Construction of Mexico City airport plagued by irregularities - lawmaker

The ongoing project to build a 186bn-peso (US$10bn) new international airport for Mexico City has been plagued with irregularities, according to lawmaker Rafael Hernández Soriano, chair of the special legislative commission created last year to oversee the development.

Following a visit to the construction site to meet representatives of future airport operator GACM, Hernández said that the development of the project shows "major signs of negligence that need to be addressed," according to a release from congress.

Hernández said that the alleged irregularities include cost overruns and the lack of a detailed connectivity plan for the airport's future users.

The legislator said that the special committee will hold a series of meetings with authorities, specialists and members of academia, as well as other experts, to address these concerns. He also pledged to organize more visits to the site to inspect the physical state of the infrastructure being built.

Meanwhile, GACM said in a statement that the project is progressing according to the timetable established in its master plan, with 26 works currently under construction.

The operator also said that all of the information on the contracts, financing structure and physical progress of the works is available on the project website.

Earlier this month, an official from the federal audit authority (ASF) told members of the legislative committee that the deadline to complete the airport will likely be extended and the project would cost more than expected.

During the meeting, lawmakers were presented with the results of audits that ASF carried out on 88 of the project contracts related to the 2014, 2015 and 2016 public accounts of future airport operator GACM, which showed irregularities worth some 234mn pesos.