AmericasOperations

HKND Group willing to bear $700m re-routing of proposed Nicaragua Canal

Developers of the proposed Nicaragua Canal say they are willing to redraw the planned route in order to preserve a community that was going to be erased in the original plan, according to Bloomberg.

HKND Group, the Chinese company behind the reported $50bn project add that they are willing to bear the extra $700m cost of preserving the township of El Tule which lay in the path of the original route. The new route would bypass El Tule by 500 metres.

El Tule is on the southeastern side of Lake Nicaragua and its residents had objected to Hong Kong-based HKND’s first plan.

HKND claims that opinion surveys show a large proportion – almost 80% – of the national population of Nicaragua favour the canal idea, believing it will improve the economy of one of Latin America’s poorest countries.

But some shipping experts query the wisdom of a canal in the same region as the well established Panama Canal which is already undergoing its own expensive expansion in order for it to service the new generation of mega sized carriers and tankers.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
Back to top button