Mexican military awarded highway upgrade contract due to crime issues

Mexico's infrastructure, communications and transport ministry (SICT) awarded defense ministry Sedena a contract to upgrade a highway between Guerrero and Mexico states due to high risk for contractors in the area. 

The contract is for 737mn pesos (US$43.1mn) and it comprises the upgrade of a 112km section of the Toluca-Ciudad Altamirano highway between Tejupilco and Ciudad Altamirano, according to a report from Forbes.   

Part of the works go through an area called Tierra Caliente, which is considered to be high risk for construction contractors due to frequent incidents of crime, according to the contract documents, cited by Forbes. 

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has therefore instructed the military to carry out the works with the objective of having them completed within the schedule and ensuring the necessary security. 

Sedena will appoint an engineer to manage and direct the works, while the SICT will appoint a supervising engineer. 

On December 9, AMLO vowed to refurbish the highway which is “in poor bad shape,” he was quoted as saying. 

In January more than 550 tenders included in the highway maintenance program were cancelled. According to Mexican media, the military is expected to take over the respective works. 

The national construction chamber (CMIC), said that the government had promised to relaunch the bidding processes, but no further news has been published in that regard.