During a meeting with businessmen from the Guatemalan-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the Minister of Finance, Jonathan Menkos Zeissig, who also chairs the National Council of Alliances for the Development of Economic Infrastructure (Conadie), provided details regarding the future of the contract with the company Consorcio de Autopistas de Guatemala (Convía).
“We have managed to solve the legal mess that they had left for the construction of the Escuintla to Puerto Quetzal Highway; We are doing what the law establishes and what the Congress of the Republic approved to be able to have that work. We have spoken with the company and it has offered us to have the construction of the highway completed in the next 18 months,” the official told the AmCham members.
This was a positive sign regarding the future of the first public-private alliance approved by the Legislature in November 2021 for the reconstruction and administration of the Escuintla-Puerto Quetzal Highway (AEPQ) with toll collection, which is on hold due to the non-approval of the Definitive Engineering Study (EDI) by the General Directorate of Highways (DGC).
Only last Monday, in a summons in the Legislature, it was announced that Conadie, – chaired by Menkos Zeissig – notified on April 10 that they did not find sufficient causes to order the early termination of the contract, but next April 4 June, readjustments to the EDI must be submitted, for the fourth time.
Contract profile
The minister later clarified that the previous authorities of the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) reported deficiencies in the indicated report and suggested that the matter be closed.
But the new authorities made the decision to continue with the process, so that the contract that concessions the section to Convía for 25 years can proceed. “The delivery process of some pending reports is being completed and in the plans that have been discussed between Conadie and the company, we hope that construction will begin in the next 80 days. This will mean the construction of 111 kilometers of highway, which is precisely in line with the government’s goals,” he pointed out.
When asked if he would endorse the project, Menkos Zeissig responded that the perspective is that the EDI will be delivered with the qualities and conditions requested in the contract and that is what will enable the possibility of construction of the highway. ”.
In his opinion, this construction will greatly help the economic growth process that the country needs, through the modernization of roads to the main ports, simplifying the process of foreign trade and production.
Convía reaction
Sandro Testelli, president of Marhnos Guatemala (which is part of Convía), and who was present in the business activity, expressed his satisfaction with the above, which is why work is being done in coordination and under the guidelines of the different agencies that make up the Conadie.
He recalled that the process carried out by the authorities is official, so the readjustments to the EDI that were requested are being prepared, which is why it would be expected that, once the delivery has been made, the approval might be obtained on June 18 – the construction start certificate – to be able to begin the works.
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