November 2001: Bread Upon The Waters
During the past eight years Puerto Rico has invested $16.6 billion in infrastructure projects ranging from the SuperAqueduct, the Urban Train, major highways such as PR53 and start of Route 66. In September of 2000, then-Governor Pedro Roselló announced yet another megaproject: the transshipment Port of The Americas (PTA). It will be developed in the southern part of the Island, at an estimated cost of $700 million. Expectations call for a great economic boom to the South and PR as a whole. Is this likely? Puerto Rican taxpayers foot part of this bill. What do they get in return? Economic advantages? A mobile showcase promoting Puerto Rico`s ability to adopt technology and display productivity gains in all parts of the world? This issue examines what that economic impact could be and its potential to stimulate the Island economy.