What goes around comes around, goes the old saying, and not always with the best results. But for British ex-pat Gerry Dowden it has a happy meaning. Like many permanent residents of Panama, he came, fell in love with the country and stayed. The icing on the cake was marriage to a beautiful Panamanian.

End of story? No things get better. Another long nurtured love was broadcasting, particularly spinning the discs as they used to say when the music went around and around".

As a young communications technician in the RAF, stationed in the Middle East, he became manager, producer and on-air presenter to British service men and women and ex-pats in and around Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. His easy going on-air approach and knowledge of current and past pop music, made him popular with his audiences, and gave him a sense of personal fulfillment.

He left the RAF in his late twenties, and while carving out a career for himself trading marine fuels continued broadcasting on hospital networks in Britain, fielding requests and sending messages with a musical attachment, from families and friends.

As his career in oil advanced, and he rose to be managing director of a series of companies, the on-air hobby had to be put to one side, and his spare hours in a stress-filled life were spent in listening instead of presenting.

In 1993 he arrived in Panama to manage a fuel trading company, which expanded into shipping and road transport company. He met Christina, and they were married in 1996.

Gerry D on air.

When the company he managed was sold, his choice was not difficult. "England had changed from the country I grew up in, and not always for the better" he said. "Panama was a country of opportunity, packed with friendly people. We used to say that it was one of the world's best kept secrets."

It was a time when ex-pats, outside of the American military, were few and far between. "Some of us would meet for social events, and we probably knew the names of every ex-pat in the city.

He believes strongly that Panama is like a multinational corporation, with a responsibility to the rest of the world through its Canal, banks and ever expanding service centers. But while the introduction of other customs and approaches may seem a threat to some, he stresses that much of this is enrichment for the country, but that regardless, it must not lose its only national identity.

For this reason he is wary of the term "ex-pat" as a possible definition of an outsider. He sees himself as a supporter of, a believer in, and a willing partner Panama, who is actively involved in working for the community at large.

Gerry opened a consultancy company to help new arrivals through the trails and trials of bureaucracy and settling in. The company thrived, and suddenly he had time to think and to dream of an old love. Missing from the settling-in equation for many newcomers was a link, in their own language to the music they grew up with a quick English interpretation of events going on around them. Gerry knew the answer was English radio. Eighteen months ago he teamed up with some "Brits" who shared his dream, and the Panama Broadcasting Corporation was born. The s first broadcast of Sunday Night at the Metropolis on 95.3 FM with Gerryd as the host, was on October 1 last year and it immediately attracted a loyal band of listeners, here and in North America, where it can be heard via the internet.

Nothing flatters more than imitation, and soon other radio stations were adjusting programming formats to match Gerry's laid back approach to news, features and music.

What had gone around, has come around.

You can hear "Gerry d" on FM 93.5 every sunday at 8 p.m.