The lack of certainty about the conditions of the underground section of the Line 3 of the Panama Metro At the time of awarding the initial supervision, it once again took its toll on state finances. This Monday, November 2, the Cabinet Council approved draft resolution 145-26, which authorizes the state company Panama Metro SA to be hired by exceptional procedure PMTS Consortium Line 3 for an exact amount of $16,223,996.07.
The contract assigns the private company the responsibility of execute project management servicesthe coordination of interfaces and the technical assistance of the work. The benefited group is made up of the firms Nippon Koei Co., Ltd, Nippon Koei Latin America-Caribbean Co., Ltd and Nippon Koei Lac, Inc..
According to the information supported by the Presidency of the Republicwhen the original contract No. MPSA-19-2022 was signed The required clarity was not available regarding the technical variables and final specifications of the underground section.. Despite this limitation in previous studies, the state administration set an estimated completion date for management services for January 2027.
However, technical adjustments and the redefinition of the operational plan forced the contractual validity to be altered. On October 12, 2026, the entity authorized the reduction of the execution period of the contract signed in 2022, bringing forward its completion to July 31, 2026.. The decision left the project without management and technical engineering services as of August 2026, which served as justification to promote the new exceptional procedure before the Cabinet table.
To fill the gap in project management, the Panama Metro authorized its general director, César A. Pinzón M. to manage direct hiring. The new commercial relationship will have a validity period of 37 months. Of the total period, 35 months correspond to the direct execution of the technical assistance – from August 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029 – and two additional months are allocated to the contract settlement process.
Metro Line 3 represents one of the most complex transportation infrastructures in the country, designed to mobilize thousands of residents of the province of Panama West. The incorporation of the underground tunnel to cross the Panama Canal generated operational changes and a readjustment of the original planning.
Cabinet approved resolution 145-26 for $16,223,996.07.
Direct contracting with the PMTS Line 3 Consortium (Nippon Koei).
Justification: gaps in initial technical information on the underground section.
The new commitment will maintain supervision of the work until June 2029.
