The Ortega administration may be taking up once again the port privatization project conceived in 2000 and may be close to awarding a concession to an international operator.
In November 2000 an article in Laprensa.com.ni reported that "the privatization of the Port of Corinto which would serve as a model for a similar process in other ports in the country, was the center of discussion at a seminar in which the results of a preliminary study on the issue were announced, said Roberto Zelaya Blanco, chief executive of the National Port Company (EPN). "
To solve the problems of distributing medicines to hospitals, the Health Ministry may hire a courier company.
"We have several alternatives and it could be, for example, that transport ... rather than have being done by the Secretariat, be done using a private system, the kind of business that delivers goods," said the chief of Health, Salvador Pineda.
In a reversal of the decision of having them administered by Tocumen SA, the airports of David, Colon and Rio Hato will be granted in concession to private companies.
The Panamanian government now believes that it would not be suitable for Tocumen SA to manage – along with Tocumen International Airport - these airport terminals, which are being remodeled at a cost of $138 million.
In light of complaints from ministers regarding a possible concession of the port to the Spanish Group TCB, representatives from the port authority have denied this possibility.
The legislative bloc Libertad Democrática Renovada (Líder) said that since last February there have been discussions over a project to grant an operation concession over Port Quetzal to Spanish company Grupo TCB for over $400 million.
El Salvador's ports, airports and roads authority Cepa will invite bids to design the blueprints for the Comalapa international airport expansion project, Cepa's planning manager Ernesto Altschul told BNamericas.
"If we call to bid in June, the tender process should take about a year, due to all the requirements and processes Cepa must meet and carry out as a public entity," Altschul said.
El Salvador's national ports authority Cepa has sent the project decree for the concession of its La Unión and Acajutla terminals to congress, Cepa planning manager Ernesto Altschul told BNamericas.
"The project decree required by the constitution was sent to the legislative assembly, where it will be analyzed by a commission," he said, adding: "We expect the process to be completed within a month."
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