Panama
Canal referendum in three weeks
By
Roxanne Stapleton
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
10 01 06
PANAMA will hold a referendum in three weeks to
decide whether the Panama Canal will be expanded.
However,
Enrique Sanchez, manager of the Contracting Division
of the Panama Canal Authority said yesterday that
polls conducted across the Central American country,
have shown overwhelming support for its expansion.
If
the project gets the green-light, it will be self
financed at an estimated cost of US$5.25 billion.
Gross
revenue generated by the Canal for fiscal 2005/6
(fiscal year ends September 30, 2006), reached US$1.4
billion, with the Panamanian Government netting
approximately US$600 million of that figure.
"The
Panama Canal has turned out to be a very good business
for the Panamanian people...it may not be as much
as oil business, but it is very good business,"
he chuckled.
"The
plan is to raise tolls on the Canal between three
and four per cent over the next 20 years gradually...in
other words the customer pays for the expansion.
"And
then a small part of the expansion, will require
borrowing about US$2 billion, from international
financial institutions, to be repaid also by the
tolls," Sanchez said.
Expansion
is carded to commence in 2007 and end in 2014, with
an expected 40,000 direct and indirect jobs generated,
most of which will be filled by Panamanians.
When
the Canal was originally built, most of the workers
came from Caribbean islands, including Barbados,
Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique, Jamaica, St Vincent
and St Lucia.
Highlighting
that Canal expansion not only will result in positive
returns for Panama, he pointed to gains to be made
by the entire Caribbean, saying that there will
be an increase in vessels moving through the region
and a decrease in cost of moving goods from the
Caribbean.
The
major components of the Canal's expansion programme
will include new post-Panamax size locks (lanes
to allow the passage of bigger ships), alignment
channels for new locks, improvements to existing
channels and water management to increase the yield
of the Canal.
Sanchez
was joined by Panama's Ambassador to Trinidad and
Tobago, Gerardo Maloney Francis, as they briefed
reporters at the headquarters of the Association
of Caribbean States, St Clair yesterday.
Trinidad
Express
Thursday, September 28th 2006
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