Panama Canal expansion under way

The Panama Canal Authority aims to present its long-awaited plan to expand the shipping conduit and make room for larger vessels to the government by October, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
PCA spokesman Stanley Muschett Ibarra said studies of the costs, financing and scope of a possible expansion - which would allow larger cargo ships through the canal - were more than 80 percent finished, and slated for completion by June.
He said the PCA, an independent entity within Panama's government, would then need a few months to formulate a proposal, which would be made public and subject to approval by a public referendum. As the size of ships has increased over recent years, many vessels are now too large to pass through the 50-mile (80 km) canal.
But the possible expansion of the canal, which handles about 4 percent of international trade, has drawn opposition from some of Panama's farmers whose land might be flooded as a result.
The issue is politically sensitive in Panama, in part because of the environmental concerns.