Chavimochic: Novonor withdraws from arbitration and will resume paralyzed works

The Brazilian construction company Novonor (ex-Odebrecht) expressed his willingness to withdraw from the arbitration award that he filed for the works of the Palo Redondo dam, in the province of Virú, in La Libertad, and which are a fundamental part of the third stage of the Chavimochic Special Project (PECh).

Novonor’s representative presented his offer in Lima, this Friday, at the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri), during a work session with the participation of the owner of the portfolio, Oscar Zea Choquechambi; the regional governor of La Libertad, Manuel Llempen Coronel, Liberta parliamentarians and directors of the concession company.

Liberta legislator Víctor Flores Ruiz, president of the multi-party investigative commission in charge of evaluating, proposing and promoting the third stage of the PECh, told journalists that the construction company agrees to dialogue with the Regional Government of La Libertad so that in less than two months are resumed works paralyzed since December 2016.

“The concessionaire has all the predisposition to restart the works in 30 to 45 days, and among the most important thing is that there will be no cost overrun for the works to start”, affirmed Flores Ruiz. The execution of the Palo Redondo works would be completed within 18 months, which was highlighted by the minister, but he insisted on the importance of formalizing the proposal to be evaluated by the Midagri technicians and, later, by the Minister council.

For his part, Governor Llempen recalled that the immediate benefits of the completion of Palo Redondo are the creation of 5,000 jobs, another 50,000 for land authorization and 150,000 for agricultural production. “In addition, the irrigation system would be enabled for 30,000 new hectares of farmland that are only waiting for water to be used, generating 1,500 million dollars a year in foreign exchange from agro-exports,” he said.