Martinelli era construction projects halted

WORK  has stopped  on multiple projects by a consortium  much favored  by the Martinelli administration and now mired in corruption investigations.

A lack of liquidity of HPC Contratas­ P&V has caused a chain of defaults in the delivery of state projects.

The consortium was awarded contracts for the construction of agricultural markets as part of the much touted Martinelli national cold chain project. It also received contracts to build health centers in Chepo and Colon.

This was in addition to the failed attempt to build a convention center in Amador, a project that is under criminal investigation with key figures of the state owns Caja de Ahorros in detention.

The consortium, made up of the companies Hispano Panameña de Construcciones, S.A. (HPC), Contratas Iglesias, Constructora P & V and Soluciones Arquitectónica Ingeniería y Construcciones (Sicsa), stopped work on the agricultural markets, arguing that it is facing liquidity problems due to the lack of payments by the state.

But records show that the company used payments for that project to cancel other debts. The state has paid $9.9 million for the agricultural projects.