A $53 million road renovation project in Costa Rica, a commercial building and three roadworks in Panama are some of the public infrastructure projects planned for the coming months in the region.
The information system"Construction Projects in Central America",complied by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, provides an up to date list of the public and private construction projects for which environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies were submitted to the respective institutions of each country in January 2017.
In Costa Rica an order has been given to suspend construction of a supervision contract awarded to the state run power company for a road building project, because it is considered outside of its normal tasks.
EDITORIAL
The confluence of interests within the Costa Rican state bureaucratic corporation has allowed for institutional nepotism, by means of direct contracts between state agencies, to be thought of as beneficial to the interests of society. It is in this way that impediments are created to private companies being awarded public works contracts.
Through a public-private partnership scheme the government is looking for land and a private developer to build a bus terminal for routes from Cartago to Curridabat.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport:
The Minister of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT), through its Public Transport Council (CTP), signed on Thursday, with the Municipalities of Curridabat and Cartago, a framework cooperation agreement to improve access to public transport.
The Ministry of Public Works of Costa Rica has been given authorization to hire, expeditiously and without calling a tender, services for the construction of the first phase of an office building for the entity, estimated at $12.5 million.
The first stage of construction includes the structural design and gray works at the building site. It has been reported that, according to the Association of Engineers and Architects, there are three companies who qualify for this work: Productos de Concreto, Escosa and Eurubaru. However, according to the decision of the Comptroller General of the Republic, any entity that meets the requirements can participate in the contest.
The Ministry of Transport and Public Works will put the works out to tender at the end of the first quarter of 2014.
From a Press Release by the Presidential House of Costa Rica:
"By signing an addendum to the voluntary agreement between the Association Council for Real Estate Development (CODI) and the National Council for Roads (Conavi) there will be an extension to 5 -lanes of the ring road Santa Ana- Belen two kilometers long, and 4 bridges located on this highway in which an investment of $34 million is estimated to be carried out. The first phase of work will involve the relocation of utilities and will start next January in order to have the necessary space to allow extending the lanes.
The decline in public works is the main factor for the decline in the construction sector.
During the first six months of 2013, there were 690,658 m² of public works under construction, while in the same period of 2012 there were 1,066,400 m².
Data provided by the Association of Engineers and Architects (CFIA by its initials in Spanish), reveals that this was the main cause of general construction (public and private) experiencing a 12% decrease compared to the first six months of 2012 .
The dismal state of public infrastructure in the country is in the hands of an institution that is "incapable of solving relatively ordinary problems".
Editorial
The minister of communication in the Chinchilla administration, Francisco Chacon, admitted that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) is an institution "unable to resolve relatively ordinary problems" with "decentralized bodies which are not accountable to the minister."
The condition of the bridges over which 80% of exports pass is disastrous and is seriously affecting the country’s productivity.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that "Years of neglect and delayed attention have affected the 1330 bridges in the national road network. This is shaking the foundations of enterprise."
An example of the severity of the problem is the list of bridges which because of their poor condition are damaging logistics for export products, raising costs of such and causing delays.
The contest will be published in the second half of this year and the funds will come from a loan granted by CABEI.
Funding for the works comes from a $340 million loan that the Government of Costa Rica signed this week with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE).
The Northern Ring Road will be a 4-lane highway that will begin on Route 32 and continue west until reaching the intersection with Circunvalacion, opposite Burger King in La Uruca. The complete length of this section includes the largest viaduct built in the country, at 3.8 kilometers long, between the intersection of Route Guapiles and a sector close to Leon XIII, in Tibás.
The works comprise the renovation of road surfaces, and construction of bridges and storm drains on major routes in the area.
From the press release by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport:
The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) and the National Roads Authority (CONAVI) has intensified repair works on road surfaces and bridge building on major roads in the Southern Zone, where it has invested a total of ¢13.448 million ($ 27 million) from the Road Fund.
With an investment of $115 million, the Ministry of Public Works has resumed the Northern ring-road construction project in San Jose and hopes to put it out to tender next year.
The northern section of the ring road will be completed in two stages, the first will be on the La Uruca-Route 32 stretch and the second on the section between Route 32-Calle Blancos.
The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly has approved a $200 million loan for road infrastructure.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan, is part of a loan package of $850 million, which will be disbursed in installments.
"These resources, which are exclusively for matters relating to road infrastructure, will be used for a second tranche of cantonal road development in a number of towns and roads that have already been established, the projects will be monitored by a unit of the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation", published Prensalibre.cr.
As of August, the Ministry of Public Works will be putting out to tender works for the expansion to four lanes of the North American highway between Cañas and Liberia.
The works to be carried out on the stretch of road from Cañas to Liberia, are for a length of 50.610 kilometers (fifty kilometers, six hundred and ten meters), starting at Km 166 +300 (approximately 600 meters before Rio Canas) and ending at Km 216 +910 (approximately 600 meters after Quebrada Piches).
A study of the condition of streets and roads around the country reveals that 15% must be completely redone.
Total reconstruction, repair or mild maintenance works. This is what 100% of the streets and roads of Costa Rica's highway system need, according to a study by the National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models (LANAMME).
Of all the country's roads, 60% need maintenance, 25% require some degree of repair or reconstruction, while the remaining 15% must be rebuilt.
The Ministry of Public Works has awarded the construction of 28 bridges that are part of a $495 million batch of projects promoted by the Government.
The bridges will be built over four domestic routes (247, 249, 138 and 733).
The Minister of Public Works and Transport, Francisco Jiménez Reyes added that "everything is ready to put out to tender a second set of bridges for domestic routes: RN112 San Isidro-Heredia (six bridges), RN18-Nicoya Tempisque (two bridges) and RN14 RioClaro-Golfito (six bridges), unlike the first set, these 14 structures will have two lanes", noted an article on the web portal of La Prensa Libre.