President López Obrador has had enough of construction businesses “that have behaved badly,” taking advantage of the government contracts they are awarded.

“The companies had more lawyers than engineers; they specialized in arguing. The government was their piggy bank and that is now over,” he said at his morning press conference on Tuesday.

“We have a problem in how badly national and foreign companies have behaved,” he said. “They don’t follow through and they keep the advances.”

Nevertheless, he cited two experiences that he considered worthy of praise.

“One good example is the military engineers in the construction of the Santa Lucía airport, who are doing a quality job on time,” he said.

“The other experience is [with] a Dutch company that is [working on] the new Dos Bocas refinery [in Tabasco]. I can’t say the same for other cases.”

AMLO, as he is commonly known, said that now that the government is calling for tenders for the restoration of the railway on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, he’ll make sure the bidders know that this aspect of business culture in Mexico has changed.

“Companies that come through will have the full recognition of the government, but those that run afoul will be derided, I can assure you … We cannot go on with more of the same,” he said.

Source: El Universal (sp)