JORGE QUIJANO
JORGE QUIJANO has been sworn in as the third Panama Canal administrator for a seven-year period, replacing Alberto Aleman Zubieta, who completed 16 years at the helm of the Panama Canal Authority.
"Quijano reaffirms his commitment to ensuring the management model that has enabled the canal's success under Panamanian stewardship," a statement from the Panama Canal Authority said.
Mr Quijano is an engineer with 36 years of experience at the waterway and who has been in charge of key projects such as the Expansion Programme that is due to be completed in 2014.
"Today, I assume this responsibility knowing that, together with a broad vision, hard work and determination dreams may come true," he said. As head of the ACP, Mr Quijano will be responsible for the operation and management of the waterway.
"The future of the canal is full of challenges, and they will certainly not be easy. History has taught us that nothing is ever easy with regard to the canal: its original construction was daunting, it was not easy to regain our sovereignty and the canal administration, and proving to the world that we could handle it effectively and efficiently" he added.