After five years of delay, including the abandonment of the first contractor, assignment of contract and failures in the execution of the works, everything indicates that the construction of the convention center in Amador is about to end.

The company China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. (CCA) informed the Administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), Gustavo Him , that the construction of the building of 56 thousand square meters would end at the end of June, or in the first days next July.

Him commented that the project has an advance of 99% and that the works inside the structure have already been completed.

The official confirmed that there are only CCA personnel in the project, and that the institution does not have any contact with the Panamanian company Construcciones Civiles Generales, SA (Cocige) , which had 40% of the consortium’s shares, participation that was assumed by the Chinese counterpart.

Amphitheater would be ready in June
The group formed by the Chinese company and Cocige assumed the contract in 2016, after the original contractor left the works at the end of 2013 due to liquidity problems.

After 4 addendums the cost of the project went from $ 193.7 million to $ 209.7 million.

Due to multiple failures found in the construction of the work as well as work without approved plans, the ATP threatened CCA and Cocige to take away the contract.

After an inspection, the Comptroller General of the Republic determined that it was better for the contractor to continue with the project, but with the commitment to resolve all the faults. The National Tourism Council authorized the ATP to sign an extension of time until September 2019 to complete the construction.

As part of the final stage of work in the main building, the Chinese company will focus on work included in addendum 3, such as the perimeter fence and improvements in the electrical system that will connect the convention center with the national electricity grid.

With a capacity of up to 25 thousand people, the new amphitheater has been waiting for years for the sector to face the potential of convention tourism to increase the number of visitors to the countr