Interoceanic Highway

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The Interoceanic Highway or Trans-oceanic highway is an international, transcontinental highway in Peru and Brazil that is under construction. It entails the renovation and construction of roughly 2,600 kilometers of roads and 22 bridges. When completed, it will create a connected highway from the Peruvian ports of Ilo, Matarani, and Marcona to the Brazilian ports of Rio de Janeiro and Santos, although the project almost exclusively involves construction in Peru because of Brazil's already well developed road system. The project was originally proposed more than 30 years before^{[citation needed]} the 2004 agreement between Alejandro Toledo and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, then presidents of the two countries.^{[citation needed]}

To make implementation easier, the project has been divided into five stretches:

1. San Juan de Marcona – Urcos, 763 km of previously paved roads,
2. Urcos – Inambari, 300 km of previously unpaved roads,
3. Inambari – Iñapari, 403 km of previously unpaved roads,
4. Iñapari – Azángaro, 306 km of previously unpaved roads, and
5. Ilo -Juliaca, Matarani-Azángaro, & Puente Gallatini-Humajalso, 752 km of previously paved roads and 62 km of previously unpaved roads.

The total project has an estimated cost of US$1.3 billion, but some analysts predict a higher cost. Of this, about US $810 million is for stretches 2 - 4, $199 million is for stretches 1 and 5, and the remainder for bridges, urban connections, and overhead.

In June 2005, the second, third, and fourth sections have been rented to specialised Peruvian and Brazilian consortia of private companies for 25 years, in which they will be responsible for looking after the highway, the built and forthcoming bridges, and tollbooths.^{[citation needed]} The first and the last section are yet currently being rented. It is estimated that the project will employ about 6,000 people during construction.^{[citation needed]} The project is expected to complete in 2009.

Several non-governmental organizations have expressed concern that the project was approved with atypically little effort on Environmental Impact Studies. Concerns are both environmental (such as deforestation, illegal hunting and fishing, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, or loss of ecotourism value), and social (such as harm to indigenous populations, illegal crops, drug and arms trafficking, "slaving underemployment", or prostitution).

[edit] References

• Rapp, Kenn (2005-12-30). The Brazil-Peru Trans-Oceanic Highway: Project Summary. BICECA: Building Informed Civic Engagement for Conservation in the Andes-Amazon. Bank Information Center. Retrieved on 2006-08-31.