NICARAGUA – Property surveys have now begun for the $40 billion Nicaraguan shipping canal which, once completed, would link the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and compete with the Panama Canal for control of the international shipping trade. Approved by the Nicaraguan government last July, this canal would extend 172 miles from the Brito River to the Punto Gorda River. According to Reuters, this would make it three times longer than the 48 mile Panama Canal.

According to the Tico Times, HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment, the company charged with carrying out the project on behalf of the Nicaraguan government, has hired the Changjiang Institute of Survey, Planning, Design and Research to help it carry out the survey.

Because the canal's proposed route would pass through Lake Nicaragua, a key fresh water source for the Nicaraguan people, some have raised concerns about the environmental impact the project would have, as well as the economic effect of displacing the families living region. Despite these concerns however, President Daniel Ortega has stated confidently that the canal project would create enough jobs to more than offset the economic and environment costs of the project. With more than half of the population living below the poverty line, according to The Tico Times, this is a gamble he is willing to take.

Reuters is reporting that the government currently expects the canal to be finished by 2019, with operations beginning in 2020.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for further updates on the progress of the Nicaraguan Canal project.