The port proposal at Colonet Bay will require an estimated investment of $9 billion. Eugenio Elorduy, Governor of Baja, California, says his government is developing a master plan in conjunction with Mexico's Secretariat of Communications and Transportation, (SCT). The plan will be made available to those investors bidding for construction of the port. The legal squabble over ownership continues. The Baja Mining Group has filed a habeas corpus plea against the state government and the SCT, claiming that it already has concession rights to exploit the bay.
"The project is going ahead regardless of the legal situation," says Elorduy. "I am sure we are going to find harmony because, with due respect, business investment is always welcome. The mining project and port can be developed hand-in-hand."
The plan will specify that once the contract is awarded, construction must be completed in three years. A new railway connecting with California is part of the master plan.
"Within the next decade this port will become the most important on Mexico's West Coast," says Elorduy. "It represents the largest investment ever made in Mexico,"—Ricardo Castillo Mireles
