NICARAGUA:
Houses Without Water or
Water Without Houses?
By José Adán Silva
MANAGUA (IPS) -
Authorities in Nicaragua
are facing the dilemma
of generating thousands
of jobs through the
development of the
construction and real
estate industry in the
capital or putting a
priority on future water
supplies for the city’s
1.2 million people.
The debate broke out in
February, when five city
governments in Managua
and surrounding suburbs
agreed to adopt a ban on
the construction of
housing units to the
south of the city, a
rural, forested area
where the underground
water reserves that
supply the capital are
located.
Managua Mayor Dionisio
Marenco, the main
sponsor of the ban, told
IPS that for 17 years,
development companies
have been clearing the
forests in that area and
building housing
projects with little
government oversight.
"In the name of free
enterprise and progress,
they have hurt the
city’s water resources
and the country," said
the mayor. "In that
area, they have
destroyed forests
without any controls,
levelled the land, made
sources of water
disappear and polluted
the water reserves that
are going to supply the
city for the next 30
years."
The mayor complained
that the companies have
not respected building
regulations, have dumped
construction industry
debris and sewage, which
leak into the
underground water
reserves, and have
ignored safety measures
in sewage treatment
plants.
The declaration of a
development ban had the
support of the town
councils in El Crucero,
La Concepción, Managua,
Nindirí and Ticuantepe,
and of the president’s
office, the Ministry of
the Environment and
Natural Resources (MARENA)
and the state-run water
and sewage company (ENACAL).
ENACAL president Ruth
Selma Herrera reported
that 355 urban
developments are under
construction in the area
encompassed by the
building ban, which have
reportedly not presented
the water treatment
infrastructure
feasibility studies that
must be approved before
construction begins.
She also said the
companies use the water
without paying for the
connections or the
service, even though the
country’s legislation
establishes that water
supplies belong to the
state and are subject to
oversight by the
relevant government
agencies.
"They do business
without paying, without
making rational use of
the water, while
polluting it and
refusing to bring their
construction projects to
a halt," Herrera told
IPS.
Because of the
deforestation, chaotic
urban growth around the
capital, and lack of
investment in the city’s
sewage and water systems
over the last 17 years,
"there are areas in
Managua where we can't
pump water and we have
to ration it up to 12
hours a day, while the
companies pollute and
exhaust the water
supplies day after day,"
said Herrera.
The decision by the
environmental and
municipal authorities
drew an angry reaction
from the Chamber of the
Construction Industry
and the real estate
industry.
Alfonso Silva, president
of the Chamber of Real
Estate Developers, said
the industry, which
invests around 200
million dollars a year,
generates employment for
25,000 heads of
households and reduces
the pressing housing
shortage in the country.
"Nicaragua has an over
30 percent unemployment
rate and a deficit of
more than 500,000
housing units. In these
conditions of extreme
poverty, we cannot be
hindering development
and hurting the
economy," Silva told IPS.
Nicaragua is one of the
poorest countries in
Latin America. According
to a January 2007 United
Nations report, 47
percent of the
population was living in
poverty and 15 percent
in extreme poverty.
"We are aware that the
country must protect its
natural resources, but
it must do so without
affecting investment and
development. If a
company fails to live up
to the rules of the
game, it should be
punished, but we should
not all be punished,"
argued Silva.
Lawmaker Agustín Jarquín
Anaya, an ally of the
leftist governing
Sandinista Front, told
IPS that the ban on
housing construction in
the area in question is
"healthy and
commendable," but said
alternatives for the
private investment
projects affected by the
measure should be
explored.
"We should not be so
drastic. Alternative
solutions that seek to
preserve water sources
and that do not affect
the country’s economic
growth should be
sought," he added.
Cirilo Otero, president
of the Centre for
Research on
Environmental Policy,
said the problem is
complex because of the
high levels of poverty
in the country.
"On one hand Nicaragua
has assumed the
environmental
commitments included in
the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs),
but on the other, it has
to respond to the
people’s need for jobs,"
he said.
Adopted by the U.N.
General Assembly in
2000, the eight MDGs,
which set a 2015 target
date, are to halve
extreme poverty and
hunger from 1990 levels,
achieve universal
primary education,
promote gender equality
and maternal health,
reduce child mortality,
combat HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other diseases,
ensure environmental
sustainability, and
develop a global
partnership for
development.
To meet the MDGs,
Nicaragua will have to
provide clean water and
sanitation to 2.5
million people by 2015.
But little progress has
been made towards that
MDG. A report by the
United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP),
presented in Managua
last year, stated that
70 percent of
Nicaraguans lack access
to clean water.
Víctor Campos, an expert
in water resources at
the Humboldt Centre, a
local environmental
organisation, said
Nicaragua’s water supply
problems are not caused
by actual shortages.
"If there’s anything
that Nicaragua has it is
water: 15 percent of the
territory is liquid. The
entire country is an
enormous aquifer; what
is needed is the
know-how, investment and
research to exploit our
water sources," said
Campos.
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