Above: the Panama Canal

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jorge Luis Quijano has been named the new Panama Canal Administrator, succeeding Alberto Aleman Zubieta. Quijano will lead the canal as it undergoes its much-anticipated expansion.

Zubeita, who has led the canal for 16 years, will complete his term Sep. 3.

“This decision was based on the responsibility and independence granted to the Board of Directors by the Constitution and the Organic Law of the Panama Canal Authority, as a way to preserve its institutionalism,” said Romulo Roux, chairman of the Board of Directors and Minister for Canal Affairs.

Quijano, who began his career at the Panama Canal in 1975, will now begin a transition period.

“The Board of Directors completed this selection process through the elaboration of a specific chronogram which compiled the challenges of the Canal and its expansion,” Roux said. “Based upon this strategic planning process, the Board developed the profile of the new Administrator.”

Quijano has been the executive vice president of the engineering and programmes management department in charge of the Panama Canal Expansion Programme since 2006.