The Chinese government and the concessionaire HKND have announced that on December 22 work will begin on the project with the construction of secondary roads and ports.

In the first part of the presentation given by the Chinese company to the government and businessmen, feasibility, environmental, and social studies, for the market and design work were presented.

Zhu Xiaoya, assistant chairman of HKND Group, told Elnuevodiario.com.ni that “… The canal work will be done to a high standard and strict requirements which have been laid out and are constitute a solid foundation for the project.”

Telemaco Talavera, a spokesperson for the Commission for the Nicaragua Canal Project, added that “… The first works consist of the construction of secondary roads and ports, not the ‘ditch’ itself.”

Source: elnuevodiario.com.ni

The project will realise a dream of Chinese businessman Wang Jing, and has attracted little else but scepticism and criticism since it began making headlines late in 2013.

But in July this year, a Nicaraguan committee of government officials, businessmen, and academics approved a 276km route from the mouth of the Brito river on the Pacific side to the Punto Gorda river on the Caribbean.

Even then, there was talk the canal was unlikely to meet environmental obligations, given the proposed route saw it bisecting Lake Nicaragua, Central America’s largest lake and an important freshwater source for the country.

But yesterday, officials said studies have determined it will have minimal impact on the environment and society, and construction will begin on December 22.

China’s HKND Group will build the canal, which will be three times longer than the Panama Canal. And some 105km of it will indeed pass through Lake Nicaragua.