Construction begins on a canal in Nicaragua.

(baonghean) - On Monday, December 22nd, Nicaragua began construction of a canal running through the country, almost parallel to the Panama Canal. This massive project, funded by a Chinese company, is currently causing a great deal of controversy.

On Monday, the Nicaraguan government and the Chinese company HKND launched a project to build a canal across Nicaragua, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. If completed on schedule by 2020, the canal would become a serious competitor to the Panama Canal. However, the project is currently facing opposition from citizens and environmentalists, and many people are questioning its viability.

Protests against the construction of a canal across Nicaragua took place on December 10. Photo: Reuters

The canal construction project in Nicaragua was signed by President Daniel Ortega with Wang Jing, chairman of HKND, dubbed the mysterious Chinese tycoon, at a ceremony in Managua. With this global project, President Ortega aspires to make Nicaragua the richest country in Central America. From the start of construction, HKND will be responsible for building and managing a 278-kilometer canal for 50 years, with an initial investment cost of up to $50 billion.

Initially, the project will begin at the mouth of the Brito River, a river located on the southern Pacific coast. According to Bill Wild, the project's chief Canadian consultant, between 300 and 50,000 workers will be mobilized to build the first access roads to the canal within five years. The canal will then pass through Lake Cocibolca, considered the largest freshwater lake in Central America, and continue through rainforests and at least 40 cities before ending at the mouth of the Punta Gorda River in the Caribbean Sea.

According to some sources, this project was once a dream conceived by the Spanish in the 16th century. While the Panama Canal can only accommodate ships with a tonnage of 110,000 tons and is currently "saturated," if put into operation, the canal across Nicaragua could allow the passage of ships with a tonnage of up to 250,000 tons and a length of 455 meters.

To complete this massive project, the Nicaraguan government must relocate more than 30,000 farmers and indigenous Nahua Ramas people living along the main route the canal will pass through. For the past three months, tens of thousands of citizens and environmental activists have held numerous protests against the start of the project. If the project proceeds, thousands of people will be forced to leave their homes, and the natural environment will be destroyed. Particularly in the area around Lake Cocibolca (also known as Lake Nicaragua), the lakebed will need to be dredged, resulting in the death of a wide range of wildlife living around the lake.

Chu Thanh(According to Liberation, December 22)