Guayas City Terminates SERDRA Dredging Contract

The Ecuadorian Administration of Guayas City has terminated a dredging contract it had signed last year with the Ecuadorian Navy Dredging Service (SERDRA). The project was to dredge the 389-kilometer (241.7-foot) long Guayas River in Ecuador for a period of 24 months. SERDRA was supposed to extract about 4.5 million cubic meters (5.9 cubic yards) of sediments out of the El Palmar islet, located off the coast of Guayaquil. The termination of the contract was made official on September 5, following a notice by the Guayas City Administration. Mayor Morales said on September 27 that “both parties” agreed to terminate the contract. As a result, SERDRA will return a payment it received for the project. Morales said SERDRA had “given up” on a provisional remedy decision by a local court preventing the dredging contract from being terminated. On the other hand, SERDRA said the contract termination was a “unilateral decision” of the Guayas City Administration. Morales said Guayas City will issue a new tender for the dredging project. “We will release as soon as possible an international tender, which will be transparent, competitive and will have convenient prices. Such a tender will be based in technical … studies covering a whole-integrated solution,” Morales said.