Rob Horgan
A SPANISH firm’s multi-million airport tunnel battle with Gibraltar has finally hit a rock.
Lauded as Chief Minister Fabian Picardo’s ‘most important achievement’, the Supreme Court in the UK has thrown out OHL’s appeal, ending a three-year legal tussle.
Already dismissed by the UK High Court in 2012 and the Court of Appeal this year, OHL is now forced to accept the ruling.
The legal battle was launched after the lucrative £34.1 million contract to build a tunnel under the airport runway was scrapped due to contractual differences.
While the project had begun – and OHL had already received £14 million – it was decided best to part ways.
However, the company disagreed and launched legal proceedings to the tune of £20 million in 2012.
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the result ranks as one of his ‘most important achievements’.
“This is now the end of the road for OHL,” Picardo said. “This has been one of the most important and often time-consuming things I have done in the past four years.”
He added: “There is no further legal step for them to take. Having lost all the way through the legal process, it is time for them to realise that they got it wrong.”
He has also finally confirmed that the tunnel is set to be finished as soon as possible to cut back on congestion.
