The Social Security Department has made a partial payment of $40 million to the contractor of the project to resume work and complete the complex, valued at $517 million.
The project which was awarded to the company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) during the Martinelli administration is only 45% complete, and it should be completed in 2017.
Workers have accepted the wage proposal made by the ICA-FCC-MECO consortium and resumed excavating the last stretch of the access channel to the Pacific.
After almost a week of work stoppage in the last stretch of riverbed on the access channel through the Pacific, workers agreed to resume work after negotiating a series of agreements with the consortium made up of the Mexican Ingenieros Civiles Asociados, the Spanish Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas and the Costa Rican firm Meco.
The group in charge of the construction of the fourth tranche accessing the Pacific has asked for arbitration over its demand for an additional $44 million as well as more time.
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) received 6 complaints from Fomento de Contratas y Construcciones (FCC), the Mexican company ICA and the Costa Rican Construction company MECO, who were awarded the contract for the last access tranche to the the Pacific linking to the third set of locks with the Corte Culebra.
The contract was awarded to the Spanish construction company FCC, as an extension of the work carried out on the Brazil highway.
The Ministry of Public Works in Panama awarded a $40 million subcontract to the company of Spanish origin, Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas S.A. (FCC), for the implementation of a "traffic management plan for the city's road realignment."
The government authorized the construction of the 12MW hydroelectric power plant called “Hidropantasma”, over river Pantasma in Jinotega.
Emilio Rapaccioli, Nicaragua’s energy minister, explained that works are scheduled to begin on August 2010, and should be completed by July 2012.
The consortium in charge of the project is composed, in equal shares, by GrupoCorporativo SARET Nicaragua and the Central American division of Spain’s FCC (Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas S.A.).
Five companies submitted their bids for widening the road between Divisa and Chitré.
They are “Constructora Meco”, “CC Construcciones de Centro América S.A.”, “Consorcio Benito Roggio Panamá S.A.- Benito Roggio e Hijos S.A”, “Constructora Urbana S.A.” and “Hidalgo e Hidalgo S.A.”. The lowest priced bid was presented by Hidalgo and Hidalgo S.A., at little under $104 million.
The consortium FCC-ICA-MECO won the second-largest contract of the Panama Canal expansion project.
This contract comprises excavating a 6.1 kilometer waterway that will connect the third set of locks with the Culebra Cut.
From Prensa.com: "FCC-ICA-MECO submitted the lowest priced offer in the bidding process ($267.798.795), and complied with the requirements imposed by the Panama Canal Authority".
Such is the amount proposed by the lowest-priced bid, by consortium Fomento de Construcciones y Contrata (FCC), Mexico's ICA and MECO.
Other companies bidding for the contract include Brazil's Odebrecth, Belgium's Jan de Nul, and the consortium Impregilo, Sacyr and Cusa (ISC).
"The Panama Canal Authority must review financial and technical documentation to assure if the proposal complies with all bidding rules, in order to award it.
The proposal by the Colombian company Aerotocumen was almost $11 million lower than the second best offer.
The contract includes the construction of the Muelle North (North Dock) terminal, the remodeling of the current terminal and the construction of a new administrative building for Tocumen, S.A.
The Aerotocumen consortium, which is made up of the Conconreto company and the Odinsa Group, made the best offer at $68.65 million.