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Tuesday, 31 October 2006 16:20 |
 The Panama Canal is one of the engineering marvels of the world ÇƒÓ and over the next eight years, itës going to be getting a lot larger, as Panamanian citizens voted overwhelmingly on Oct. 22 to expand and modernize the canal.
This is, on the whole, an extremely heartening step, for several reasons.
First, while the Panamanian economy is growing well, approximately 40 percent of the population remains in poverty. An expansion of the canal, which already employs about 8,000 Panamanians, would help the local economy, not just in new jobs but in the inevitable increase in trade and commerce in nearby Panama City.
Also,
this is an example of democracy at work. In a region where many
decisions about such projects would be in the hands of an elite ÇƒÓ even
in ostensibly democratic countries ÇƒÓ the Panamanian citizens had a
direct chance to vote the expansion up or down.
Granted, there
are still worries about the possibility of corruption. Some of those
worries have validity, but it is worth noting that since Panama took
over the canal from the United States in 1999, operations have
continued without a hitch ÇƒÓ in fact, profits have grown.
Right now, the
canal services four percent of world sea trade. That doesnët sound like
much, but itës actually a huge amount ÇƒÓ and a modernized canal could
bring in even more, some estimate as much as $4.6 billion more.
Finally, the
whole case of the Panama Canal should serve as an example of what, with
determination, a small nation can do. Much is heard today about small
countries being completely in the thrall, economically or otherwise, of
larger powers.
However, while
the canal was originally constructed by the U.S., Panama shrewdly
negotiated to take control of it ÇƒÓ and since 1999, has showed that it
could administrate it in an efficient manner. Now, it is expanding the
canal, with its own money.
Panama has come
a long way from the days of abominable figures like Gen. Manuel
Noriega, both in terms of democracy and its independence from foreign
powers. The world should learn from its lesson.
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