Wastewater Experts meet in Cuba to develop plans for reducing pollution of the Caribbean Sea by Sewage

Kingston, 25 November - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Government of Cuba, and the Regional Activity Centre for the Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution Protocol - Centre for Engineering and Management of Coasts and Bays (CIMAB), will host a four-day regional wastewater management workshop at Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana, Cuba from Tuesday November 24 to Friday November 27, 2009.

According to Christopher Corbin, Programme Officer at UNEP's Caribbean Environment Programme, "This Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded workshop is part of ongoing efforts by UNEP to assist Regional Governments in overcoming technical and financial barriers to improving the management of domestic wastewater, 70% of which enters the Caribbean Sea untreated." Mr. Corbin further notes that the workshop is expected to attract more than 35 Government participants from 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including representatives from regional agencies involved in wastewater management such as the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The objectives of the workshop are to:

• Discuss the final results and experiences in the implementation of the GEF funded Project:

  'Innovative Approaches for Heavily Contaminated Bays in the Wider Caribbean';

• Share more than 10 years of lessons learned in the environmental rehabilitation of Havana Bay and its watersheds; and

• Present national and regional case studies and results of the impacts of wastewater discharges on coastal and marine resources;

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