Skip to main content

Panama road project proves controversial

Controversy surrounds proposals to improve a key road link in Panama. The plan is to widen and improve the Panamerican highway stretch in the country’s Panama Oueste Province, between Las Americas bridge and Arraijan. The work is expected to cost in the region of US$335.5 million. However there is concern over the 91ha of forest that will have to be cut down, of which 50ha lies in a national park. Various groups have criticised the Ministry of Public Works for choosing a road alignment that requires forest
October 12, 2018 Read time: 1 min

Controversy surrounds proposals to improve a key road link in Panama. The plan is to widen and improve the Panamerican highway stretch in the country’s Panama Oueste Province, between Las Americas bridge and Arraijan. The work is expected to cost in the region of US$335.5 million. However there is concern over the 91ha of forest that will have to be cut down, of which 50ha lies in a national park. Various groups have criticised the Ministry of Public Works for choosing a road alignment that requires forest to be cut down, saying that other routes could have been considered instead as being more suitable.

Related Content

  • Controversial Russian bridge opens
    August 10, 2018
    The first stage of a controversial Russian bridge project is now complete, with the link having been opened to use by cars and buses. The Kerch Strait bridge spans the Black Sea, connecting Russia’s Taman Peninsula in Krasnodar with Crimea, the latter having been controversially annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The official opening of the 19km-long bridge was carried out by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who drove across the link in a Russian-manufactured Kamaz truck to reach the city of Kerch.
  • Panama road widening work
    September 19, 2022
    Road widening will be carried out on a key route in Panama.
  • Panama road and bridge projects being planned
    December 14, 2017
    The tender process is opening for a new road project in Panama to connect Veracruz with Vacamonte, as well as for a new bridge. The new road and bridge link will be in Arraijan, in Panama’s Oeste Province. The tender process is being managed by Panama’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP). The new bridge will span the Bique River.
  • Costa Rica road projects moving forward - slowly
    July 18, 2017
    Costa Rica is moving ahead with a series of major road projects, but progress is proving slower than anticipated or desired. The Costa Rica Government is struggling to achieve satisfactory progress with its overall road improvement programme. So far the key focus has been on maintaining existing links rather than building and improving road connections. The country’s National Laboratory for Structural Material and Models (Lanamme) has produced a report revealing that 85% of the national roads are in accepta