Due to delays caused by situations beyond the control of China Engineering Company, the Costa Rican authorities agreed to postpone by 174 days the delivery of the work to expand Route 32.
Initially the China Engineering Company (CHEC), asked the National Road Council (Conavi) for an extension of 400 days to deliver the extension of 107 kilometers, which connects the crossing to Rio Frio with the center of Limon, however, the authorities only agreed to delay for 174 days, therefore, the work would be delivered no later than March 2021.
While the concessionaire in charge of the work announces that it plans to subcontract a Costa Rican construction company for part of the project, the Ministry of Public Works states that it has not been notified.
The remaining stretch of the 107 kilometers comprising the project in its entirety, between the junction of Rio Frio and Matina, will be built by the project concessionaire, China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd.
In Costa Rica, the Solis administration is trying to give the order to begin the construction and extension of 107 kilometers of the route to Limón, eventhough studies, permits and 1,200 expropriations have not yet been carried out.
President Luis Guillermo Solis could give the order to start work on Monday to the construction firm China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC), but the project has so many tasks and procedures still pending that it is difficult to understand how the construction company will be able to start work under the current conditions.
The final designs presented by the Chinese company include the construction of nine bridges and 27 kilometers of marginal roads, raising the total cost of the work from $465 million to $505 million.
Spokespeople for China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC), in charge of the project, explained that in the review of the 32 bridges on the 107 km stretch of road that will be rebuilt there are 9 that are in poor condition and must be demolished.In addition to the nine bridges, the designs presented by CHEC include "...27 kilometers of marginal roads; in the original contract the construction of 26 kilometers was established."
The Chinese construction company CHEC will finance the cost of the environmental impact study in order to unfreeze the project to expand 100 kilometers from San José to Limón.
The goal of the construction company China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is to avoid further delays to the start of the project to expand and renovate 107 kilometers of road in the province of Limón on Route 32. Lack of resources at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport prevented any progress being made in this process, which in turn is a prerequisite for the Chinese bank Eximbank to hand over the $395 million with which the work will be financed.
Although the Minister of Public Works had demonstrated his confidence that there would not be increased costs in the road project to be built by the Chinese company CHEC, an announcement has now been made that there will be increases and they will be "substantial".
An article in Nacion.com reports that "...Confidence in "Chinese honor" and a personal guarantee that the Asians would not raise the cost of extending Route 32 (to Limon), only lasted two months for Transport Minister Carlos Segnini. "
China Harbour Engineering Company, one of the bidders in the tender for Line 2 of the Panama Metro and a contractor for road works in Costa Rica, is ineligible to participate in projects financed by the World Bank.
Given the criticisms over its main involvement (60%) in one of the consortia which submitted bids for the construction of the Panama Metro Line 2, a spokesperson for China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Latin America argued that "..
Without having read the contract with the construction company and ignoring final costs, the Legislature has approved the loan with the Chinese government to finance the extension of the road to Limón.
The loan with the government of China for $485 million is tied to a commercial contract with the Chinese state-run construction company CHEC, highly questioned not only technically but at the legal level, since it is one of the companies "...
China Harbour Engineering Company has accepted a request by the Solis administration to extend the signing a loan to be used for the extension of the road going from San José to the Caribbean.
It is the fifth time there has been a postponement of the signing of the loan agreement for the extension of 105 kilometers of Route 32, which connects the capital with the Port of Limón, in the Caribbean, but the first in the administration of President Luis Guillermo Solis.
The loan signed by the previous government is tied to a contract for the construction of 105 kilometers of road which was pre awarded to China's CHEC.
An article in Nacion.com reports that "... The government of Luis Guillermo Solís reported today that China will make a formal request to renegotiate the loan to expand Route 32, which was signed during the administration of Laura Chinchilla."
Five Costa Rican construction companies have submitted a joint proposal to take over the expansion to four lanes of 107 miles of kilometers to the Caribbean.
The companies, Codocsa, Desarrollos Mega, Pedregal, Productos de Concreto and Traesa submitted a joint proposal for the expansion to four lanes of the Rio Frio to Limón stretch on Route 32. They did not mention the cost or method of financing, but claim they are charging less than the amount proposed by China Harbour Engineering Company.
Complaints have been made that the bill awarding construction of the Caribbean route to a Chinese company was approved without preliminary drawings, calculation of materials and study of costs.
Grupo Consenso believes that it is "unacceptable" that the Committee on Financial Affairs agreed to accept as reasonable the cost presented by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), in the amount of $465 million.