The Taiwan-based Ret-Ser Engineering Corp (榮民工程) has decided to withdraw from the construction of a highway in Costa Rica that was initiated with aid from Taiwan in 2005, said a Ret-Ser official stationed in Costa Rica.
Ret-Ser is looking for a Costa Rican engineering company to take over the contract for the construction of the Naranjo-San Carlos Highway, said Chang Chih-kang (張志剛), who is in charge of the project.
Chang said part of the project had been suspended since Dec. 12 because of a delay in land procurement and persistent technical problems as the Costa Rican side had repeatedly changed the construction blueprints.
As a result, the completion date for the 29.73km highway has been pushed from October next year to April 2010, Chang said.
“Ret-Ser hopes it will be able to withdraw from the construction project peacefully,” he said.
Ret-Ser has seven Taiwanese employees in Costa Rica, 10 construction workers from the Philippines and 40 Costa Rican construction workers.
La Republica, a Costa Rican newspaper, quoted Vice Minister of Public Works Pedro Castro as saying that Ret-Ser’s withdrawal from the highway construction was a response to Costa Rica severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan in June last year.
Ret-Ser entered talks with Costa Rican engineering company Sanchez Carvajal two weeks ago on transferring the contract, the report said.
The Costa Rican government has given its assurance that the project will not be affected by the contract transfer, it said.
Castro was quoted as saying that the Ministry of Public Works was looking into the issue and was expected to submit a report to the Ministry of Audit within two weeks.
The construction of the highway at an estimated cost of US$61 million was launched in October 2005 when under the administration of former Costa Rican president Abel Pacheco.
The administration of Costan Rican President Oscar Arias has altered the project to four lanes from two lanes, doubling the construction costs and resulting in disputes with the Ret-Ser, the newspaper said.
Costa Rica switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing on June 6 last year, ending 63 years of ties with Taiwan.
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