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Nicaragua’s Interoceanic Canal, a Nightmare for Environmentalists

InterPress Service

By José Adán Silva

Hundreds of small farmers came to Managua from the Caribbean coastal region in southern Nicaragua on Oct. 27 to take part in the 55th protest against the construction of the inter oceanic canal, which is set to displace thousands of rural families. Credit: Carlos Herrera/IPS
Hundreds of small farmers came to Managua from the Caribbean coastal region in southern Nicaragua on Oct. 27 to take part in the 55th protest against the construction of the inter oceanic canal, which is set to displace thousands of rural families. Credit: Carlos Herrera/IPS

MANAGUA, Nov 3 2015 (IPS) – The international scientific community’s fears about the damage that will be caused by Nicaragua’s future inter oceanic canal have been reinforced by the environmental impact assessment, which warns of serious environmental threats posed by the mega project.

The report “Canal de Nicaragua: Executive Summary of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment” was carried out by the British consulting firm Environmental Resources Management (ERM) and commissioned by the Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development (HKDN Group), the Chinese company that won the bid to build the canal.

The 113-page executive summary sums up the study, whose unabridged version has not been made publicly available by the government, ERM or HKND.

In the study, ERM says the mega project could be of great benefit to the country as long as best international practices on the environmental, economic and social fronts are incorporated at the design, construction and operational stages, for which it makes a number of recommendations.

But it spells out specific risks and threats to the environment in this impoverished Central American country of 6.1 million people with a territory of 129,429 square kilometers. Continue reading Nicaragua’s Interoceanic Canal, a Nightmare for Environmentalists →