Panama referendum likely to back huge canal upgrade
Canal Expansion (Source) PANAMA CITY, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Panama Canal, one of the engineering wonders of the world, will receive the biggest facelift in its 92-year history if Panamanians approve a plan to widen and deepen the waterway at a referendum on Sunday. Opinion polls show around two-thirds of people approve the government’s proposal for a $5.25-billion overhaul to allow increasingly large tankers to pass between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. President Martin Torrijos has billed the referendum as Panama’s most important vote since it became independent from Colombia in 1903 but opponents warn it could bankrupt the small nation if costs spiral. Supporters of the expansion, planned to begin in 2008, hope it will bring a jobs bonanza for Panama’s 3 million people, most of whom live in poverty. “We have to think about our children, their future,” said Carlos Sanjur, a truck driver who supports the expansion plan. “It is progress and will bring jobs and investment.”