Councilor Lucía Bastidas instituted popular action to continue the construction of the elevated subway in Bogotá

Lucía Bastidas seeks to guarantee the construction of the massive transportation system. (Bogota City Hall)

Faced with the possibility that the construction of the Bogotá metro is carried out underground, as is the wish of the President of the Republic, Gustavo Francisco Petro, which would imply the modification of the project, councilor Lucía Bastidas, from the Alianza Verde party, announced that instituted a popular action to continue the construction of the metropolitan train for the Colombian capital as it is contracted, that is to say, that it be elevated.

Lucía Bastidas warned that the POT will affect private schools

The lobbyist assured that these institutions are essential for the development of the city and must be integrated into the planning processes

“I presented before the Administrative Court of Bogotá and Cundinamarca a popular action, in order to safeguard the interests of the people of Bogotá whose collective rights would be violated with the proposal of the National government to end the first line of the metro”, he indicated.

The lobbyist assured that the National government is sabotaging the project, which has 18% progress in its construction, 68% of the workshop yard and 95% with the transfer of networks.

Gustavo Petro affirmed that the nation will provide the money for the modification of the Bogotá metro

The possible undergrounding of a section of the first line of the Bogotá metro would extend the works for at least six more years

“The only ones affected by the delays in the works and the current chaos in mobility will be the 2.5 million Bogota residents who will benefit from the Metro,” he said.

He recalled that the Chinese consortium in charge of the project presented four options to modify the work to the Head of State that cannot be carried out because they are not legally viable since the contract cannot be modified, nor exceed the maximum amount. of addition that according to the standard is 50% of the initial value.

President Petro insists that the Bogotá metro be underground, after meeting with Mayor Claudia López

The Head of State asked them to analyze a counterproposal to change the object of the project contract so that the metropolitan train goes underground

“The only solution that the contractor recommended was to extend the subway from 72nd Street to 100th Street, as it is legally viable and adds value, by serving 20,000 additional passengers,” he stated.

The councilor reiterated that it was a whim of the president who seeks to end the agreement of the project and that it will have higher costs for it.

“There is a desire of the Government to bury a section of the first line of the Bogotá metro underground and make the modification of what was agreed in 2019 effective. This whim would have cost overruns of 8 to 12 billion pesos, and delays of 8 to 10 years, which would represent chaos to the mobility of Bogotanos for the next few years”, he added.

He indicated that the Attorney General’s Office warned that there would be patrimonial detriment in case the changes proposed by the Petro government are made. As well as risks such as the increase in prices in designs and construction, the same due to the fluctuation of the price of the Dollar and uncertainty due to the destination of the properties that have been acquired for the construction of the subway.

“Through this Popular Action I asked the Court to order the National and District Government to refrain from making changes to the initially agreed contract for the megaproject. (As well as) that the District Administration with the Metro company continue with the planned execution, that is, without burying any section of the project. (And finally) that a dialogue be carried out between the Presidency, the Mayor’s Office and the Metro company in which the agreed guidelines are reiterated, so that the work can be carried out without any modification or setback ”, he concluded.

This would be the first judicial action that would be taken before the changes that the president would seek in the infrastructure project, which last Monday, January 30, revealed the legal concept with which it would make it viable for the changes to be made so that the train metropolitan go underground.

The document consists of 70 pages and was prepared by the law firm of former Justice Minister Enrique Gil Botero, where they argued that the modifications could be made so that the future mass transportation system of the city goes underground, the station reported. The W Radio.

“Yes. It is entirely viable or possible to unilaterally modify the concession contract 163 of 2019 with regard to one of its accidental elements, such as the definition of the layout and the construction modality, from elevated to underground,” they cited in the media. document radius.

They assure in the legal analysis that a new agreement would not be required, nor would it be a question of changing the concessionaire that has been working on the project.

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