Neither of the two companies that form the Fourth Bridge Consortium is targets of recently announced sanctions says a statement issued Friday, August 28.

The reaction of the group, which was awarded the  $1,5 billion contract for construction of a new bridge that will link the provinces of Panama and Panama West, comes after the State Department reported sanctions and restrictions against 24 Chinese companies and people linked to building artificial islands in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

“Following the recent United States sanctions against Chinese companies, the Panama Fourth Bridge Consortium clarifies that none of the companies that comprise it, namely China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC) and China Constructions Communications Company Ltd. (CCCC) were sanctioned ”, The consortium said the statement.

It anticipates that it is prepared to continue with the works of the fourth bridge over the Canal on September 7, the date that the government announced for the start of the reactivation of infrastructure projects in the midst of the pandemic.

The project was awarded for $ 1,518 million, the largest in the history of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), during the administration of Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019).