Key project in canal expansion gets new chief

No reason has been given for the replacement of the man in charge of the $3.2 billion locks construction project  of the canal expansion. {jathumbnail off}

Antonio Zaffaroni,  who has headed Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC)  since it was hired   to design and build the third set of locks has lost his job to Bernando González, a Spanish engineer who was previously overseeing the construction of the locks on the Atlantic side of the Canal.

Zaffaroni's new role, if any, has not been defined.

La Prensa says that, according to sources in The Panama Canal Authority,  the authority approved the change, defined as an internal administrative decision of the consortium.

GUPC was awarded the locks project in July 2009. 

The work, due for  for completion in 2014 to allow for the official ceremonies  100 years after the original opening of the canal, is  12 percent complete. The overall project is 23 percent complete