Fears that the Son Blanc jetty project could grind to a halt

The Port Authorities state that Ferrovial, the company which forms more than 50% of the temporary alliance of companies carrying out the project, is demanding more money to continue work.

Manuel Antonio Patiño, the Vice President of the Port Authorities, said that specialists were evaluating the case to determine whether the demand related to extras outside the contract or whether the additional money was needed to cover costs not included by the alliance in its original bid which was lower than its competitors' and the reason, together with the shorter construction time promised, that the alliance was awarded the contract. Patiño explained that Ferrovial was asking for an additional sum which was more than 20% of the project's original budget of 50 million euros, whereas the law states that this increase cannot exceed 20% of the budget. He was confident that an agreement could be reached with the constructors within the legal parameters and gave an assurance that the work would continue. However, he admitted that the Port Authorities were still awaiting a reply regarding the availability of the machine for making the six large concrete modules needed to complete the outer jetty and 40 smaller ones required for the inner breakwater.

The President of the Club Nàutic in Ciutadella, José Negrete, voiced concern over the repercussions that the delay would have on the expansion plans for Cala en Busquets and the provision of moorings in the port.

The Balearic Government has set the end of the month as the date by which an agreement must be reached with Ferrovial and by which time it will have to decide whether or not to grant the extra payment demanded by the constructor and, if not, to arrive at a solution to avoid the work coming to a standstill.