The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (Mepyd) presented its proposal for agree on the National Pact for Water, through a commitment of society to the indicators found in several studies on the country that reveal that the 26% of Dominican households do not receive water 24 hours a day, there is a strong pollution in coastal shores, and in river basins and beaches such as Boca Chica that should attract attention to prioritize a solution to this problem.
Miguel Ceara Hatton, head of the Mepyd; Gilberto Reynoso, executive director of the Water Sector Cabinet and Pavel Isa Contreras, Vice Minister of Planning and Public Investment of Mepyd offered revealing data on the need to prioritize water security in the country, where studies show strong indicators in the water service.
Ceara Hatton revealed that US $ 8.564 million is required to solve the country’s water problem, where 95% of the wastewater is discharged without any type of treatment, more than 60% of the water used in agriculture is wasted, 84% of the population even with toilets only 20% of these are connected to the sewer .
In addition, the river basins are drying up and the valleys have been salinized. “We need a national commitment for a Pact for Water. If we do well it will take 30 years to solve this problem”Ceara Hatton said in a meeting with opinion leaders and media representatives at the Mepyd yesterday. He indicated that the Mepyd proposal is to move towards a State policy, because time and financial resources are required.
Financing BM
However, he stated that some progress has been made and A loan is being arranged with the World Bank to launch a first potable water and sanitation project for US $ 200 to US $ 250 million over a three-year term.
But that is only part of it, said Vice Minister Isa Contreras, who also revealed that the second phase of the project will be for the management of water resources (dams, water production and watershed protection).
Ceara Hatton said she hopes that these financing will be approved in Congress in the middle of next year, with the complementary Budget. However, he stressed that these projects will be executed “yes or yes”, with or without the Pact for Water.
They explained that there will be two loans that will cover the start of a model project in the Ozama river and Yaque del Norte basin, for US $ 80 million and another on Resilient Agriculture. It also works on the issue of agricultural irrigation, since it has determined that 3,000 liters of water are used to produce a pound of rice in the country.
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