Predatory billing by Canal expansion contractor

REPORTS  that the “leaking” problems with the locks for the Panama Canal expansion were due to    low-quality concrete were   not true, said Panama Canal  Minister, Roberto Roy during a brief  presentation to the National Assembly on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The problem had been caused by a lack of reinforcement. “It was not an error in construction,” he said.

Meanwhile the Canal Authority Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano spent six hours delivering his quarterly report, including attacks on the predatory billing of the expansion contractor.

Quijano talked about conflicts with the contractor, Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), leaks in the new locks and the overall progress of the work.

“GUPC has made huge claims, we have reports that those claims are much higher than we estimated,” he said.

He said he expects the project to be inaugurated in the first quarter of this year, but he does not have an exact date due to setbacks, such as the leaks in the Pacific locks.

Those repairs will be finished this month he said and “There will be a long process of testing,”

Quijano said that he will continue to defend the interests of the ACP.