The Costa Rican government assures that the road infrastructure projects are being executed according to the established schedule and that the announced plans for the next few months remain in place.
Directors of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), reported that in the context of the health crisis and with the aim of reviving the economy, it is essential that the planned road works are carried out.
Due to the health alert facing Costa Rica, the China Harbor Engineering Company decided to lay off 180 employees working on the Route 32 expansion project, which has already fallen behind on previous occasions.
In December 2019, it was reported that the Asian construction company asked the National Road Council (Conavi) for a 400-day extension to deliver the 107-kilometer extension, which connects the Rio Frio intersection with downtown Limon.
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.
In Costa Rica, a law project proposes to disable construction companies that do not comply with contracts with state entities for a period of five years.
The proposed law is analyzed by the Economic Affairs Committee of the Congress, and according to representatives of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), if approved, the law would allow sanctioning construction companies that do not complete the works agreed with the State.
In Costa Rica, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic decided to cancel the contracts for two UNOPS road construction projects, after it decided to keep secret the files with the details of these contracts.
The decision by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to hide the details of the contracts for the two road construction projects assigned to it by the National Road Council (Conavo) cost state coffers dearly.
The state insurer could be willing to invest up to $500 million in road construction projects that already have their pre-design and studies ready.
The offer by Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) applies only for projects designated as "mature", that is to say, those that already have all the approved permits and pre-designs.The problem with this requirement, according to the executive director of the Federated College of Engineers and Architects (CFIA), is that planning problems faced by Conavi and the Ministry of Public Works make it impossible to meet this requirement."..."Unfortunately, it's not the way the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) and Conavi have been working," Vargas said."
Due to a delay and an exaggerated increase in the cost of the project, consideration is being given to termination of the contract for the construction of the new road to San Carlos and reallocation of the pending works through several separate contracts.
The contract to build the 29.7-kilometer stretch of road between Sifón, San Ramón, and La Abundancia, in San Carlos, was awarded more than 9 years ago to the company Sánchez Carvajal, at an initial cost of $61 million.Since then, the cost of the project has increased 250% to $213 million.
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."
In Costa Rica, the National Road Safety Council has signed a confidentiality agreement with the UNOPS to keep information on two publicly funded road construction projects a secret.
The Chinese company in charge of the project will start construction work in the second half of 2018, and not in September of this year, as originally planned.
The delay is due to the fact that the Costa Rican State has not yet completed all of the necessary procedures to begin the project.There are up to 1,000 expropriationspending settlement, an archaeological study is still pending and there is still no plan to relocate public services such as water, electricity and internet cables.
After several months of discussions, approval has finally been given to the Bank of Costa Rica to take full control of the construction project for the route between San José and San Ramón.
The financial structure and execution of the work will now be the responsibility of the Bank of Costa Rica (BCR), which was awarded the contract for administration of the trust.For four months the discussion revolved around the conflict of interest that could arise if full control was given to the BCR, delaying the start of works.
The project to be undertaken by Grupo Orosi in Puntarenas includes, in addition to the 18-kilometer pavement, the construction of stabilization walls and slope protection.
The National Highway Council announced that the contract with the company, which does not require endorsement as a direct contract, consists of carrying out the process of asphaltingthe 18-kilometer stretch between Guacimal and Santa Elena in Puntarenas.
The agreement between the Conavi and the UNOPS to execute the works related to the radial road to Lindora, has received approval from the Comptroller General of the Republic.
From a statement issued by the Comptroller General of the Republic:
The Administrative Procurement Division of the CGR (attached office) has endorsed the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the National Highway Council (CONAVI) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), in the amount of $8,539,322.00 dollars for works related to the radial road to Lindora.
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.
The Bank of Costa Rica has been selected to hold the trust which will be used to manage the project to expand the highway between the capital and the city of San Ramon, which will cost approximately $500 million.
The extension of this road is a long-standing project, and has faced a host of problems, including the cancellation of the initial concession of the work, which involved a payment of $35 million to the Brazilian construction firm OAS, which in turn had bought the contract from Autopistas del Valle.
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