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Panama Canal To Receive Expansion

The Panama Canal is a ship canal which was built in order to join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Naturally its construction had a significant and positive impact on maritime trade, which was the primary reason behind its construction. Now there is a new project being proposed by the Panama Canal Authority which would expand traffic capacity of the Panama Canal.

The project goes by the name of the Third Set of Locks Project. This name is related to one of its goals, which is to construct lock complexes at both the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the canal. These lock systems are aimed at resolving the water preservation issues which have come up in the past with the canal’s continued use. The Panama Canal Authority also aims to not only construct additional access channels to the canal but widen those that already exist. These channels will all also had their depth increased when the project has finished.

This expansion is what is called a mega project. Its impact could and likely will be very widespread and felt by nearby communities. Furthermore it is estimated to cost more than one billion US dollars and will likely get a lot of public attention due to its scale. The impact on the environment will also be something that will be taken into consideration.

The project has begun as of September 2007 and could be finished within the year 2015. There are and have been many voices in favor of its commencement. This a result of the many potential benefits that the canal expansion could offer. For one it is expected to pay for itself given time as well as provide a significant amount of return on investment for not only its investors but Panama as well.

Along with its profitability, the canal expansion project is expected to reduce poverty within Panama. This will be a result of the need for labor of all kinds being necessary in order to complete the project. Some have claimed that the reduction will be as high as 30%. Of course it is also believed that improving the channels and traffic capacity of the canal will bring in higher revenues from tolls.

For those who have investments within the shipping industry as or trade that goes on throughout the canal this can mean big profits as well. The increase in capacity for cargo ships will likely make for more revenue. This increase in return can directly impact not only traders and businessmen but the country of Panama itself. With these propose financial benefits, however, there is still a question of the environmental effects of the canal expansion.

Those spearheading the project believe that the expansion will not do any significant or lasting damage to the environment. The areas in which the expansion is proposed to take place are currently controlled by the Panama Canal Authority itself. This means that it is their own buildings or work areas which will be affected, which suggests that no communities will need to be moved or harmed. It is also a point of the project to mitigate the expansion’s environmental impact by installing the lock system mentioned before.

As already mentioned the project is intended to have reached completion by 2015. This is expected to be a time signaling new prosperity within the country of Panama. Time will tell, and during its construction there will no doubt be many parties interested in seeing just what happens.

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