Due to delays caused by “situations beyond control”, the China Engineering Company (CHEC) and the Costa Rican authorities agreed to postpone by the delivery of the Ruta 32 expansion by 174 days.
Initially the CHEC, asked the Conavi, the national road council arm of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MOP) for an extension of 400 days to deliver the 107 kilometers road expansion, connecting the Rio Frio crossing with the center of Limon, however, the authorities only agreed to a delay of no later than March 2021.
CHEC argued that the expropriation process, which is beyond their control, for the delays in the construction and request for the extension.
However, Mario Rodriguez, director of Conavi, told Nacion.com that “… with the acceptance of the deadline, the company was required to present, at the latest next week, a plan detailing the actions to guarantee that within two months the first 20 kilometers of this road will be delivered.”
Rodriguez added that “… Even in the last meeting they promised that they would give priority to achieving that (the first kilometers); we are waiting for them to fulfill what they offered. In the next meeting, they must show us how they are going to achieve what they are promising us, we hope to see in that meeting that strategy to increase production in the area.”
The work that began two years ago, on November 20, 2017, that was to have been delivered by October 2020 barely reports a 15% progress.