Mayan Train Tender Canceled
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Mayan Train Tender Canceled

Photo by:   Shutterstock, El Financiero
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Thu, 09/10/2020 - 18:28

FONATUR has canceled the tender for the construction of the Mayan Train’s fifth segment. This tender received only one bid and the announcement of the final decision on its contractor of choice was delayed last week, according to a press release. The decision turned out to be a refusal to work with the lone bidding consortium composed of Greenfield SPV VIII, BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura, PRODEMEX Construcciones, Promotora y Desarrolladora Mexicana, Promotora y Desarrolladora Mexicana de Infraestructura and Constructora de Infraestructura Nacional. The bid was declared economically unfeasible. 

While the press release claims that a new tender will be opened at a future date for the same segment, a report from El Financiero claims that FONATUR´s head Rogelio Jiménez Pons plans on dividing this segment into as many as three more segments. Construction will be tendered and contracted separately to reduce the financial burden. 

Ready for more? Here’s the Week in Infrastructure!

Mayan Train on Schedule for 2023: AMLO

The Mayan Train must be completed by the end of 2023, President López Obrador said during Monday’s press conference where the third weekly video progress report on this project was also shown. The president noted that he will have a meeting to decide on the costs of the fifth segment of the train and said that if this is too much for public finances, then it might be granted to private companies. “If this is not the case, then we are going to use public funds because this section costs US$790 million,” he said.

Santa Lucia to Be Completed by 2022, Metropolitan Airport System Online by December 2020: AMLO

The new Santa Lucia airport will be finished and operational by March 2022, President López Obrador said during Monday’s press conference. “Let's just point out that on March 21, 2022, the new Felipe Angeles Airport will be inaugurated and by then, the entire air space control system will be completed,” he said. SCT Deputy Minister Carlos Alfonso Morán said a complete redesign of the air space is still being carried out. “Studies have made it possible to decide on which spaces to use and how they will be linked,” he said. The navigation system will be based on satellites. “The first phase of the airspace redesign for the Metropolitan Airport System will be in operation in December 2020,” he said. Air space and traffic includes operations at the Mexico City and Toluca airports.

AMLO Announces Audit on Development Banks

President López Obrador said development banks will be audited next year to prevent further cases like those involving Odebrecht operations and other infrastructure projects, such as the Etileno XXI plant and the overpriced purchase of a fertilizing plant. “In the Odebrecht and the fertilizer (affairs), a development bank was used in a very irregular, discretionary manner, with management ordering loan approvals. The same was done with the farming bank Banrural, so we are going to audit,” he said. López Obrador noted that SHCP and SAT must get involved to assess all loans given for the Odebrecht operations and the Etileno XXI plant, since “very strange” things happened regarding VAT payments.

2021 Economic Package Presented

President López Obrador presented the 2021 Economic Package together with SHCP head Arturo Herrera. “It is the roadmap for achieving priority objectives for national development. What is required to end 2020 is guaranteed and the budget for 2021 has already been presented,” the president said. The document will go to the Senate for approval. Herrera stressed that there are signs that point to a recovery of the Mexican economy. “At the same time, there is a recovery in our trade partners, so we are going to take advantage of the (USMCA) treaty,” he said. Preliminary criticisms have included an excessive prioritization or overreliance on large flagship federal infrastructure projects.

Photo by:   Shutterstock, El Financiero

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