Canal expansion consortium said juggling costs

THE CONSORTIUM  building the third set of locks for the the Panama Canal expansion, may be “artificially inflating” its costs warns the Board of Conflict Resolution after  awarding Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) $17.5 million.

The award is less than half of the $45 million the consortium had claimed.

Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano, said  the board hired its own experts to analyze the costs.

The payment must be made within 28 days, though either party can appeal the decision to an independent arbitrator.

The claim was based on cost overruns due to days of mourning declared by the government in 2011 and 2012 following the death of two former presidents, as well as a disturbance in Colón in October 2012.

In its decision, the board pointed out that GUPC overestimated the impact of the work stoppages. The board is composed of three engineers who analyze claims brought by the contractor.

The ACP said that the inflation of costs is one of the complaints it has made with the claims filed by GUPC. Reports La Prensa.

“GUPC is still juggling figures, and their figures are consistently inflated,” the ACP said.

The ACP said that it will remain firm in its verification procedures of bills submitted by GUPC, and will pay only those claims that are properly supporte