The Panama Canal has awarded the design and construction of two new roads totaling 15.1 kilometers in the Río Indio watershed as part of the new lake project in the region. According to the Panama Canal Authority, the works are intended to improve access, connectivity, and quality of life for residents in nearby communities.

The project includes 9.5 kilometers on the Las Claras Abajo–Las Marías section and another 5.6 kilometers between Piedrota and Santa Rosa. These works will be added to a future 10.6-kilometer stage between El Congo and Cirí de los Sotos, which is expected to be tendered later, bringing the planned road network in the project’s area of influence to 25.6 kilometers.

The Canal said the roads are being tendered under a cooperation agreement with Panama’s Ministry of Public Works, ensuring that the projects meet official requirements and construction standards.

At the same time, the Canal reported that it has completed a first nine-month dialogue phase with communities in the Río Indio watershed, including more than 200 community and individual meetings across 38 communities in the area of influence. As a result, a compensation framework was defined to establish clear and equitable measures for addressing the effects on each household in areas such as housing, land, livelihoods, and sociocultural components.

The Panama Canal Authority said the Río Indio Lake project is aimed at strengthening Panama’s water security, on which more than two million people depend through the Canal’s lake system, while also supporting the sustainable operation of the interoceanic route. The initiative is being presented as an integrated project that combines infrastructure, sustainability, social development, and water security, while promoting tangible improvements in living conditions for communities in the watershed.