QCOSTARICA – The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) and the National Highway Council (CONAVI) denounced that the National Route 32 expansion project is underfunded and poorly designed.
Authorities estimate that the project, which connects San José with Limón, started in 2017, needs between US$300 and US$350 million more, to be able to finish it according to the original design and incorporate the necessary complementary works. However, they recognized that the necessary funds are not available.
The Executive Director of CONAVI, Mauricio Batalla, stated that they came across a completely unfinanced project with nearly US$150 million dollars in claims by the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC), which earlier this year was granted a third extension of the project that should have been completed by February 2023.
Batalla acknowledged that, with this additional expense, it is practically a new project.
In addition, MOPT minister, Luis Amador, indicated that citizens should know the reality of the 107 km expansion project, which he described as “poorly designed, without supervision and underfunded.”
The MOPT chief pointed out that the only way to solve the problem is by lowering the scope of the project, mentioning that it might be necessary to eliminate some overpasses.
One of the major stumbling blocks to completing the project is the MOPT and Conavi’s failure to resolve the oustanding land expropriation, that to date face significant delays.
Earlier this year, in May, we reported that only 319 pieces of the 643 pieces of land required to build the work are either in already in the hands of the State and or have voluntary entry into possession.
