The planned Punta Colonet port development could be moved to a new location in northern Mexico's Baja California state if a legal dispute between the
transport and communications ministry (SCT) and mining company Grupo Minero Lobos goes unresolved, daily Milenio reported.
The mooted location for the port, around 130km south of Ensenada city, lies within a 30,000ha lot on which Grupo Minero Lobos holds mining rights, but
a dispute arose because the firm asked authorities for permission to build a port. While that request was supposedly being processed, the SCT
announced that the government planned to build a port on the same site.
This has led SCT multimodal transport director Eduardo Escamilla to claim that the authorities would have no problem shifting the site either north or
south of Punta Colonet.
"We aren't committed to the location of Punta Colonet. This can be moved in any direction to the north or south, as long as it is close to the border
[with the US] and provides the competitiveness of a multimodal development in northern Baja California," the official was quoted as saying by the
newspaper.
Once the legal problems are resolved with the subsidiary of Grupo Minero de Baja California, the bidding process for construction of the port will go
ahead, he added.
Grupo Minero Lobos recently announced that it had contracted a US$1.5mn feasibility study for the port to be carried out by Australian company
Snowden, as Lobos wants to build a terminal for mining products, which could be part of the main port project, which is aimed at container traffic.
If the federal government gives the company guarantees that both projects can be carried out, then it will withdraw its legal claim over the land and
could give the authorities the 2,400ha they need to build the port, Lobos president Gabriel Chávez said, according to a report on the Mexican college
of engineers website.
THE PROJECT
Punta Colonet is intended to be one of the largest multimodal maritime centers in the country and could have the capacity to handle around 1M TEUs a
year, much of which would be sent to the US.
Complementary plans include a 600MW power plant, two natural gas treatment projects to distribute this fuel in both Mexico and the US, and rail lines
connecting the port to Mexicali and Calexico near the US border.
In total the various projects are estimated to cost around US$10bn and four groups have already expressed an interest: Hutchison Port Holding (HPH),
Puerto Colonet Infraestructura, Marine Terminal Corporation and Grupo Minero de Baja California.David K - 11-22-2006 at 06:58 PM
so typical!Osprey - 11-22-2006 at 07:07 PM
David, why don't you tell us about it. "So typical" is a very evocative post. Explain please.David K - 11-22-2006 at 07:15 PM
That greed between landowners prevents the greater project from happening... However, being selfish and not wanting Baja to develop, this may be
welcome news to some.
Also 'so typical' that these grand projects get announced only to fizzle later (Escalera Nautica, Puerto Escondido, etc.)
I wish that Baja had no more than maybe 1 paved road and no graded roads... but, that's not realistic, is it?Bajaboy - 11-22-2006 at 08:27 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
That greed between landowners prevents the greater project from happening...
DK- Isn't that called capitalism....????
I wish there were more parks in downtown San Diego but the greedy landowners.....
Happy Thanksgiving!
Zacbajabound2005 - 11-22-2006 at 08:43 PM
which Puerto Escondido are you talking about because the one here has TAKEN OFF!David K - 11-22-2006 at 09:25 PM
No, greed in not allowing capitalism (which benefits EVERYONE) to happen.
Puerto Escondido in Baja Sur... Once a beautiful place where anyone could camp along the bay shore... fenced off in an uncompleted harbor project that
only benefits boaters... A disaster when I was there a couple years ago. Has someone come in to finish it?Paula - 11-22-2006 at 09:34 PM
Actually they have done somework down there.
But it doesn't seem to be leading to anything that anyone is actually using or enjoying.
