Panama builds up the Canal.

• Author: Conaway, Janelle
• Position: OAS - Panama Canal expansion plan by Samuel Lewis - Brief article

SOME SIX YEARS after assuming full control of the Panama Canal, the government of Panama is proposing a major expansion. The $5.25 billion project--which must be submitted to Panamanian citizens for approval in a national referendum--would nearly double the capacity for moving cargo and would bring enormous development benefits to the country, Panama's vice president and foreign minister Samuel Lewis told the OAS Permanent Council.

Lewis briefed the member states on the proposed expansion during a special meeting on May 19 in the Hall of the Americas--the same room where in 1977 the leaders of the United States and Panama, Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos, signed the treaties establishing the basis for Panama's complete control over the waterway. Panama took over management of the canal on December 31, 1999.

If approved by voters, the construction project would begin next year, with a projected completion...