Extension of Panama Canal by Decent Work Principles

In the 1800s, the thought about connecting two oceans by creating a canal was totally unthinkable. But in 1880 the Panama Canal was constructed and it took almost twenty-five years and cost about twenty-seven thousand human lives. Panama government has recently announced that the canal will be extended but this time it will have The Decent Work Agenda for its construction. This was announced in the annual conference of the ILO.

Edwin Salamín Jaen who is the Minister for Labor said that the government is fully committed for the laborious job of extending the canal and the principles of decent work will be used while it will be built. Edwin Salamín Jaen was also elected the president of the conference in front of the representatives from one-hundred and eighty-two ILO members from various parts of the world in Geneva, Switzerland. He also said that panama government has included a clause which says that all the companies that are involved in this project will have to respect the principles of the decent work agenda and will have to create around seven-thousand jobs. Edwin Salamín Jaen said that this is one particular project that the panama government will be watching very closely.

This project will take about six years to complete if work starts from September of this year then the work will be scheduled to end by 2014. This extension of the canal will be increasing the overall volume of the traffic of the waterway, which is a good thing. The decent work principles were included in the agenda of extending the canal because it is symbolic. This time the human lives will be given a greater value because last time many lives were lost mostly due to tropical diseases and various accidents. Now, since the work is in the hands of the government the chances of these things happening will be very less but still those who wish to work in this project will be facing a precarious situation and have a big and risky job.

Promotion of decent work is being done by ILO so that every nation and all the societies provide equal opportunity and have a productive employment at the same time providing safety in the work place, giving protection to the employee’s families and have an ample amount of respect for labor rights. This total concept has the support from a lot of international communities and various political forums from all over the world. Edwin Salamín Jaen believes that this is going to a crucial tool for battling poverty and nurturing development. This December, Panama has agreed on the development of a National Decent Work Agenda.

The newly elected president stated few of the most important issues of this agenda. This will promote employment in the rural areas and will significantly reduce poverty and in turn will increase productivity. A lot of job opportunities will be created and this will ensure growth and development and will be fortify the capacity of the organizations involved. He said that since all the decisions of the ILO is taken in a democratic manner where every one debates and discusses every issue, so the proposals and issues presented by the ILO has a heavier weight than any other proposals.