QCOSTARICA – The contract to expand the Ruta 32 (San Jose – Limon) to four lanes, awarded to the Chinese company, China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC), has obtained the required endorsement of the Comptroller General of the Republic (the Contraloría).
With a series of recommendations and after many months of reviewing information, the Contraloría gave the green light on Tuesday.
The expansion of highway linking the greater metropolitan area of San Jose to the Caribbean port city, where the country’s most important ports are located, is vital.
The deal will see the 107 kilometer highway expand from the current two lanes to four.
The deal was signed in June, 2013. The project will cost US$495.5 million dollars, of which US$395 million will be financed by the Chinese government and the balance by the Costa Rican government.
Under the terms of the contract, the Chinese company is committed to undertake both the design work and construction.
The design phase is expected to take 8 months and the construction phase 34 months.
The process to reach this agreement was complicated first by questioning the construction firm, then the lack of clarity to costs and changes to the original plans.
“This is great news, mainly because it ends a process which took too long and allows us to move on to the design and construction phases,” said Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis at a press conference on Tuesday.
