamed it on the non-rabi who brought her to the party, having given up faking it was a road accident. Did the coroner, the police who ran her over even get charged? I never learned which comimeirda actually threw her over. It was at that point that I realized Panama was completely lawless and rotten to the core.

        Reply
  11. w bottin Avatar
    w bottin

    Your responses are related to the unfortunate results of situations gone wrong. Every country has these situations arise and some are not always treated with the proper justice. To blackball a country because of this is just as criminal as the acts themselves.

    One needs to explore the positive aspects, which undoubtedly exceed the negative aspects.

    Rome wasn’t built in a day, the U.S. had to tame its lawlessness, Panama has to overcome its criminal problems, give it some time and leeway.

    Ninety percent (90%) of the population are law abiding citizens! The remaining 10% are criminal immigrants hiding here from their Mother countries’ justice systems. Time will either send them to jail or cause them to move on to greener pastures.

    Certainly one bad apple can spoil the lot, but many good apples escape the rot.

    Emphasize to good, prosecute the bad, and the country will survive!

    Reply
    1. Okke Ornstein Avatar
      Okke Ornstein

      You don’t seem to be fully aware of how corruption and maleanteria is an integrated part of business in Panama.

      Reply
    2. vishal Avatar
      vishal

      Maybe you are right and have morality in your thoughts. I’d agree with you when you say that not everyone is bad here. Yes, most people are really good.
      At the same time I’d like to emphasize the fact that the only reason we come to this site is to seek some truths that are disguised as “progress” in our country. You know, today there are more people afraid of the failure and mismanagement of institutionalism in Panama than this country has ever had.

      Plus, this country is so small in size and population, that no newspaper published poll can manage to fool the local population. Everyone knows the truth, but very few people actually have the power to act and change things for a better good. That being said, the whole damn world looks as it is going down the drain with the amount of greed and fear dominate our lives.

      Reply
  12. Edmond Dantes Avatar
    Edmond Dantes

    I think that anglophone Panamanians & Foreign Residents are damn lucky to have a blog like Bananamarepublic where they can freely express his/her opinions without fearing censorship, as long as the moderator agrees with you of course.

    Reply

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