After two years of Government, the first projects that the Government is structuring are beginning to see the light, And this year at least four of them will be put out to tender and possibly, they will be awarded. These are two carters: The Estanquillo – Popayan and Villeta – Guaduaswith a large contribution of public resources; one air, which is the San Andrés airport and one rail, corresponding to the La Dorada – Chiriguaná corridor.
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It is worth remembering that thanks to the Government’s increase in the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) quota from $0.6 to $0.8 billion, the possibility of awarding new projects has been opened.
Regarding the truck drivers, according to Francisco Ospina Ramírez, president of the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI), Between October and December the specifications would be in SECOP for eventual award.
“At the moment we are working on six 5G projects and most likely this year the specifications for the two large-scale highway projects will be ready. We are talking about Villeta – Guaduas and Popayán – El Estanquillo,” the official said.
Regarding aerial works, on July 26, the ANI reported that, after 12 requests, There will be three business groups competing for the Private Initiative (IP) to intervene in the airport on the island of San Andréswhich will include the financing, reconstruction, adaptation, administration, operation, maintenance, commercial exploitation, modernization and reversion of the Gustavo Rojas Pinilla terminal.
With this progress, This project is expected to be awarded in the fourth quarter of this year.The consortium that submits the best offer and is the winner will build a new 13,500 m2 passenger terminal, install new boarding bridges, construct new buildings for airport medical services and for the Rescue and Firefighting Service, a new cargo terminal, as well as public urban areas in front of the new passenger terminal, among other interventions.
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San Andres Airport.
THE TIME file
In addition to this new project, the ANI continues to work on structuring two projects at El Dorado International Airport: the flight field and El Dorado MAX, two strategic initiatives to expand the capacity of the country’s main air terminal.
“It is very important for the country’s infrastructure and for passengers in Colombia. We hope that Campo de Vuelo, which mainly deals with the issue of taxiways, runways and others, will be finalizing the process in 2025 and El Dorado MAX in the second half of 2025, with a possible award. The two projects in Bogotá are following the comprehensive evaluations and are progressing well against the schedules and with the complexity of these projects. We hope that they will be awarded under this government,” he stated.
Ospina also said that they continue to work in airports in the southwest of the country, among others.
“Airports in the southwest are moving forward, the Cali airport with a pool of resources that would be left for the Gerardo Tobar airport in Buenaventura. We hope that this project will be published in SECOP between January and February,” he explained.
In ferrous matter, On July 29, the Government published the final specifications of the La Dorada – Chiriguaná PPP. With this confirmed, interested parties will be able to submit their offers until November 14 and, if everything goes as expected, The award hearing will take place in December.
“The railway reactivation went from being a plan to a reality. La Dorada-Chiriguaná is the first railway PPP in which national and international interested parties can now submit their proposals, which will allow for a more efficient connection of the ports of the Caribbean region with the center of the country, reducing logistics costs and polluting emissions,” Ospina said.
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La Dorada – Chiriguaná railway corridor
ANI
Of five 5Gs that should be under construction, there is only one
Currently in the country There are six Fifth Generation projects awarded to different dealers, which together amount to a total of $22.9 billion. Of these, Five are in the pre-construction phase and one is under construction. (Meta Road Network with a progress of 10%). However, to date At least four more should be under construction: Northern Access 2, starting in December 2023; Southern Access, starting in July 2023, and Magdalena Trunk 1 and 2, both starting in June of this year.
“Despite the difficulties, we already have a project that is almost 10% complete in the construction phase: the Malla Vial del Valle. The other five projects are either financially closed, which is an important milestone in these projects, or in the short-term construction phase, particularly in Buga-Buenaventura. The latter is the only one that does not have formal financial closure today, construction will begin in August, so I think that management has been efficient in getting these projects off the ground,” Ospina said.
These projects, like others in the 4G wave, are facing difficulties in obtaining environmental licenses and solving some social issues in different regions, according to Ospina.
It is worth remembering that in the 5G package, in addition to the six that are moving forward, there are 23 projects, including highways, rivers, air and rail, at different stages, whether pre-feasibility, feasibility or structuring. These projects total more than $109.71 billion, not counting those in the pre-construction phase.
Paula Galeano Balaguera
Portfolio Journalist
