Despite the opinions of many skeptics, the world’s biggest construction and engineering project may be a go. Backed by mysterious Chinese businessman Wang Jing, Nicaragua plans to build a 172-mile long canal. The canal would stretch across Nicaragua, joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Why would Nicaragua want its own canal? The Panama Canal is only a few hundred miles away. Though it is the largest country in Central America, Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the region—after the tiny island of Haiti. A canal would create tens of thousands of jobs. It could increase economic growth by 15 percent per year. Current growth rates hover around five percent.
But experts are skeptical. The project would require moving five billion cubic tons of earth for the 90-foot-deep, 1,600-foot-wide ditch across Nicaragua. According to McClatchy News, that’s enough dirt to fill 1,698 stadiums the size of Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Where would it go?
If completed, the Nicaragua Canal would be three times as long as the Panama Canal, which is currently under renovation to accommodate bigger ships. But the world’s largest container ships still won’t be able to fit through. Nicaragua’s planned canal would be big enough. The world’s largest container ship has a deck almost the size of four football fields. It could travel through the planned Nicaragua Canal.
The projected price tag for the canal is $50 billion dollars. Wang Jing, who owns a telecom empire in China, says he is funding the project. Some experts suspect that the Chinese government must be behind the project too. Already, Wang Jing is spending $10 million a month on preliminary work. But what if the project fails? He might leave a big environmental mess behind.
Even if completed, the potential damage to the environment could be devastating. Among the concerns is that the canal would cut through Lake Nicaragua, Central America’s largest fresh water reservoir. The canal might irreversibly damage the nation’s water quality. The project would gobble up wetlands and forests. Ships could carry invasive species into the lake.
Is a canal in Nicaragua worth the risks and costs? Critics say the canal would displace tens of thousands of Nicaraguans who live in its proposed path. But others see the canal as Nicaragua’s ticket out of poverty. After 10 years of operation, terms of the agreement would give 10 percent of the canal to Nicaragua. And after that, Nicaragua would gain a one percent ownership share each year.
The canal is a financial and environmental gamble. But for this poor Central American nation, the potential gain is too tempting to pass up.
