He has called upon shareholders in the company to pay the taxes that they owe, which he claims date back to the start of the construction work.
Permission allowing the construction to continue had previously been withdrawn by Luis Fernando Ramos, secretary of the Buenaventura city administration.
Substantial amounts of money have already been ploughed into the project, which is due for completion by the end of the year.
Reacting to the move, Luis Fernando Andrade, president of the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) told the media of his concern, especially given that oversight on new port projects was outside the competency of local authorities.
The Cali Chamber of Commerce added it was “unheard of” for such a move to be considered and asked in whose interest it was to stop the project at such a late stage.
