14 January 2009
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has threatened to revoke the Manta port concession if port operator Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) does not keep to its investment schedule. "If they do not comply with the Manta port concession, they will simply have to leave the country," Correa said in an address to the nation.
BN Americas, Monday, January 5, 2009 15:04 (GMT-0400) Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has threatened to revoke the Manta port concession if port operator Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) does not keep to its investment schedule. "If they do not comply with the Manta port concession, they will simply have to leave the country," Correa said in an address to the nation.
Following Correa's warning, the Manta port authority (APM) called an emergency meeting for January 6, at which company representatives and government officials will analyze the port's work schedule, local press reported. Meanwhile, HPH spokesperson Anthony Tam told paper South China Morning Post: "We have not heard anything about changes to our concession," adding the company "is committed to the long-term development of port infrastructure in Ecuador."
The Manta port concession was awarded to Terminales Internacionales del Ecuador (TIDE), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based HPH, in January 2006. The firm offered to invest US$523mn during the 30-year concession to build a deepwater port capable of handling 2.2mn containers a year. Once works are completed, Manta is expected to compete with South American ports such as Peru's Callao and Brazil's Santos.
WORK SCHEDULE
In October last year, APM and TIDE met to discuss a new work schedule to push the port development forward. Expansion works, which include the construction of a fishing and container handling terminal, were set to be ready in 2010.
Rushing the development of Manta is considered essential to keep up with current and future demand. On December 23, TIDE presented a new work schedule to APM. To date the firm has only carried out repairs and rebuilt an administrative building, local paper Hoy reported. Construction works on the fishing dock were previously set to start in September last year.
EXPANSION PROJECT
Manta port's expansion will require US$578mn, of which US$523mn will be covered by TIDE and up to US$55mn by the state through a trust. Works include the remodeling of the port's operations building, the reinforcement of the docks used for international trade and the dredging of the port's access canal to increase depth from 12m to 14m. The construction of a 300m deepwater docking area will follow these initial works.
TIDE is expected to develop the port into an international container terminal and once investments have been made, within three years the port is set to increase its actual handling capacity of 40,000 TEUs/y to 80,000 TEUs/y. The ultimate goal is to handle 1.6mn TEUs/y. In September 2008, Correa expelled Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht for alleged mismanagement at the 230MW San Francisco plant. Correa claimed that shoddy work and structural problems left San Francisco inoperable for several months, threatening the country's power supply. By Business News Americas staff reporters