Faced with the controversy over the liquidation of the Coffee Airport contract, in Palestine – Caldas, which promised to connect the coffee zone of Colombia with the world, the Ministry of Transportation, through its portfolio manager Ángela María Orozco, launched a voice of encouragement by ensuring that the resources allocated for the work are safe despite the inconsistencies presented by the contractor.
(Government settles work contract for the Café Airport).
“Here the money was not lost, it is in a trust because no more advances were given and with this measure there is a new possibility of getting a new contract, a new tender to finish removing and contract the track”, Transport Minister Ángela María Orozco told Portafolio.
The project was structured in three phases, the first in charge of the contractor, the second in the hands of the State and the third in the name of the region.
The first phase is in charge of the company Obrascon Huarte Lain S.A. Colombia branch, which is involved in this legal dispute.
This company signed a contract on May 26, 2021 in order to remove about 6 million cubic meters of earth in a little more than 27 months (816 days), to start the construction of this airport center in the country.
For this work, the consortium would have a payment of $141,108 million (VAT included) and they would have from May 14, 2021 until August 8, 2023 to do so.
However, early warnings were given due to delays in the work with respect to the schedule. For example, for the Comptroller General of the Nation, on March 28, the consortium should have moved land close to 2 million cubic meters, the contractor had only moved 425,000 cubic meters (about 16%).
(Comptroller alert for risks at the Café Airport).
“At contract time it is almost half of the proposed term. These breaches have been delaying the schedule “said the Ad Hoc Comptroller for the Coffee Airport project, Gabriel Adolfo Jurado.
The minister assured that she tried to lead dialogue tables and even change some heads in charge of the project, despite this, the way of working could not be changed, and in this way the contract was terminated.
“After three technical meetings, even with new faces, the manager of the Management Unit told us: there is no will of the contractor to finish, which forced us to unilaterally terminate the contract”, Minister Orozco stated.
ABOUT PAYMENT
The final value of the project was agreed for a total of $141,108 million, of which an advance payment was made by the Ministry of 30% of the final cost of the project, that is, $42,049 million.
Nevertheless, The entity assured that these resources are safe in the hands of the trust.
Regarding the disbursements to the contractor, the Ministry assured that to date the sum of $16,066 million has been drawn against the advance payment and of this amount $1,138 million have been amortized.
“The difference between the total value of the advance $42,049 million and the value drawn, $16,066 million, is in the trust constituted by the contractor for the correct handling of the advance”stressed the Ministry of Transport in an official statement.
The state entity is currently reviewing ‘work progress reports’ for an approximate value of $7,378 million, “of which the respective crossing will be made to amortize the missing values of the advance”, all in order to pay off the works carried out by the consortium in the project.
PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
