(PanamaNewsRoom) The Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, has won a third plum contract worth $776.9 million for  more work on Panama's Cinta Costera.

This one covers construction of the third phase.  The company built the first two sections one for $189 million and got a no-bid award of $52 million for the second.

During the election campaign the previous government was strongly criticized for having spent money on building the first phase.

The third phase of the Cinta Costera,  will connect Avenida Balboa with Avenida de las Poetas, and the contract also covers maintenance to existing roads.

According to the terms of reference, the connection of will be through a tunnel but civil groups  present at the bidding process raised again the feared possibility of building a ring road around Casco Viejo (the Old City),  currently listed as a World Heritage Site.

Public Works Minister, Federico Suárez, said that all submissions include the chance for bidders to present alternatives, and although the tunnel is the most suitable option he did not rule out a possible ring around Casco Viejo or any other alternative to any of the intersections.

Odebrecht was also favored with a contract to revamp Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo. It is also part of the consortium building the Metro subway. FCC will construct the four intersections over Vía Brazil; and the consortium ICA-Meco will be expanding Avenida Domingo Díaz to six lanes.

The total amount of the contracts will be $1.569 billion.

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Original Source: PanamaNewsRoom

Date Retrieved: March 20, 2011