Panama Ports wants direct contract for new port

THE PANAMA PORTS Company (PPC), which operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, doesn’t want  a bidding process for the Corozal port project and wants  the Panama Canal Authority(ACP) to give it a direct contract.

The Canal Authority has already rejected a request for the direct awarding of the contract filed by PPC. It said that awarding the contract directly to the port company would not be in the best interest of the country.

The company, a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings Group,   is now asking  the  Supreme Court to overturn the October 2014 decision  of the ACP.

That decision authorized the Canal administration to start the pre-qualification and tendering process to award the contract for the construction of the port.

PPC wants to receive the contract directly so that it can expand its operations in Balboa, which is next to Corozal.