public works

Work on Colón’s sewers winds up

The Transcaribe Trading company could wrap up its work on Colón's sewer system within the month, which will come as a great relief for many city residents exasperated by months of traffic detours, floods and chaos.

Project manager Rogelio Morales said that crews are about to finish connecting a new system of sewers with the aqueduct system, nearly two years after starting the project.

Construction of two new pump stations in Amador Guerrero and Colón Beach is also 95 percent complete, he added.

"As of right now, we've dismantled all the existing equipment at the [pump] station in Amador Guerrero and will start installing the new pumps," said Morales. "That could take at least 15 more days, because of problems caused by the rains."

In response to criticism of the conditions of Callejón Martínez, a main thoroughfare in Colón, Morales said that roads will be better than they were before repairs began.

Juan Vernaza, regional director of the Fondo de Inversión Social (FIS), which is responsible for financing both of the public works projects, said that the sewer project was supposed to have been completed April 26, but that the Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (Idaan) and Transcaribe Trading had requested another month. Their time has run out, he added, and the work is still going on beyond the timeframe of their contract.