WASH News Latin America
News feed maintained by information specialists from IRC and partners.
Uruguay: OSE starts renewing Artigas pipelines in September
18 Jun 10
Uruguay’s state-owned water and sanitation utility OSE aims to begin work on a project to reduce water losses in Artigas city in September, an OSE official told BNamericas. The utility is currently holding a tender process to hire a company to carry out the work. Interested parties must submit technical and economic bids by June [...]
Haiti: Red Cross joins international organizations in hygiene drive as rains intensify
08 Jun 10
The Haitian Red Cross Society (HRCS) joined international NGOs working in water and sanitation in Haiti [on 25 May 2010] to stage a special street event opposite Port-au-Prince’s Place Saint-Pierre camp, where an estimated 6,000 people settled after the 12 January disaster. HRCS volunteers led a crocodile of some 300 children from the camp around [...]
Government Unable To Address Poor Bahamas Water Quality
19 May 10
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said the government is “painfully aware of the inadequacy and poor quality of water” and that the “demand for water and water infrastructure is great” throughout the country but that currently the government is not in a position to extend a quality potable water supply to areas of The Bahamas as [...]
Ecuador: lawmakers fail to reach water bill deal
14 May 10
Ecuadorean lawmakers on Thursday [12 May 2010] failed to reach a deal on suspending debate of a contested water bill that has sparked protests by indigenous groups who fear it threatens their rights to natural resources. President Rafael Correa says the bill will better regulate the water system. But the failure by lawmakers to agree [...]
Panama: Idaan investments in in water, sewerage projects
12 May 10
Panama’s water and sewerage authority Idaan will spend over US$500mn in rural areas over the next four years, according to the entity’s executive director Manuel González Ruiz. The Panamanian congress reported in a release that resources will be invested in some 180 different projects to increase water and sanitation coverage in isolated communities. The initiatives [...]
Barbados: Sanitation Service Authority needs upgrade
10 May 10
Cabinet Minister Denis Lowe has recognized that the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) is under strain with a below par fleet of trucks and an obsolete workshop. Lowe admitted that the SSA would move to acquire modern trucks, improve on the existing ones and upgrade the workshop at Wildey which will necessitate a complete refurbishment and [...]
Puerto Rico: Prasa reaches big settlement with EPA.
06 May 10
he Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (Prasa) has agreed to implement major capital improvements and upgrades to resolve alleged longstanding violations of the Clean Water Act at 126 drinking water plants across the island and violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act at three others, the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [...]
Paraguay-Lack of national policy hindering WASH investment – UNDP
06 May 10
The lack of a national water and sanitation policy in Paraguay is hindering the rate of investment in this area, told BNamericas Rodrigo Mussi, project coordinator at the UN Development Program’s (UNDP) local office. Over 100 institutions, including government ministries, NGOs and international organizations currently participate in Paraguay’s water sector, which has led to “chaos” [...]
El Zapotillo-León pipeline tender to go ahead by end-Q2 – Mexico
04 May 10
A tender to build Mexico’s El Zapotillo-León potable water pipeline in Jalisco state will be launched by end-Q2, a spokesperson from national water authority Conagua’s Jalisco state office told BNamericas. “It will be either this month or next, but the bidding rules are almost ready. We recently had a meeting between the various state entities [...]
Mayoral candidates focus on sanitation, waste collection
26 Apr 10
Roberto Salcedo, mayor of the Dominican Republic’s Distrito Nacional is promising to improve the city’s sanitation network if he is re-elected in the upcoming polls, local paper Listín Diario reported. Salcedo said he will also carry out projects to improve Santo Domingo’s mass transport system and that he will give priority to improving solid waste [...]
