Panama Rejects Canal
Corruption Fears
By Adam Thomson in Panama
City
The head of the Panama Canal Authority has rejected fears that
corruption and the global financial crisis could mar ambitious plans
to expand capacity of the inter-ocean seaway.
Four consortiums, comprising many of the world's leading engineering
and -construction companies, are expected tomorrow to submit bids to
design and build a set of locks for the canal.
The estimated us$5.25 billion project, by far Panama's largest
infrastructure endeavour since the canal was completed in 1914, aims
to double capacity and is considered vital to accommodate recent
global shipping trends.
However, the project's sheer size and ambition have raised concerns
in some -circles, given the history of corruption that has been
associated with many large state-funded endeavours in Latin America.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Alberto Alemán,
administrator of the ACP, the autonomous government agency that runs
the canal, dismissed such concerns.
"I just don't see it," he said. "The way we have conducted this
process is by being transparent and open and I don't expect this
[contract] to be any different."
Mr Alemán said that the proposals to be presented tomorrow would
consist of two parts: the technical design of the new locks and the
costing. He said that cost estimates would be kept in a sealed
envelope to ensure transparency until the designs had been fully
-evaluated.
As an additional measure, the ACP last month hired Deloitte as
contracting auditor to scrutinize the technical side of the
proposals, as well as to ensure the ACP's evaluation committee stuck
to rigorous analysis of the offers. "They [the consortiums] can feel
confident that they are playing on an even field."
On fears that the global financial crisis would cast a cloud over
the expansion plans, Mr Alemán pointed to the $2.3bn received in
funding in December from five multilateral agencies, with the Japan
Bank for International Co-operation putting up $800m of that.
The rest, he said, would come from the canal's operating income,
which he expected to remain fairly stable in spite of some recent
reduction in volumes.
"We are seeing a dip in the curve but this is a long-term project,"
Mr Alemán said. "This project continues, it has financing in place
and it will be opened in 2014." |
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