A coalition of environmental and civic groups is petitioning multilateral banks for debt relief that would permit reallocating scarce funds into environmental projects. This is an effort to counter what the coalition says is the deleterious effects of structural adjustment policies (SAPs).
"Structural adjustment policies have caused increased rates of deforestation, soil deterioration, and the defunding of the environmental and agriculture sectors," said Cirilo Otero, coordinator of the Coalicion Nicaraguense de Grupos de Interes para Propuestas Alternativas.
To lower government expenditures, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has taken a 26% budget cut this year, while the Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA)--which gives technical assistance to small farmers--saw its budget slashed by 54%.
The coalition argues that SAPs force Nicaragua to sacrifice spending on environmental and social programs to service the country's US$6 billion foreign debt. In some cases, SAP requirements lead directly to environmental destruction. For example, lumber exports bring in foreign exchange needed to pay the debt, but in exchange the government is tolerating deforestation. "Forests are cut, fisheries are polluted or overfished, all for short-term economic benefit, all to pay off debt," said Otero. To alleviate the situation, the coalition wants the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to give Nicaragua status as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC), making it eligible for substantial debt reduction.
A feasibility study concluded that the lake was so polluted that the project would have to be carried out in several stages. Only after the project is completed in 2000 can the government consider additional projects to make lake water potable and useful for irrigation. "It's a very long- range aspiration," said Gutierrez.
In the first stage, 12 waste-treatment plants will be built, along with a system of ducts to divert waste from dumping sites. Some 61 industries located around the lake will be required to treat their wastes, which now comprise the bulk of the 30 million gallons of waste water dumped in the lake daily.
This will greatly reduce bad odors emanating from the lake, while at the same time making the lake clean enough to permit recreational uses that do not put people in direct contact with the water. Next, the Ministry of Health will build a drainage system to clean up the lake shore.
Another part of the project is aimed at reducing sedimentation. The Ministry of Environment will begin controlling sedimentation brought from tributary streams on 825 sq km around the southern portion of the lake basin. Most of the sediment enters the basin on the southern side and the plan is to reduce it by using agricultural and forest land- management techniques, plus putting in 515 dikes that will control water flow. The dikes and stone retaining walls will serve to prevent water from widening stream banks.
In the later stages, the number of treatment plants will be increased. In addition, the Health Ministry will start a malaria-control project at 171 sites around the lake that are regularly flooded and where malaria-bearing mosquitos multiply during regular inundations. It is in these areas that 41% of all malaria cases in Managua originate. (Sources: La Prensa de Nicaragua, 05/07/97, 10/03/97; Inter Press Service, 10/07/97)
This article was featured in the October 23, 1997 issue of EcoCentral, a publication from the Latin America Data Base. For subscription information, email info@ladb.unm.edu or call 1-800-472-0888. The LADB website has searchable on-line archives for subscribers at http://ladb.unm.edu/
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