With the plans to build a highway between the Pacific and the Caribbean coast in mind, a proposal has been made to build a port in Bluefields, instead of the one planned in Monkey Point.
The Nicaraguan government announced that it has asked Taiwan to collaborate in order to finalize the project, and that the decision to change the location responds to the new road that will connect the Pacific and the Caribbean, precisely with the city of Bluefields.
The Nicaraguan government is preparing transport concessions which will be granted from 2015 to cover the route that will connect Costa Rica once the Las Tablillas-San Pancho border post is finished.
It is expected that in the first three months of 2015 the results will be ready of a study that will determine the number of buses needed to meet the demand of passengers emerging with the opening of the route between San Pancho and Las Tablillas.
For a period of 30 days, the number of trips per month that can be made by the Costa Rican transport companies Tica Bus and Transnica, from Managua to Costa Rica, will be reduced from three to two.
This administrative penalty imposed by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) comes after the companies Tica Bus and Transnica were asked to improve conditions on the tours they provide including seats at bus stops and toilet services on the buses.
A road connecting Bluefields in the east to the Pacific will be the main factor for development in the area.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) will invest $20 million on building an 80-kilometer track that will connect the Nicaraguan Caribbean with the Pacific, while it obtains financing for the construction of a paved road.
"... The track will be another step closer to having for the first time a connection from the Caribbean to the Pacific, and thus wiil reduce the cost of transportation from Bluefields to the Pacific and back," said Pablo Fernando Martinez, chief of the MTI to Laprensa.com.ni .
In a period of 20 years, plans are to build a port in the Caribbean, improve roads in productive sectors and organize public transport.
The International Cooperation Agency of Japan (JICA) and the Nicaraguan government have presented a study on the National Transport Plan of Nicaragua. In a period of 20 years, the plan is to build a port in the Caribbean, improve roads in the productive sectors and organize public transport, all at a cost of $8 billion.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is preparing the first National Transport Plan of Nicaragua, with the help of national and international consultants.
The Engineer Pablo Fernando Martinez, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, met with funding organizations such as the World Bank, the IDB and the company JICA to evaluate studies on the National Transport Plan.
In Nicaragua, the transport companies are warning of a 50% increase in charges caused by the continuing rise in fuel prices.
Freight transportation businesses operating in the country and in Central America are warning of a likely increase of 50% from the current rate, while inter-city transport operators want an increase of more than 35%.
"The increase is proposed to be effective before the end of March, which would affect users who travel between departments, traders, producers and entrepreneurs who use freight transport to move their goods inside and outside of the country," reported Elnuevodiario.com.ni.
Central American cargo companies want Nicaragua to stop charging a 20% toll over the price of each transportation service.
In order to achieve this, delegates from the Central American Chamber of Transport Companies (Catransca), met with representatives of the Nicaraguan Transportation Ministry.
Héctor Fajardo, vice president of the chamber, told Prensalibre.com: “the objective of the meeting is getting Nicaragua to waive these dispositions that affect ground transportation and violate the framework agreement for Central American integration”.