Merca Panama work will work a 24-hour schedule until  Saturday, July 23, with the aim of supplying businesses and the general public following shortages in Panama City due to the blockades on the Inter-American highway.

Kevin Vigil, the administrator of Merca Panama, said on Friday morning, that the 24-hour schedule began to take effect  Thursday, July 21.

Vigil added that the schedule for Sunday, July 24, is subject to an analysis of the behavior of the closures of the Inter-American highway, at points in the east of Chirica and in the district of Santiago, Veraguas.

He said that to date some 150 vehicles have managed to enter the facilities and in the convoy on the night of this July 21, 55 vehicles from Tierras Altas and Río Sereno entered the distribution center.

Regarding prices, the administrator clarified that he is waiting for the normalization of traffic on the roads so that they stabilize. In addition, he recalled that in Merca Panama there are officials from the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (Acadeco) who carry out their verifications daily.

"We do not handle exorbitant prices," Vigil insisted.