general news 217
The Colombian national infrastructure agency (Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, ANI) announced June 6 that thanks to Colombia’s new entrance into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 13 major international funding organizations now aim to invest in “fourth generation” (4G) highway projects here.
Ten of those organizations are private-equity funds while the other three are pension funds, according to ANI.
Colombia’s entry into the 37-member-nations OECD “is an affirmation of the quality of our institutions, of the transparency and the favorable environment that has been developed for national and international private investment,” according to ANI.
“This seal of quality is a key factor to attract more foreign investment to the country, since being in the OECD guarantees a country to have the best practices,” added ANI president Dimitri Zaninovich.
Most of the large institutional investors active in the infrastructure sector “have limitations to invest in countries outside the OECD. Now Colombian projects can access this new source of capital,” according to ANI.
To date, ANI has approved 30 “4G” highway projects, of which 21 are under construction and nine are in preconstruction, according to the agency.
“Of the total of these projects, 26 have demonstrated their ability to finance infrastructure works before ANI, and 15 have signed credit agreements,” according to the agency.
Among Antioquia’s key “4G” highway projects are “Pacifico 1,” Pacifico 2,” “Ruta al Mar 1,” Ruta al Mar 2,” and “Vias del Nus,” all of which would drastically improve freight transport between Medellin and major ports on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The threat of possible landslides originating in the mountain above EPM’s under-construction, 2.4-gigawatt “Hidroituango” hydroelectric dam in Antioquia had triggered a temporary suspension and evacuation of workers May 29, pending further technical analysis.
However, in a 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 30 press conference, EPM announced that further technical analysis revealed no further movement in the mountain, hence enabling restart of construction work.
Then, in a follow-up press conference on Thursday, May 31, EPM general manager Jorge Londoño de la Cuesta added that a relatively moderate landslide of about 130,000 cubic meters from the mountain adjacent to the dam eventually is likely to fall near the entrance of engineered gates designed to conduct river water to the mechanical room (where the electricity turbines are to be located).
However, if and when this expected landslide happens, significant damage to the dam works isn't now seen very likely. Nor is a massive collapse of the mountain adjacent to the dam seen likely -- a collapse that possibly could block the spillway or perhaps cause a huge wave that could overtop the dam, according to international and local experts evaluating the situation.
With the engineered spillway work nearly complete (likely by June 3), and the planned closing of an access tunnel near the spillway due for completion by around June 5, the last crucial step is raising dam height to 415 meters above sea level (probably by June 7), from 410 meters currently. Those three steps likely ensure that no catastrophic failure of the dam will occur -- and also enable resumption of crucial tunnel works.
Permanent closing of the main diversion tunnel -- damaged and blocked by Cauca River flooding following unusually heavy rains in April and May -- is likely to take another two months, Londoño de la Cuesta explained. Meanwhile, closure, cleaning and evacuation of waters from the mechanical room -- temporarily used to divert Cauca waters because of damage to the main diversion tunnel -- likely will require several more months of work, followed by inspection and repairs to the mechanical room, requiring additional time, he added.
In the original May 29 announcement explaining the temporary halt to construction, EPM had announced: “A movement was detected in the upper part of the mountain, in the same place where on Saturday, May 26, a landslide occurred. As a preventive measure and for safety, 1,500 workers were evacuated who were carrying out works on the dam and landfill. In the operation, no-one was hurt and all employees were relocated to a safe place.
“When the geotechnical conditions stabilize, work will continue.
“In this [geological] massif, which in recent days prompted preventive evacuations for the safety of those who work in that area of the project, permanent monitoring with geologists and high technology is maintained.
“As a result of the monitoring, a [potential landslide] was anticipated and evacuation of the personnel in the field was ordered. Indications are that in the next hours or days there could be new landslides.
“With expert personnel, the company performs permanent geological monitoring with piezometers to measure the pressure of the water, [and EPM also employs] radar, satellite monitoring and laser beams in the [Cauca River water diversion] tunnels to determine the condition of the works.
“Additionally, with surface control points on the mountain, combined with radar, we can detect sensitivities of up to tenths of millimeters that allow us to warn of any eventuality,” according to the company.
Possible Economic Consequences
If some future landslide were to cause significant physical and economic damage to the project, then EPM is prepared to respond with possible asset sales, the company added.
For example, the company potentially could sell various power works in Colombia and in other countries, valued at some COP$3 trillion (US$1.04 billion), according to EPM.
“EPM as of today has cash at the Group level of COP$1.4 trillion [US$484 million} and credit lines approved and not disbursed for US$1.3 billion,” according to the company.
So far in 2018, EPM has generated revenues of COP$5.1 trillion (US$1.76 billion), earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of COP$1.7 trillion (US$588 million) and profits of COP$950 billion (US$329 million), the latter up 21% year-on-year.
In total, EPM’s investments in power and other subsidiaries amount to COP$9.3 trillion (US$3.2 billion), according to the company.
XM National Power-Grid Analysis
On a related front, Medellin-based wholesale power-grid administrator XM on May 29 published results of a nationwide scenario-analysis arising from possible delays to the Hidtroituango project.
“In the short and medium term [one to three years], there are no risks in attention to energy demand of the Sistema Interconectada Nacional [SIN, the Colombian national power grid] and there could be greater thermal power-plant generation requirements,” XM concluded.
However, “in the long term, and in the presence of critical hydrological conditions, there could be insufficiency in the supply of electricity,” XM warned.
“Hidroituango is an indispensable project to meet the energy demand in the country economically, safely and reliably,” the company added.
As for medium-term impacts (two to three years), “modeling considered scenarios of low hydrology and the non-entry of Hidroituango on the planned [start-up] dates -- the first unit [300 megawatts] in December 2018 and the fourth and last in August 2019 [totaling 2.4-gigawatts].
“These analyses indicate that the SIN would have the necessary resources to meet the demand and could [provoke] constant thermal generation requirements in some periods exceeding 70 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per day,” according to XM.
For “long-term” impacts (more than three years), “in the case of critical hydrological scenarios, it can be seen that from the year 2022 there could be moments in which the [power-supply] reliability indicators established by the current regulations are not met -- that is, periods with a deficit between supply and demand of electricity in the SIN,” according to XM .
“Based on the information we have to date, and with the imminent postponement of the entry into production of Hidroituango, no risks are foreseen in the SIN in the short and medium term; but, a greater contribution of thermal generation could be required,” added XM general manager María Nohemi Arboleda.
“As of 2022, the projections identify periods in which there could be insufficiency in the supply of electricity,” she continued. “Our analyses ratify the importance of Hidroituango -- which is why, in view of its delay, it will be necessary to have a greater contribution from the existing power generators, and it is vital to encourage the entry of new generation projects with short construction times, as well as distributed generation in the SIN, as well as demand-response mechanisms.
“We consider very relevant the recent proposal of resolutions issued by the CREG [Colombia’s national power-and-gas regulatory agency] to ensure firm energy to meet the demand of electricity in the medium and long term,” she concluded.
Medellin-based multinational electric power giant EPM announced 12 pm Thursday, May 24 that it finally reached a crucial safety milestone toward eventual completion of its under-construction, 2.4-gigawatt “Hidroituango” hydroelectric dam on the Cauca River, which had been threatened with possible collapse.
Over the past three weeks, EPM hurriedly scrambled to raise the dam height to at least 410 meters above-sea-level – a height that enables excess Cauca River water to flow safely through an engineered spillway near the top, at 401 meters above sea level, or nine meters below the dam height. The spillway hence avoids water overtopping the dam, which could have caused disaster.
Now, over the next few weeks, EPM will continue raising the dam height, to at least 415 meters, and will move to close two existing water-diversion tunnels, hence enabling repair work to the mechanical room, damaged during a tunnel-blockage emergency, according to the company.
In recent weeks, excess water flowing on the Cauca has been diverted through engineered diversion tunnels as well as the under-construction mechanical room, all of which are located far below the dam.
However, two out of three of the diversion tunnels had been blocked by rocks and dirt (and possibly logs) -- either occasionally or permanently over the past three weeks -- coincidentally during exceptionally heavy rains in April and May. Unfortunately, the third alternative diversion tunnel had already been cemented-in, in anticipation of a normal, scheduled evolution of the construction project.
A previously undetected geological fault near the main diversion tunnel might have been exposed to surging Cauca River waters over the past weeks, triggering partial tunnel collapses and Cauca water escape-route blockages, EPM officials said.
Suddenly, on May 13, a temporary blockage in the main diversion tunnel burst free, sending millions of gallons of floodwaters downstream, overflowing banks at the town of Puerto Valdivia, causing damage to several dozen homes and a passenger bridge.
That same diversion tunnel still potentially could suddenly unplug in coming days, causing another, temporary flood surge around Puerto Valdivia -- even after the dam spillway is completed, EPM warned.
Fortunately, EPM already set-up an elaborate earning-warning system, alerting residents downstream of the dam well in advance of any possible flood. Thanks to that system, vulnerable populations had long since moved to safer, higher ground, so no-one was killed or injured in the May 13 incident.
That one-time flood incident and the potential threat of a future dam collapse also had forced nearly 24,000 people -- including some 3,300 in the town of Puerto Valdivia -- to flee to higher ground, where they’ve been living for more than a week now, awaiting cancellation of flood threats.
As a result of the completion of the dam spillway system, only the 3,300 residents of Puerto Valdivia will have to remain in higher-ground shelters for the time being, EPM added today.
Despite the typical inconveniences of temporary displacement, at least the evacuees are receiving free food, water, shelter, beds and medical care, all paid-for and organized by EPM. EPM also will pay-for reconstruction of damaged or destroyed homes as well as related infrastructure.
Still, by averting a dam collapse, EPM avoided a disaster that could have wiped-out everything alongside its path for many miles downstream, threatening homes and lives of as many as 200,000 people.
When the main diversion tunnel plugged 10 days ago, EPM temporarily re-routed the Cauca river overflow through the under-construction mechanical room, providing a safe water escape pathway until the dam-raising construction would reach at least 410 meters.
While this temporary diversion helped avoid a catastrophe, it also has caused as-yet-unspecified damage to the mechanical room. Still, EPM managed to rescue some expensive equipment prior to the re-routing through the mechanical room.
Besides physical damage to the mechanical room, the flooding and blockage incident also will push-back start-up of the first 300-megawatts (MW) of the 2.4-gigawatt hydropower project beyond the initially targeted December 2018 start-up, according to EPM.
Despite these disappointments, Colombia’s national association of power producers (ALCOGEN) issued a bulletin May 10 advising that Colombia won’t be lacking power capacity for at least the next three years -- even if Hidroituango’s start-up is delayed by months or even years (although the latter delay now is seen less likely).
EPM also revealed that it has insurance coverage to help pay for the damage to the mechanical room and related infrastructure, as well as loss-of-income from a likely delay in power sales from Hidroituango.
Aside from relatively minor injuries to five EPM workers during the crisis, no downstream citizens were killed or injured by the temporary surges in Cauca water levels -- thanks to EPM’s well-organized alert-and-rescue operations during the crisis, involving numerous government agencies.
Medellin’s “Metro” public transit agency announced May 4 that it just took delivery on its 80th train -- the last of 22 new trains ordered in 2016 from Spanish manufacturer Constructores y Auxiliares de Ferrocarriles (CAF).
The COP$380 billion (US$135 million) investment in the 22 new trains enables Metro to improve reliability and cut waiting times between train departures and arrivals at stations, according to the agency.
“With this new [railcar] vehicle, Metro completes 80 train units destined to meet the demand of Lines A and B, which together transport nearly 810,000 passengers a day,” according to Metro.
The mainly electric, mostly zero-emissions Metro system now mobilizes about 1.2 million passengers daily including the Metro rail system, the Metrocable aerial tram, the “Tranvía de Ayacucho” electric streetcars and the natural-gas-fueled “Metroplus” bus rapid transit (BRT) lines, the latter of which gradually will convert to pure electric power over the next decade.
While Metro initially ordered 20 new trains, it was able to get two extra trains thanks to a special government exemption on value-added tax for zero-emissions vehicles.
The last of the 22 new trains “will start the reception and testing phase today and it is estimated that in a month or so, they will begin to provide commercial service and join the 66 trains that currently provide service during peak hours,” according to Metro. The rest of the railcar fleet is held in operational reserve or else would be undergoing routine maintenance.
Because of the expanded fleet, Metro has cut the delay between train arrivals to three minutes on “Line A” (down from three minutes and 40 seconds previously) and to three minutes 50 seconds (down from four minutes 45 seconds) on "Line B."
In addition, total railcar capacity has risen to 41,480 passengers per hour, per direction, up from 35,650 passengers per hour, per direction previously, according to the agency.
“The acquisition of the new trains has also made it possible to react effectively to any technical difficulty since there are reserve trains prepared to attend to any contingency,” according to Metro.
“Another advantage of the increase in the fleet is that it will make it easier to advance the repowering of the first generation trains, one of the company's major projects for this year.
“One of the most notorious differences with the first-generation trains is that the second-generation trains enable internal communication between the three cars that make up a unit, facilitating the movement of passengers inside the vehicle.
“In addition, the trains have state-of-the-art technology and an aerodynamic design for lower energy consumption,” Metro added.
Medellin-based multinational electric power giant EPM announced April 18 the launch of a novel floating solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation scheme at El Peñol lake, adjacent to the company’s 560-megawatt Guatape hydroelectric power station in Antioquia.
The floating PV station will be the first of its kind in Spanish-speaking Latin America, according to EPM.
The solar panels are projected to generate 10% to 15% more power than similar systems installed on land or on rooftops. Rationale: The floating panels can take advantage of unhindered solar illumination on lakes (where there are no shadows), get an extra boost of reflected light off the lake, and tap “free” lake water -- conveniently available for cooling the panels, explained EPM general manager Jorge Londoño de la Cuesta.
The El Peñol array includes 368 panels, connected via submarine cable to an existing, nearby EPM electric power substation. Total area of the array covers 1,430 square meters, with each panel measured at 99 x 60 centimeters, according to EPM.
“With this system, which has an installed capacity of 100 kilowatts (kW) in two modules of 50kW each, we expect to generate approximately 145 megawatt-hours per year, enough to power 15 houses for a full year,” according to EPM.
The electricity generated by the new array will be used internally at EPM’s Guatape hydroelectric power station, according to the company.
A “big data” program will analyze the power-array’s efficiency and reliability in real time over the next 12 months. Depending on results of the test, EPM then would be able to define the feasibility of expanding similar floating-PV systems to more areas.
“In many countries, installing large-scale solar PV systems on land is inhibited by the lack of space available,” Londoño de la Cuesta said. “Because of that, floating PV stations could become an alternative,” he added.
Colombia’s Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI, the national infrastructure development agency) announced April 11 the successful relaunch of rail freight transport on a 522-kilometers-long line aiming to link Atlantic ports to the interior -- passing through Antioquia on the way.
ANI spent COP$212 billion (US$78 million) on the rail-line rehab project, aiming to cut freight costs between Atlantic ports and centers of industry in the Colombian interior.
Following the track upgrades, ANI this week organized a test shipment of 700 tonnes of steel and cement – first loaded at a rail-freight terminal in Chiriguaná in Cesar department, near Cartagena. Then, after passing through Cesar, Santander and Antioquia, the train made its final unloading at La Dorada in Caldas department, near Bogota.
“What we are demonstrating is that the train has the capacity to operate, to be competitive and is already moving cargo in a real way,” said ANI president Dimitri Zaninovich.
Test-run participants included the Ibines Férreo railway consortium and train operator Trencar.
Steel and cement shippers GyJ and Ultracem initially moved this cargo in highway trucks from the port of Barranquilla to the Chiriguaná rail transfer point. Then, following rail-freight arrival at La Dorada, this freight was to be transloaded to highway trucks bound for Ibague and Bogotá.
The new rail-freight option “is a reliable and safe means of transport, which reduces [air] pollution, is efficient in times and can move cargo in large volumes, while also complementing very well with other modes of transport such as road and river,” according to ANI.
However, the narrow-gauge railway infrastructure employed along this route would present problems for moving standard ocean containers. In addition, the rehabbed track doesn’t reach all the way to major ocean ports in Barranquilla and Cartagena, where much of Colombia’s nationwide containerized freight is now trans-shipped via highway trucks.
What’s more, a new “fourth generation” divided highway linking Medellin to Puerto Berrio, Antioquia -- near the newly rehabbed rail line -- has yet to be completed. Hence a future intermodal freight connection between the rehabbed rail line and the new highway linking Medellin to Puerto Berrio looks to be several years away.
Medellin-based multinational utilities giant EPM on April 7 presented highlights of 2017 results including impressive growth in profitability along with expansion of water, power, garbage-collection, sewer and natural-gas services to thousands more customers in the metro area.
In a press conference, EPM general manager Jorge Londoño de la Cuesta and Medellin Mayor Federico Gutiérrez pointed-out that EPM power and garbage-collection services now cover more than 97% of Medellín residents.
Drinking-water service now reaches 95.7% of Medellin homes and businesses, while sewage connections now cover 92.25%. Piped natural gas from EPM has now grown to reach 82.75% of homes and businesses.
As for new connections, EPM added 76,741 more customers here to its electric power service last year, which now totals 2.37 million customers. Meanwhile, natural-gas hookups last year added 66,624 customers, resulting in 1.3 million total gas clients.
As for drinking water, EPM hooked-up another 41,121 new clients last year, resulting in 1.18 million total clients, while sewage hook-ups last year added 42,221 more customers, resulting in 1.15 million total clients as of year-end 2017.
As for rural electrification, EPM connected another 2,292 homes in remote areas around Antioquia last year, benefitting another 9,168 persons. Rural electrification campaigns have now hooked-up 107,156 homes in Antioquia, benefitting 444,745 residents, the company added.
‘Pay What You Can’ Expands
As for EPM’s pioneering “pay what you can” (“paga a tu medida”) program for low-income customers – enabling generous, extended payment terms – another 51,070 customers signed-up for this program last year, with 120,708 added since the program began in 2014.
Similarly, EPM’s pioneering pre-paid system for power and water services added 22,084 low-income clients last year in Antioquia, with 242,956 homes now taking advantage of this option.
Unlike some areas in Colombia (especially the Atlantic coast) where theft of power via illegal connections is rampant in low-income areas – resulting in catastrophic losses for local utilities and as a result a predictably unreliable power supply – EPM delivers reliable, high-quality, socially-conscious power and water services to all economic strata thanks to tiered rates and prepaid options.
Prepaid-power and tiered power rates – subsidizing the poorest customers, but not by 100% -- along with rational power use (prepaid for real needs, not wasted frivolously) helps ensure that EPM meets triple goals of ensuring financial soundness, quality service delivery and real help for the most vulnerable in society.
Environmental Defense
While EPM’s soon-to-launch “Hidroituango” hydroelectric plant in Antioquia – now more than 80% complete -- will inundate thousands of hectares of environmentally sensitive areas upriver of the new dam, EPM last year in compensation added 22,575 hectares of protected areas in the hydrogeographic basins of Porce (Río Grande, Río Aburrá and Porce-Alto Nechí); Nare (La Fe and Río Negro-Nare); Cauca (areas near the Hidroituango dam); and Chinchiná, the latter in the zone of influence of EPM’s “Aguas Regionales en Urabá” affiliate in the Uraba region of Antioquia.
On the air-pollution-reduction front, EPM added 10 new electric vehicle (EV) recharging stations in the Medellin metro area last year, part of a planned long-term switch aiming to replace thousands of high-polluting diesel and gasoline vehicles with zero-emission EVs. Part of this plan includes replacing 1,500 conventional combustión-engine taxis with EV taxis over the next three years, the company added.
EPM also is working with Renting Colombia and Localiza Rent a Car to enable public renting of EVs, and it's also working with the Medellin “Metro” public transit agency to expand the conversion of more conventional transit buses and motorcycles to electric power.
The company also recently added two more “micro” hydroelectric plants in Antioquia last year (La Vuelta and La Herradura), avoiding emissions of 72,908 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Meanwhile, the recently installed “Los Cururos” solar-power station in Antioquia has achieved another 266,814 tonnes reduction of CO2e, according to the company.
As for water pollution reduction, EPM’s soon-to-open “Aguas Claras” sewage-treatment plant in Bello, Antioquia – now more than 91% complete -- will slash raw-sewage dumping into the Rio Medellin by more than 120 tonnes per day, the company added.
Similarly, in the San Nicolas valley region just east of Medellin, EPM is launching a COP$19.6 billion (US$7 million) project to expand clean-water and sewage-treatment systems for customers in metro Rionegro, El Retiro and rural areas of Envigado.
On a related front, EPM recently acquired 100% of the stock of Empresas Públicas de Rionegro (E.P. Rio), enabling improved and expanded water and sewage services for 30,308 customers in the urban area of Rionegro, the company added.
The annual “Medellin Como Vamos” (“how are we doing?”) citizen survey released March 15 finds that while most Medellin residents remain relatively optimistic, Colombia’s economic slowdown in 2017 pushed the favorability index downward.
The face-to-face survey in November 2017 of 1,500 residents across all zones and all socio-economic strata found that in general -- compared to the 2016 survey -- Medellin residents trimmed their relative satisfaction with the city as a place to live, while individual satisfaction with the quality of life “fell appreciably compared to 2016 and compared to the historical average of each one of the ratings,” according to the survey report.
With employment and health being the top-two concerns of Medellin citizens, “it is telling that in [2017] the national economy showed signs of stagnation, with a consolidated growth of 1.8%, the lowest registered since 2010, and very similar to that registered in 2009, when the economy grew by 1.7%,” the report noted.
“This was reflected in fewer job opportunities for all those who sought employment in the city and the metropolitan region, with an unemployment rate that remained above 10%. Thus, while 27,000 new jobs were created, the population that was looking for work also grew, resulting in 7,000 more people unemployed.
“Regarding health, the results of the survey show that, in a context of greater coverage of the health service and greater reported access, there are still pending challenges to be solved, specifically in terms of quality,” the survey added.
Availability of prompt outpatient service declined year-on-year, “with two out of 10 Medellin residents having to wait more than 30 days,” the survey found. “Although satisfaction with the health service remained stable, comparatively [the ranking] remains one of the lowest among the goods and services investigated by the survey.”
For Medellin’s poorest sectors (“estrato 1” and “estrato 2”), the overwhelming majority of them are in the government-subsidized sector affiliated to the Savia Salud “EPS” (health maintenance organization), in which the city of Medellin owns 36.65%, the departmental Antioquia government another 36.65%, and worker-benefits cooperative insurer Comfama owning the remaining 26.7%.
Problem: Savia Salud is running more than US$250 million in the red, as spending far out-runs income -- and politicians warn of potential financial collapse. Such a collapse would leave some 1.7 million of the poorest residents in Antiqouia --the majority of which live in and around Medellin – without health insurance.
Among the 13 measurements in the survey: “subjective well-being,” in which those surveyed indicated average satisifaction of 6.99 points on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst possible and 10 the best possible.
As for “poverty and inequality,” the percentage of inhabitants of Medellín considering themselves as “poor” fell slightly in the 2017 survey, at 19%.
As for “citizen security,” the percentage of people in Medellín who considered the city to be safe “decreased by four percentage points [in 2017] compared to 2016,” the survey found.
As for “environment,” air-pollution concerns grew, as “air is the environmental aspect of Medellín with which fewer citizens are satisfied,” according to the report. Only 15% of citizens surveyed said they were “satisified” with air quality – by far the worst result among all survey questions, the report noted.
As for “public management,” the survey found that “employment, health and housing are the agenda items that citizens propose” for the Medellin Mayor to put as highest priorities.
As for “economic situation, food and employment,” only 38% of Medellin households said their economic situation improved in 2017, wheareas in 2016, 51% cited improvements.
As for “education,” 79% of the surveyed homes in Medellín indicated they were “satisfied with the education received by children and young people between 5 and 17 years old.”
As for “housing and public services,” Medellin citizens “remained highly satisfied with their housing and their neighborhood. The public natural-gas home service maintained the highest satisfaction while internet [service] rated the lowest satisfaction," according to the report.
As for “mobility and public space,” 35% of those surveyed “affirmed that their trips took longer in 2017 than in 2016,” because of continuing growth of the motor-vehicle population -- without a corresponding growth in road infrastructure or a corresponding increase in high-capacity, high-quality public-transit options.
As for “citizen responsibility,” the survey found that “ethnic minorities, reintegrated people [those fleeing the countryside to relocate in the city] and people with different sexual orientations were the groups about whom there is less respect in Medellín.”
The annual “como vamos” surveys are sponsored by Fundación Proantioquia, the Medellin and Bogota Chambers of Commerce, Eafit University, Comfama, daily newspapers El Colombiano and El Tiempo, and Fundación Corona.
Colombia’s Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI) infrastructure-project agency president Dimitri Zaninovich on March 13 publicly hailed what he termed as multi-billion-dollar investments in “fourth generation” (4G) highways connecting Medellin and Antioquia to key ocean freight ports.
In a speech following inspection of Colombia’s first-ever unified air-freight inspection zone at Medellin’s Jose Maria Cordova (JMC) international airport – now 56% complete and due for start-up by December 2018 -- Zaninovich cited “4G” investments that would top COP$23 trillion [US$8 billion], benefitting Medellín and Antioquia.
Zaninovich claimed that the projects are moving ahead promptly. But he failed to highlight that the crucial “Pacifico 1” divided highway -- linking the southern Medellin suburb of Caldas to Colombia’s main Pacific port at Buenaventura via the under-construction “Pacifico 2” and “Pacifico 3” highways -- has been stalled for years, with little explanation on the hang-up.
“Pacífico 2 and Pacifico 3 have advanced by 33% and 40% respectively,” he said. “We can’t lose forward progress that Colombia has achieved until now, because we’re moving ahead -- and great infrastructure projects already are a reality,” he said.
“Public-private association” (APP in Spanish initials) contracts involved in highway, ocean-port and airport projects are unprecedented in Antioquia, he added. These 4G highway projects will cut freight transport times by at least 30%, he added.
Major cities in Colombia (including Medellin) are severely penalized by expensive freight transport costs -- the result of Colombia’s decades-long delays in building high-speed, divided highways over-and-through the nation’s steep, mountainous terrain.
To overcome this problem, the national government is working with private-sector development consortiums on all the "4G" highway projects including Pacífico 1, 2 and 3; Mar 1 and Mar 2; Conexión Norte; Autopista al Río Magdalena 2; and the 100%-private initiatives “Vías del Nus” and the “Antioquia-Bolívar” highway links, he added.
What’s more, ANI is also working to push-forward the “Transversal de las Américas” highway linking Atlantic ports as well as the proposed “Vial del Oriente” highway connecting the “oriente” (east of Medellin) region to Llanogrande (next-to the JMC international airport).
Zaninovich added that ANI also favors development of two proposed ocean-freight ports near Turbo, Antioquia: “Puerto Antioquia” and “Puerto de Pisisi.”
