Odebrecht stymied over airport add-ons

THE ODEBRECHT company,  mired on scandal in Brazil and a subject of concern to civil groups in Panama  would have been the most expensive route to go for additional work at Tocumen International Airport.

That was the thinking behind the decision of the airport authority in putting out to tender additional jobs that have been included in the  airport expansion project in  the last three years.

The current cost exceeds $1 billion because of add-ons However, it was decided to put these additional projects out to public bids, resulting in $70 million in contracts tendered last year.

Of the total $50 million corresponded to projects that would have been allocated to Odebrecht.

These contracts include the construction of an electric substation, which was tendered for $25 million, repairs to a runway for $12 million and the rehabilitation of taxiways for $4.7 million.

Airport officials said that if all these works had been assigned to the Brazilian company, the total cost would have been much higher.

Odebrecht has received over $9 billion in contacts from Panama Governments with frequent reports  of cost over runs.

$116,300,000 was the original amount requested  by Odebrecht to cover  the additional  improvements to Terminal 2.

The project,  which will have 20 boarding gates, is 55% complete . When it is ready the airport will be able to handle 21 million passengers a year