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Nicaragua canal company hires international advisors

Nicaragua canal company hires international advisors
Hong Kong-based firm HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment, and its local arm HKND, the concessionaire for the development, construction and operation of Nicaragua's $40bn interoceanic canal has hired two international advisors to work on feasibility studies.

HKND has hired Belgium-based, civil engineering firm SBE and Australia-based engineering consultancy MEC Mining to carry out work on the technical feasibility studies and route determination.

SBE specialises in lock and canal hydraulics, including feasibility evaluation and conceptual and detailed design while MEC Mining, which provides specialist planning, site management and on-site technical solutions for the strip mining and civil engineering sectors "will advise on the canal excavation design and spoil area design and management, as well as assisting in equipment selection, cost estimation and scheduling," HKND said.

Both firms are in addition to companies such as Environmental Resources Management and McKinsey & Company and engineer Neil Hodge, with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry, who has been appointed as chief engineer for the Nicaragua Canal and Development Project.

“As we move forward with the route selection process and feasibility work, use the services of specialised consulting and MEC SBE to provide direct advice to the client computer and support the work of China Railway Construction Corp and its team of sub-consultants," HKND said.

In June, HKND was awarded the right to develop and operate a US$40bn interoceanic canal and any other infrastructure included in the project under a completely tax-free regime. The concession was formalised in a national law. HKND plans to complete the canal by 2019, with works expected to start in December 2014, following conclusion of the feasibility studies, said HKND CEO Wang Jing earlier.

The announcement of the construction of a canal caused great controversy in Nicaragua, where civil organisations, environmentalists and representatives of political parties have filed to date 16 motions to cancel the project.