Honduras approves private cities project

Honduras signed a deal for an initial investment of $15 million to create the first of three “Private Cities” in the country.

A Private City is an area governed as an autonomous political unit under international auspices.

The development of the project, also referred to as “Free Cities”, “Charter Cities”, or in Spanish, “RED – Regiones Especiales de Desarollo,” will result in 5,000 new jobs, as well as 15,000 indirect new jobs, officials said.

The first city will be built in Trujillo, in the Department of Colón, where it does not have the full support of the Garifuna people, as the indigenous people fear that the loss of their land may result, local Honduras News reported.

Michael Strong, an executive with the MKG Group that was granted this project, stated that the objective is to create a secure and prosperous community for Hondurans.

Juan Hernández, president of the Honduran National Congress, said that this is a giant step forward for the country after the Honduras Congress passed a decree, which takes care of all constitutional issues related to the creation of these RED zones.

The new Charter Cities will have their own police force, and there will be an audit committee that is overseen by a Transparency Commission, which is an independent body appointed by Honduran President Porfirio Lobo. The body has the power to gather and evaluate information and statistics on crime rate, which should improve the efficiency of the legal system.