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Positive News was handed the guardianship of Global Village News and Resources in summer of 2004. Although we would like to continue to make the archives available to subscribers and readers we would like to point out that stories published prior to issue 89 were not under our editorial guidance and would like to make a distinction that these are not necessarily a reflection of the current opinions of our editorial team. Havana Bay Eco Cleanup Welcomes Return Of Fish & Fowl Cuba - Thanks to a cooperative endeavor between the United Nations Development Project and the government of Cuba, fish and birds have are returning to the once toxic Bay of Havana. While improvements have been made, environmentalist do admit that much more remains to be done, particularly with the highly contaminated Luyano River which empties into the bay. The UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF) unit and the Government are funding construction of a sewerage treatment plant upstream on the Luyano, and Italian Cooperation is funding a similar plant already under construction downstream. The UNDP/GEF share is US$ 3.7 million and the Government share is 15 million Cuban pesos. As part of the initiative, the Government of Norway is providing funding through UNDP for construction of "zero emission" homes near the bay that release no pollutants. One million people live or work on Havana Bay or visit its shores, underscoring the importance of efforts to revive it, noted Luis Gómez Echeverri UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator. UNDP has supported ongoing efforts to clean up the bay, Cuba's most important, since 1994. The Government of Belgium has also provided funding for the clean-up through UNDP, and Japan is considering contributing support for the effort as well. Though pollution has abated and birds and marine life have come back to some areas, much work remains to be done, especially in the clean-up of two rivers and drainage systems that feed pollutants into the bay. Raúl Taladrid, Vice Minister of Foreign Investment and Cooperation, thanked UNDP for its contribution and praised the successful resource mobilization campaign conducted by Mr. Echeverri for this and other significant development projects. For further information please contact Alberto D. Perez, UNDP Cuba, or Ana Gerez, UNDP Communications Office. http://www.undp.org |
