Monaco Drops Expansion Plans Due To Economic Crisis

Plans to have the tiny principality of Monaco expand into the Mediterranean Sea have been shelved due to the global economic turmoil.

That is what Monaco’s ruler, Prince Albert II says. In an interview with the AFP, the prince explained the reasons to ditch the multi-billion dollar expansion, which drew comparisons to the projects in Dubai.

“In the current climate it would be irresponsible to launch a project of this scale,” the Prince says, explaining that the project had fallen short of its funding and environmental protection goals.

“The international crisis has forced us to seek better financial guarantees, more security. I would in any case want to reassure myself that effects on the environment would be as limited as possible,” he said.

The huge artificial peninsula would have been the size of 20 football fields, packed with housing, shops and tourist facilities.

Monaco, population 30,000, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It sits on the French Riviera, with a steep hill at its back.

The principality is famous for its glamorous casinos and banking sector.

Prince Albert  insisted that the decision to halt the project does not imply that Monaco’s economy is in trouble, and noted that a third of the principality’s budget is allocated to capital infrastructure projects.

Albert told AFP he had not ruled out relaunching the project to expand Monaco’s sea front, but warned that the designs so far presented had fallen short of his hopes in terms of environmental safeguards.

“Protecting the environment is just as important a priority as the economic imperatives,” he said, promising that a more thorough ecological study would be carried out before any future development was planned.

The expansion project was to begin in 2011.