Six companies compete for job

PANAMA. Two Spanish companies are competing with another four firms for the contract to build a metro in Panama city, a government official said yesterday.

Metro de Madrid and the consortium SENER y Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) are the Spanish companies selected by the Interamerican Development Bank and the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) after analysing proposals from 48 corporations all bidding for the consultancy.

Also competing for the contract are the American companies URS Holdings and Parsons-Birnkerhoff, the French COTEBA and the Mexican-Swiss group made up of POYRY and Cal y Mayor.

The Executive Secretary of the Government’s Metro team, Roberto Roy, said yesterday that the selection of the winning company would be based on “demonstrated experience of integrated technical assistance in Metro type projects.”

The winning company will develop the conceptual design, call for bids for the construction contract and administer the project, according to a presidential source.

The Government will announce the terms of reference for the contract on 31 August and the final selection regarding the winning bid will be made at the end of September.

As the consultancy contract is still in its planning stages, it is not yet known what the budget will be.

The construction of the metro was one of the main electoral promises made by Ricardo Martinelli who created the position of Executive Secretary for the Metro on 1 July, the same day he assumed the presidency.