The Baja California Travel & Living Webzine

Major Seaport Proposed for Baja California Norte

Chinese and Korean interests want a port facility in Baja California

A Los Angeles firm, fronting for Chinese and Korean concerns, is lobbying the Mexican government to be granted permission to build a $1 billion dollar port in the agricultural area of Punta Colonet, 150 miles south of Tijuana.

The port project would be one of the largest Mexican public works projects ever, according to the LA Times. Roads, rail lines, port facilities and even a small city will have to be constructed to accommodate the project. The consortium believes it is necessary to accommodate the growing demand for Asian goods; imports from China grew at the astounding rate of 15% last year.

It would improve Baja’s current port facilities which are limited, although it is anticipated most of the cargo would be destine for the US. If the plan is thorough, it would include vast improvements to Hwy 1 north to the Mexico-US border.

The down-side is the obvious environmental impact. The LA Times described the intended area as ‘deserted farmland’ This is far from fact. Punta Colonet south San Quintin is one of the most productive agricultural areas in Baja. It’s proximity to Hwy 1 and the US have spurred the growth of large commercial farming in the area. Having anchored in Punta Colonet, it is a beautiful, unspoiled area where orchards and farms run right to the oceans edge. There has been tremendous growth in the region over the last 5 years.

Chinese and Korean firms have not been known for their environmental planning or concerns. One US environmentalist is quoted as saying, “This is just another case of exporting California’s dirty environmental problems to the pristine coastline of Baja California. This is one of the last places we can preserve the beauty that once was the entire west coast”

Representatives of the group seeking to build the port say that piers, cranes and warehouse facilities could be operational by 2012 and begin by handling more than 1 million cargo containers a year. Commercial funding could be responsible for most of the expense. The facility would be about 1/7 the size of those in Los Angeles.

LA Harbor has been so overwhelmed last fall by the increase in imports that ships were reported waiting to be offloaded for as long as a week. Project lobbyists say that more port facilitates are needed and there are no options within the US. Part of the

difficulty in US construction is the environmental criteria that such a facility would have to meet. Mexico has environmental concerns as well, but these concerns often are circumvented in the light of the need for economic growth and heavy lobbying. More than $200 billion dollars of shipping enters the US annually through California ports. A port in Punta Colonet would provide Mexico a piece of that action.

The up-side of this project is the economic boon to Baja. Thousands of jobs would be created in the construction process as well as in manning the port. Although most of the skilled labor jobs would come from elsewhere in Mexico and more likely from foreign firms conduction the construction.

Additionally, there is the concern for jobs and wages in the US. Longshoreman’s wages in the US are significantly higher than wages in Mexico would be. With such a gap in labor costs, the Colonet port could be quickly overwhelmed and in need of immediate expansion.

If corners are cut to meet a budget, improvements to highways could be limited. Additional truck traffic on a road already in need on improvements beyond those ongoing would be disastrous. The road south of Ensenada is not safe or expedient in handling the truck traffic it now carries, as it winds into the mountains of Baja. Major improvements would have to be made north all the way to the US border to handle the additional traffic generated not only by the port, but by the needs of the people who would work there.

The rail line that would be needed to cut road traffic and link the port to the US is another problem. It would have to be constructed and paid for by Mexican concerns. Mexican law prohibits the foreign ownership of such rail links.

There would also be costs incurred by the US taxpayers to process and inspect the cargo before it entered the US, further taxing the busiest border crossing in the world, into San Diego. These same interests have expressed displeasure with increase scrutiny of inbound cargo. Delays in delivery cost money.

As a note, French, English and Russian interests have all attempted to build port facilities in the area over the last 100+ years. All of these attempts were later abandon. Mitsubishi attempted to expand port facilities for salt exports in Baja Sur and was thwarted by international environmental interests just a few years ago. The Mexican government was forced to withdraw approval of the project in a case where concern for the planet overpowered the vast quantity of money the Japanese firm threw at the project.

Tomas