IDB and FEMSA Foundation award Water and Sanitation Prize to innovative service operators

Service operators and public officials from Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil and Colombia were recognized for innovative contributions to water and sanitation by the Inter-American Development Bank and FEMSA Foundation during the 2010 World Water Week congress in Stockholm.

Federico Basañes, chief the IDB’s Water and Sanitation Division, and Genaro Borrego Estrada, Director of Corporate Affairs for FEMSA, awarded the second edition of the Water and Sanitation Prize, which was inaugurated [in 2009] with the goal of recognizing outstanding contributions to the challenge of providing sustainable and accessible water and sanitation services in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey, Mexico, received the award for water management in recognition of its successful strategy to voluntarily reduce consumption and encourage conservation of water over the last 20 years.

The Government of the State of Amazonas, Brazil, received the award for sanitation management in recognition of the results of the Programa Socioambiental dos Igarapés de Manaus (PROSAMIM), which implemented an integrated solution to water, sanitation and housing problems in low-income communities in the city of Manaos.

Aguas de Cartagena, Colombia, received a special mention for its success in the commercial management of accounts in low-income districts.

Empresa Nicaraguense de Aqueductos y Alcantarillados (ENACAL)also received a special mention for the construction and operation of a waste-water treatment plant in the city of Managua.

Representatives from each of the four awardees gave presentations describing the recognized project or initiative as part of “Latin America Day” at World Water Week, considered the largest international congress specializing in this sector.

The winners, as well as the recipients of special mentions, will receive scholarships financed by the FEMSA Foundation [to] send water and sanitation professionals to the Centro del Agua para América Latina y el Caribe (CAALCA), a specialized training and research institution jointly created by the IDB, FEMSA and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Source: IDB, 07 Sep 2010

Nicaragua: Neighbours flooded with feces

Water with excrement entered the houses of a complete block in the neighvourhood ”Cristo del Rosario”. The residents affirm that it happens each time it rains, but that yesterday, without any rains, their houses were flooded. 

Jorge Sandoval, a resident,  indicates that the problem started two years ago. “When they started cleaning-up of the lake they changed the sewer system with less thick pipes”. 

Residents have called the Nicaraguan Aqueducts and Sewer Systems (Enacal) for help, but the only answer received was that they should open a hole so that the water goes out into the street. 

“Each time it rains we have a mess in our yards and if we don’t remove the water ourselves it comes into the house.  When this happens the water comes from the toilets and from the drainage of our bath”, says Juana Balladares Obando. 

Related article:

• Knox Know-it-all: Sewer bill doesn’t reflect water use (knoxnews.com)

Source: La Prensa.com.ni, 12 september 2010

Nicaragua, Granada: Japan grants US$2.5mn to improve sanitation

The Japanese government has signed a 55mn-cordoba (US$2.56mn) grant agreement for the expansion of the sanitation system in western Nicaragua’s Granada city, local paper La Prensa reported.

Full article available on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 13 Aug 2010

Central America: SWASH+ program expands to 150 more schools

Photo; Water For People

With new funds from the Inter-American Development Bank and The Coca-Cola Foundation, the SWASH+ program will provide safe drinking water, restroom facilities, and improved hygiene education to over 15,000 more students at 150 schools in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

SWASH+ (School Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Education Plus Community Impact) Central America is a regional of the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) that is be implemented by the US NGOs Water For People, CARE and Catholic Relief Services. So far the program has provided school sanitation facilities to 17,331 students in 152 schools.

In Guatemala, SWASH+ is targeting 65 additional schools and communities in Guatemala. In each school, the program trains the Parent-Teacher Association and school director to build a water supply system. Training on water treatment is also provided. The community helps to build or renovate school restrooms.

Co-financing from local governments and communities is a key part of SWASH+.

Parents and students also participate in hygiene training that emphasizes the importance of handwashing to prevent disease.

UNICEF, ITT and the Global Water Challenge have also been key supporters of the SWASH+ program.

Related web site: SWASH+

Source: Water for People, 23 Aug 2010

Nicaragua: Congress to create national water authority in 2010

Nicaragua’s congressional environment and natural resources committee has approved the creation of the national water authority (ANA) in 2010. ANA will be a decentralised organization, with administrative and financial autonomy, with responsibility for drawing up a national water resources plan, monitoring water basin levels in basins and maintaining a public registry of water rights.

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 25 Jan 2010

Latin America: Camif mezzanine fund in advanced negotiations – Empla

The Central American mezzanine infrastructure fund (Camif), which closed in 2009 at US$150mn, is offering long-term funding in 10 Latin American countries. The fund’s partners are IDB, the World Bank’s IFC, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), the Mexican Fondo de Fondos (CMIC) and the Finnish fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund).

The fund will focus on traditional infrastructure projects but it will also invest in related sectors such as water and sanitation, wastewater treatment, recycling and irrigation.

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 14 Jan 2010

Nicaragua: Enacal requesting US$5.78mn for sanitation

Nicaraguan national water and sewerage utility Enacal needs to invest some 120mn córdobas (US$5.78mn) to repair and remodel 25 wastewater treatment plants throughout the country in 2010. The repairs and upgrades are required to avoid a collapse of the sanitation system in several departments.

Read the full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 16 Dec 2009

Nicaragua: Spain provides US$12mn loan for Boaco waterworks

Nicaraguan national water and sewerage utility Enacal has received a US$12mn loan from the Spanish government to improve potable water and sewerage conditions in Boaco department’s capital of the same name/ Potable water works include construction of an 187,000m3 reservoir, a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity to treat 117l/s, and a 1,050m pipeline connecting the plant to storage tanks.

Read the full article on BNamericas.com [subscription site], 07 Dec 2009

Nicaragua, Juigalpa: Enacal begins phase II of US$40mn potable water project

Nicaraguan national water and sewerage utility Enacal has started work on the second phase of a unique US$40mn potable water project for Chontales department capital Juigalpa. It is the first time water has been taken from lake Cocibolca, which is the second largest lake in Latin America.

Read the full article on BNamericas.com [subscription site], Nov 2009

Costa Rica, Nicaragua: Crucitas mine could pollute San Juan river, say environmentalists

The Crucitas mining project in Costa Rica being developed by Canada’s Infinito Gold could cause severe damage to Nicaragua’s San Juan river. Sediments and wastewater from Crucitas, located in northern province Alajuela, would cause the San Juan river to become irreversibly contaminated, according to environmentalists.

“The mine’s tailings dams will be highly contaminated with cyanide and heavy metals after the cyanidation and acidization of loose soil,” said Javier Baltodano of the La Ceiba-Amigos de la Tierra ecological association in Costa Rica.

“Those tailings will be 5-6km away from the San Juan river. Any climactic event, any strong tropical storm could damage that structure, and we estimate that those chemicals would arrive in the San Juan river in less than three hours,” he added.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 16 Sep 2009