Panamanians vote to widen canal
Panamanians overwhelmingly backed a plan to give
their famous 92-year-old canal its biggest-ever overhaul on Sunday, an ambitious
project the government hopes will help lift the country out of
poverty.
Construction of Miraflores Locks
Panamanians overwhelmingly backed a plan to give their famous 92-year-old canal its biggest-ever overhaul on Sunday, an ambitious project the government hopes will help lift the country out of poverty.
With two-thirds of referendum results in, Panamanians voted four-to-one to support a $5.25 billion face-lift allowing the inter-oceanic canal to handle mammoth modern cargo ships, the Central American nation’s Electoral Tribunal reported.
The capacity of the canal, which was U.S. territory until it was returned to Panama in 1999, will double under the plan, allowing it to transport twice as many ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, boosting government revenue.
“History will record this as the day when Panamanians made the first major decision on the Panama Canal and their future by themselves,” Ricaurte Vasquez, minister for canal affairs and a former finance minister, told Reuters.
Expansion of the canal, an engineering wonder first opened in 1914, will create a jobs bonanza for Panama’s 3 million people and boost economic growth, supporters say.
Critics warn the plan could bankrupt the small nation, which is already burdened with huge debts and where most people live in poverty, if costs spiral. Taxpayers could be forced to pick up the tab and investors lose money.
Voters queued for hours in vicious heat to have their say.
Panama is facing a critical node in commerce as it is. Projects competing with widening of the Canal have long been considered by other Central American countries, other investors. In recent months, hard money is being devoted to bringing those alternatives forward.
Posted: Mon - October 23, 2006 at 06:33 AM