Teams of assessors accompanied by soldiers and police have begun surveying properties along the route of Nicaragua’s planned interoceanic canal, taking quick steps toward the start of a vast project the country has dreamed of for more than a century.
But the process is alarming many residents, who say they fear they’ll lose their homes and receive unfair compensation. Some property owners have complained that the joint Chinese-Nicaraguan teams are accompanied by police or soldiers, as well as representatives of the attorney general’s office.
Some also fear they won’t get enough to buy replacement properties.
“I don’t know who to turn to,” said Jose Jesus Vanegas, owner of a lot along Lake Nicaragua, which is part of the canal route. “They don’t tell us anything about the price and all the people are upset.”
Ortega said some of the property owners are being told that once negotiations start, “they have a month to leave.”