Plan for expansion of Route 32 lacks basic safety requirements; Chinese warn of increased cost

May 14^th, 2015 (InsideCostaRica.com) The proposal put forth by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), who signed a deal with Costa Rica to rebuild and expand 107 km of Route 32 between San Jose and the Caribbean port city of Limon, lacks even the most basic road safety requirements, according to documents sent to the company by roads authority CONAVI and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), hoping to address the issues.

Amongst some of the fundamental safety requirements lacking in the company’s plans are lighting, demarcation, drainage problems, and lack of shoulders along the roadway.

Also lacking is standard earthquake reinforcement of bridges that would be built or expanded as part of the project.

Former president Laura Chinchilla originally agreed to a $395 million dollar Chinese loan for the project, which stipulated that the country was to hire CHEC to carry out the works.  Total project cost was estimated at $465 million, with Costa Rica providing the remaining funding not covered by the Chinese loan.

Concerns over the lack of basic safety requirements were initially raised by MOPT in a 50-page text sent to CHEC on March 5^th, La Nacion reports.  CONAVI sent another document outlining faults in the plan on May 6^th.

MOPT is not alone in their concerns.  Engineers from the National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models (LANAMME) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) have warned since 2013 that the Chinese project fails to meet technical standards required by the country.

Ricardo Castro, chairman of the Infrastructure Committee of the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction (CCC), agrees.  “The project lacks basic topographic studies and even designs, and the conditions of the loan are not favorable,” Castro told La Nacion.

Fixes will come with a price tag, Chinese warn

Now, the Chinese firm is warning that these “additional requirements” will result in a “substantial increase” in the cost of the works.

“It will be a substantial increase [in cost] because [the Costa Rican government] is asking for new technical requirements that were not contemplated in the beginning,” CHEC spokeswoman, Teresa Wu, said late last month, a position she reiterated to lawmakers last week.

The head of MOPT, Carlos Segnini disagrees.  Segnini insists that basic safety features such as lighting and demarcation were part of the deal, which he says was sold to the country as a “turnkey” project for a fixed cost.

Segnini had been one of the primary supporters of the agreement with China.  Segnini had previously stated his confidence that the Chinese would never raise the cost of the project, citing his belief in “Chinese honor.”

In April 2014, then-President Elect, Luis Guillermo Solis warned China that he would not accept the terms of the Chinese agreement, despite the deal having already been signed by the Chinchilla government, a position he appears to have backed away from since taking office.