On Monday Nicaraguan officials stated an environmental study has determined that a planned $50 billion canal set to cross their nation is "viable."

The officials declined to offer any accompanying details regarding the report.

Telemaco Talavera, a spokesperson for the Canal Commission, has said the next procedural step will be to submit the new findings to an analysis conducted with the Environment Ministry, adding that the proposed 172-mile canal route has been determined to be the right one, according to the Associated Press.

The plans to move ahead with the canal have been met with controversy. Political opponents of President Daniel Ortega's administration have criticized the project for what they are calling a lack of transparency that has shrouded plans for the canal since it was first announced. Environmental activists have also voiced their concerns.

Although ground has been broken on access roads related to the canal back in December, there has been no digging of the waterway yet, and some doubt the canal will become a reality because of the financial, environmental and social concerns that have plagued the project.

Xu Changbao of HKND, the China-based company that will eventually build the canal, noted that news of the impact study demonstrates a serious commitment to the project, saying: "We will work together with the Nicaraguan people to realize this 100-year-old dream."

Manuel Coronel Kautz, the Grand Canal Authority, stated the report, which was the result of two years of field research and prepared by the British-based consultant Environmental Resources Management, was delivered on Sunday.

Back in December, as reported by Al Jazeera, over 20 Nicaraguan people were injured as they demonstrated against the construction of the shipping canal. The main concern of the protesters was that that their homes could be threatened by the canal which would run through the rainforest and into at least 40 villages.