Quijano unknown the Panamá Canal expansion opening date

Facing questions from the deputies of the Assembly on the completion of the expansion work, the Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano, has not given an exact date of opening of the work.

And at this point, the administrator Quijano limited only to estimate the work will be delivered in the second quarter of the year and the opening date will depend on the next validations of the repair of leaks.

He explained that they had planned to do the first practice with a ship chartered on the Atlantic side for the month of April, however, he said two weeks ago, stressed that the contractor could at some point in April have functional locks.

"We are putting this ship contract until we have a clear date for when GUPC will deliver the work", he said.

"If everything works and the contractor maintains the pace of work that has remained for the moment, we could see in the first half of this year the opening of the work, it still possible but we have to keep pushing this" Quijano said.

He said that currently, the contractor GUPC was repairing the leaks that occurred last August on the Pacific side and the strengthening of some hinges on the Atlantic side, leading more than 70% complete, and he expects they can conclude this work between 22 and 25 January and then make the relevant evidence and verify that work.

After these repairs, a long process of acceptance testing of the work by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will begin next February.

Quijano said that after the assessments carried out by the ACP to the repair and reinforcement of the leaks they could establish an opening date, mean while the expectation that the locks are functional in next April is maintained.

Parliaments also questioned the Panama Canal Administrator for failing to report the leak immediately when the locks were recorded, as it was by the social networks that the problem was known.

The administrator of the waterway said they did not report because it was Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) which had to give its report and detail why the damage occurred and not the ACP, as responsible for the design and construction is GUPC.

He further noted that the ACP was cautious about the situation, and did not want to be the subject of another complaint by the contractor for meddling in this issue.

The administrator of the waterway also informed the deputies that GUPC presents claims with figures at a cost "far superior" to the Canal Authority estimates. He stressed that, in total, GUPC is claiming $3,500 million, which means that with this money "could build the fourth set of locks".

As for the accusations of GUPC of arrears by the ACP, Quijano said they have fully complied with GUPC payments. "We have evidence that paid in 30 days or less when we have a contract that allows do in 56 days". He said that in recent years, GUPC have paid up to 20 days if they can support the bills.

"We continue pushing GUPC, we remain committed to that this year we will inaugurate our expansion, which will give us the opportunity to continue to grow in the future as a canal and as a country", he said.

The president of the Maritime Chamber of Panama (CMP), Vikash Deepak said that the delay in the completion of the Canal expansion can be understood as something normal in a work, however, the effect on the industry is very strong.

He stressed that they have full confidence in the Canal Administration will enforce the existing contract with GUPC .