Monday, January 18, 2010
Update:
Punta Colonet Port and Riviera Maya Airport Plans
By Omar
González
The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation
(SCT), the leading agency of networks and communication channels in Mexico, plans to redesign the bidding processes for two
of last year’s major projects: Punta Colonet in Ensenada, Baja California; and the construction of the airport in the
Riviera Maya.
Punta Colonet was launched as a project in early September
2008, but that same year, in October, the SCT announced a new schedule of activities within the bidding process. A few months
later, in early 2009, it announced that the mega project would be postponed.
This project was originally proposed as an attractive
alternative to handle containers of Asian origin that could not land directly at the Port of Long Beach, California, in the
U.S., due to saturation, and after that forward the goods to the U.S. via rail.
The global economic crisis that started in 2009 also
hit exports by sea. This factor led the Port of Long Beach to receive fewer vessels, which influenced the decision to slow
down the bid for Punta Colonet.
According to what SCT Secretary Juan Francisco Molinar
Horcasitas said in a press conference, the port project is also affected by permits the United States must give to Mexico
to open its borders to rail; these take at least eight years to be granted.
Therefore, the SCT announced that it is currently working
with companies, port operators and large users of this port to jointly redesign the bid that will make this project viable.
The agency said the redesign does not mean a reduction
in the amount of investment for the port located in the municipality of Ensenada, Baja California, which amounts to about
US$5 billion, since instead of one large project there will be several small ones.
The SCT also announced that the bid to build a new
airport in the Riviera Maya will be redesigned into three parts: the first is to invite global consortia that want to invest
in studies of land for the construction of the airport terminal.
Subsequently, the SCT will launch the bases that will
have a high cost. And finally, they will make the presentation of projects by companies.
The bidding process will be launched around July this
year and the project will take 3 to 4 years to be completed.
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e-mid (Mexico Investor Digest), Jan. 14, 2010; Mexico Investor Digest is a reference for the business market, which offers integral
products and services that help and promote the development of highly competitive businesses in Mexico; Universidad de las
Americas, Mexico City; translation e-mid.
