Nicaragua cancels plan to build sea canal with Chinese company

(CNN Spanish)– Nicaragua's National Assembly, at the request of the president, approved the reforms, effectively canceling the concession of the Interoceanic Canal project to a Chinese company and creating a new company to manage it. Press release.

To begin with, this Wednesday it unanimously passed Act no. 800 approves the reform initiative, which creates the so-called Commission of the Grand Interoceanic Canal of Nicaragua and installs the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure as the head of that project and vice president. The President's representative said in a statement.

“The Act establishes that the Vice-Chairman of the Commission of the Grand Interoceanic Canal shall be exercised by the Representative of the President of the Republic for the Caribbean Coast and the Adviser on Investments, Trade and International Cooperation of the Secretariat. The Head of the Republic shall be the Secretary of the Commission of the Grand Interoceanic Canal,” the statement added.

The legislature also repealed the so-called Law 840, media linked to the government of Daniel Ortega reported. The move dates back to 2013 and it awarded Chinese firm HK Nicaragua Canal Development a 50-year concession to build the inter-sea canal.

CNN has requested comment from the HK Nicaragua Canal Development Corporation and has not received a response as of Saturday.

CNN has sought reaction from the Nicaraguan government and they did not respond to requests for comment.

Ortega announced the ambitious Interoceanic Canal project in 2013 as a rival to the Panama Canal, promising to double Nicaragua's gross domestic product (GDP). When the National Assembly approved the construction of the project, it awarded the concession to the Chinese company and promised that the work would be completed by 2020. There has been no progress on construction since then, CNN previously reported.