Nicaragua Canal Project Fraught with Risks
Nicaragua's planned $50 billion canal project is "fraught with risks and uncertainties," and could cause more harm than good unless the government and its Chinese builder fund a host of mitigation measures, an environmental consultancy said. The 172-mile (278 km), Chinese-backed project to rival the Panama Canal is one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure schemes, but it has been met with widespread incredulity, especially over its source of funding and planned 2020 completion deadline. The social and environmental impact study by the consultancy, Environmental Resources Management Ltd, echoed many of the same concerns. It urged Nicaragua's government to verify project builder and operator…
Nicaragua Canal Project Study Delivered, Details Scarce
A long-awaited study on the impact of the proposed $50 billion Nicaraguan waterway by a British consultancy has been delivered, a canal official said on Monday, the first major milestone since a symbolic groundbreaking six months ago. The social and environmental impact study by the consultancy, Environmental Resources Management Ltd, will be discussed by an inter-institutional commission in June, before being voted on by the canal commission in July, Telemaco Talavera, spokesman of the government canal commission, said. The 172-mile (278 km), Chinese-backed project, which the Nicaraguan government says will be operational by 2020, is one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure schemes, but has been met with widespread incredulity.
China's "Ordinary" Billionaire Behind Nicaragua Canal Plan
Wang Jing, the enigmatic businessman behind Nicaragua's $50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, shrugs off scepticism about how a little-known entrepreneur can be driving a huge transcontinental project, insisting he's not an agent of the Beijing government. "I know you don't believe me," said Wang, who reckons that he's forked-out about $100 million in canal preparation work, and is burning as much as $10 million a month on the project. "You believe there are people from the Chinese government in the background providing support. High-ranking Chinese officials including President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and former leaders Jiang Zemin and Wen Jiabao have all visited the state-connected wireless communication technologies company Wang took control of four years ago.
