Governor says Port Project Will Generate Thousands of Jobs.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson

March 8, 2011 | WMFE - Within a few years, the Port of Miami will be able to handle much larger ships. Expansion of the Panama Canal, due to be completed in 2014, is expected to draw many more large freighters to ports along the East Coast of the U.S.

Governor Rick Scott and Lt. Gov Jennifer Carroll visited the Port of Miami Monday to announce that the Florida Department of Transportation will spend $77 million dollars on the expansion project.
Lt. Governor Carroll said the deeper port will mean a surge in business as ships from Asia and other parts of the world look for a convenient place to unload.
“One of the things they want is to be able to get their goods in and out as quickly as possible.” Carroll told the crowd Monday. “Time is money. So, if the roadways and the infrastructure are not there to support that and to support their products coming in, that’s going to be very difficult.”
Immediately after the Florida Supreme Court ruled last week that Governor Scott had the authority to kill the state’s high speed rail project, he announced an ambitious plan to improve the state’s ports.
Scott says this deep dredging of the port will create 33,000 permanent jobs.