WHILE THE COMPLETION date  of the construction of the third set of locks for the Panama  Canal  still hangs in the air,  the  battle over claims by the consortium  in charge of the construction, continues with billions of dollars at stake.

Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) , said Saturday December 5  that a Miami-based arbitration tribunal has agreed to postpone the hearing of its claims with the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to protect "their procedural rights," reports La Prensa.

"The court ruled in favor of GUPC and its shareholders in postponing the hearing because of the volume of the new testimony and evidence which was presented by the ACP," it said in a statement.

The postponement was granted "in order to safeguard the procedural fairness and to protect the fundamental rights of GUPC and its shareholders so they also have adequate time to prepare and present their case," said the contractor.

The hearing was supposed to take place prior to Dec. 21, but has been delayed until the beginning of 2016.