Economy
January 21, 2014
Panama Canal Expansion Stalling on Cost Dispute
Written by Sandy Williams
Construction on the $5.2 billion Panama Canal expansion continued at a reduced rate on Monday despite threats by contractor consortium Grupo Unidos por El Canal, S.A. (GUPC) that work would be suspended due to lack of payment by the Panama Canal Authority (PCA).
The Spanish controlled consortium was hired to build the third set of locks for the Canal expansion for $3.1 billion after submitting a low-ball bid to Panama’s government. In December, GUPC threatened to shut down operations by January 20 if not paid an extra $1.6 billion for cost overruns that the consortium says were unavoidable.
