Brazilian judge halts work at Sao Paulo Airport

Construction work on a new terminal building at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos airport has been stopped by a federal court judge after it emerged bidding rules had been ignored.
Judge Louise Vilela said in her ruling that she was ordering the halt at the airport because state airport authority Infraero had handed a contract to Delta Constructions without a bidding process, Reuters has reported.
She said that risked creating a "dangerous precedent" for public works in Brazil, allowing rules to be ignored in the name of urgency.
Brazil's government is rushing to expand its airport capacity and build stadia in time for the football World Cup in 2014 and for the Olympic Games in 2016.
Work on the third terminal at the Brazilian airport is estimated to reach 1.2 billion reais (US$700 million) and more than double the airport's annual passenger capacity to 52.7 million by 2014, Reuters said.
Read the full story: Reuters 

13 September 2011