Nicaragua fast-tracks huge, controversial canal project

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaragua is trying to revive a centuries-old dream of building an inter-ocean canal, a project experts say could take 11 years to build, cost $40 billion and require digging about 130 miles (200 kilometers) of waterway, 200 feet (60 meters) deep in many places.

The government is trying to push approval of a canal linking the Pacific to the Atlantic through the country's congress in less than a week in a country that doesn't even yet have a paved road connecting the two oceans. And some congressmen are asking why there's such a rush.

Some are also concerned that the private company seeking to build the project is from China, a country whose record in big infrastructure projects is solid but whose track record on environmental sensitivity is unenviable.