More Meetings on Nicaragua Canal

The Government of Nicaragua is continuing to gather info about the Nicaragua Grand Canal Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report.

From September 24 to October 1, 2015, the government held a total of nine public consultation meetings for the ESIA report on the Nicaragua Canal.

Senior officials of HKND Group elaborated to the public key findings in the ESIA, conducted by the British environmental consultancy ERM, and addressed public concerns together with delegates from Nicaraguan government.

At the meetings HKND presented some of the designs, according to which, surplus water coming from the east side will go into Lake Nicaragua for the purpose of maintaining its normal water level, which is crucial to the ecosystems along the lake shores.

Besides, study results indicate that canal construction will not increase the amount of sedimentation in Lake Nicaragua. Moreover, excavation work in the lake will be carried out by environmental-friendly cutter suction dredgers in order not to disturb the sediment from construction impact as far as possible.

On the contrary, the Canal will help to reduce the sediment pollution in Lake Nicaragua in view of the fact that 700 million cubic meters of sediment will be cleared away during dredging operation and maintenance dredging will be performed periodically in the waterway after its opening.

The nine meetings created opportunities for the people of Nicaragua and neighboring countries to gain a better understanding of the project.