Colombia’s national infrastructure agency (ANI) has said it is seeking a resolution over the much delayed Mulaló - Loboguerrero P3 project to unblock a construction dispute.
ANI said that although a Court of Arbitration ruling had set June 9 as the construction start date on the project, the agency and Ministry of Transport have “made progress in dialogue with [concessionaire] Covimar to reach an agreement on the date and start without problems”.
The project reached financial close in 2016, marking the final deal of the first wave of the country’s lauded 4G program.
However, concessionaire Nueva Vía al Mar (Covimar) had sought to terminate the project after years of delays, which it says are due in part to permitting delays.
The Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of ANI, to enforce the contract that will see over 30km of highway, featuring multiple tunnels and bridges, connecting the two cities, delivered through a circa $600m concession deal.
Speaking on the latest decision, ANI said that it sees “each and every one of the contractual conditions is met, however, in the concessionaire's opinion, time and the context have changed some conditions that require reconsideration”, adding that it recognizes the need for dialogue to get the project moving and is seeking an agreement.