Shopper Infrastructure Bill of 2014



The Shopper Infrastructure Bill of 2014 was the third project outlined in the 2014 Shopper Outreach Program, and the only project centered domestically in Shops Island. The bill regarded an increase of quality and quantity in Shopper infrastructure, such as bridges, dams, roads, ports, and more. The bill also outlined funds for repairing Shopper infrastructure damaged during the Frosian War.

Background
In the last month of the Frosian War, Puffalian aircraft continuously targeted Shopper cities, namely Shops City. Billions of dollars in damages added up, along with it came the destruction of some of Shops' most prestigious buildings, including the East Tower of the Shopper Government Buildings. At the end of the war, president Lavender put forward legislation to help the crippled allies of the war in the form of the 2014 Shopper Outreach Program. The Common Legislature demanded that a separate bill be put through regarding Shopper infrastructure and post-war recovery. So, the third tenant to the Outreach Program, the Shopper Infrastructure Bill of 2014, was born.

Details
The project was not as big as the Pink Heart Plan, or the Trans-Antarctic Pipeline, but the infrastructure bill was still monumental to Shops Island. The funds for the project came from the grant the Shopper government gave itself in the Pink Heart Plan. Private contractors throughout Shops Island and throughout Antarctica were hired to rebuild bridges, buildings, ports, and roadways. Construction companies were also tasked with building a complex series of hydroelectric dams in the Mario Mountains - the largest of their kind in Antarctica. The Shopper army and coast guard also pitched in, providing labor and equipment to help rebuild buildings and other infrastructure.

However, all these projects were dwarfed by the largest task outlined in the bill. The Shopper government put forward a tender to build a massive canal spanning from an inlet just south of Goberna all the way inland to Shops City, to allow sea traffic into the city. It was to be the longest canal in the world. Considering Shops City was dead in the middle of the barren Shops Island, the project seemed dubious, if not impossible, at face value. Only one construction company in Antarctica was large and capable enough to undertake the massive project - the same company that built the Trans-Antarctic Pipeline - Trans-Antarctic Pipelines. Three of the companies that formed Trans-Antarctic Pipelines had experience building waterways, and Trans-Antarctic Pipelines had an equipment fleet big enough to do the job, so they got it. The massive canal was finished after seven months of non-stop construction, in May 2015.

Reception
Most of what the infrastructure bill entitled was received positively by mostly everyone, including environmentalists (for a change). The environmentalists applauded the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure, but shrieked at the government's push to dig a canal through the mainland, and to build multiple dams in the pristine Mario Mountains. They cited the destruction of wildlife and animal habitats (as always), and tried to appeal their case in court, but to no avail. The dams and canal went through construction with no delays, unlike the Trans-Antarctic Pipeline, which the environmentalists tired to shut down multiple times. The only other opposition came from Polaris, whom continuously whined about the Shopper government giving themselves "unwarranted and selfish preferential treatment", and complained about not being helped more in the reconstruction of their country after the Frosian War. Polaris had already been given a ridiculous amount of money in comparison to the little physical damage they incurred in the war, and the Shopper government was not interested in their whining.