As a result of the corruption case in Costa Rica involving a shareholder of Constructora MECO, Fitch Ratings downgraded the company's long-term national rating to "A-(pan)" from "AA-(pan)", and at the same time placed it on Negative Watch.
On the morning of June 14, 2021, some 700 agents of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the Public Prosecutor's Office (prosecutors) raided 21 homes, Casa Presidencial, Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT), National Viability Council (Conavi) and Public Transportation Council (CTP).
Van der Laat & Jiménez, H3 Guatemala, Constructora Codico, Bagatrac S.A. and Constructora Meco are some of the main companies that last year won contracts to design and build public works in Central American countries.
An analysis by CentralAmericaData's Trade Intelligence Unit provides interesting data on the companies that in 2019 were favored with contracts to design and build government buildings, roads, bridges, streets, overpasses and other public infrastructure works in Central American countries.
Constructora Rodsa, Constructora Peñaranda and Constructora Codico are three of the companies that in the first quarter of 2019 were awarded contracts by governments to build all types of public infrastructure in Central America.
An analysis of CentralAmericaData's Trade Intelligence unit provides data on the companies that from January to March 2019 were awarded government contracts to build all types of public infrastructure in Central American countries.
Expansion of highways in Panama and El Salvador, construction of a border bridge in Guatemala and a cultural complex in Honduras are part of the public works to be developed in the region.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects to be built in the coming months.
Constructora Meco, V&T S.A., Ingeniería REC and Constructora Rodsa are some of the companies that in 2018 were awarded contracts to build public infrastructure works in Central America.
An analysis compiled by the Trade Intelligence unit at CentralAmericaData provides data on the companies that during the last year were awarded by the governments of the region, with contracts to execute construction works in Central American countries.
After PowerChina in Costa Rica won the contract to expand a section of highway in Guanacaste, one of the participating consortia appealed the results, arguing that the requirements had been modified in the tender.
The road work awarded to PowerChina in 2018 consists of a total of 50 kilometers, distributed in two tenders, one for the San Gerardo-Limonal section and the other for the Barranca-San Gerardo section.
In 45 days the construction of the new bridge over the River Virilla, in Costa Rica, is scheduled to start, after having been awarded to the consortium consisting of MECO and Puentes y Calzadas.
Authorities at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport explained to Nacion.com that "... They received a notification from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) in which they were informed that the appeals lodged by several companies interested in the work were declared without merit."
There is still no certainty as to when construction of the dock will resume, rather than being ready by the middle of this year, it will be delayed until at least January 2018.
Initial plans were that Recope's oil dock, which will allow larger vessels to dock, would be ready by the middle of this year, but it is now estimated that it could be completed in early January next year, due to problems that arose during the construction process, which is being run by the consortium ICA-MECO.
Financial problems of the Mexican company ICA, member of the consortium in charge of building the dock in Costa Rica, could be part of the reasons behind the stoppage of work on the project.
The proposed construction of an oil dock for Recope wasawarded to the consortium made up of MECO and the Mexican construction firm ICA, which since 2012 has been developing the works. The project is now 96% complete, and according to the president of Recope, Sara Salazar, the problem of non-payment, which may have led workers to stop construction, has now been resolved and work will resume in the coming days .
The consortium made up of the Costa Rican firm MECO and the Mexican firms Cal y Mayor y Asociados and Mexpresa has won the contract to design and build a bridge between Panama and Costa Rica, over the Sixaola River.
Thetenderconsists of the design and construction of a binational bridge over the river Sixaola, and construction is scheduled to begin in late February 2017. The new binational bridge will have one lane in each direction, and will include bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways.It is expected that the new border structure will be in service in the first quarter of 2018.
The Costa Rican companies MECO and Productos de Concreto have formed an alliance with the Nicaraguan Lacayo Fiallos to create the construction company Concrenic, which has already started operations in Nicaragua.
With a joint investment of $5 million, the company Concrenic has announced the start of operations in Nicaragua, where it will specialize in the construction of pipes, pavers, blocks, poles and tiles, among other products.
Rejecting the arguments put forward by three participants bidding for the construction work, the Comptroller has endorsed the contracts awarded to MECO, Hernán Solís and Quebradores del Sur.
The contract awarded to Constructora MECO is for $116 million, for Hernan Solis $76 million, and for Quebradores del Sur it is for more than $14 million. The timeframe for maintenance of the national road network is four years.
Schools, renovation of high rise residential buildings and airport infrastructure are some of the construction projects for which contracts were awarded in Central America in April 2016.
The report "Construction Projects in Central America", prepared by the Business Intelligence unit at CentralAmericaData.com contains a detailed list of major construction projects taking place in Central America.
In Costa Rica the consortium comprised of Meco and Puentes y Calzadas has been awarded a contract to design and build the definitive access road to the new container terminal in Limón.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport in Costa Rica:
For being the only bid to comply with the technical specifications of the tender, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) and the National Highway Council (CONAVI), awarded last week the design and construction of the works to build the definitive access road to the new Moin Container Terminal (TCM) to Consorcio del Atlántico, made up of the companies Meco and Puentes y Calzadas.
As the country suffers from a serious crisis of inability to develop public works, one Costa Rican company is helping build the Panama Canal and highways and another infrastructure works in other countries.
EDITORIAL
Costa Ricans do not lack capacity to design and implement large infrastructure projects.One example that confirms this is the participation of MECO in building the third set of locks of the Panama Canal and major roadworks in Colombia.