Cawasa e source newsletter - 3rd Quarter 2014

July-December 2014Caribbean Water and Sewage Association Inc.

Eleven Ministers committed to better sell Water to their CabinetsBahamas hosted largest gathering ever of Caribbean Water Ministers!

The 10th Annual High Level Fo-rum (HLF) hosted by the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) and the Global Water Part-nership-Caribbean (GWP-C) in col-laboration with the Global Environ-ment Facility's Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (GEF-CReW) on October 9th and 10th, 2014 in The Bahamas, saw the largest showing of Caribbean Water Ministers in the Forum's history.

Eleven (11) Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for water re-sources management attended the 10th HLF. They included the host Minister, The Honourable Philip E. Brave Davis, Deputy Prime Minis-ter and Minister of Works and Ur-ban Development of The Bahamas; The Honourable Evan Gumbs,

Caribbean Water Ministers are seen here at the 10th Annual High Level Forum (HLF) hosted by the CWWA and the (GWP-C) in collaboration with the GEF-CReW on October 9th and 10th, 2014 in the Bahamas

The year 2014 closes with much optimism for 2015 and beyond. It’s been a year in which Water has been discussed and analyzed at the highest levels and regional Water entities have gone out of their way to put issues squarely on the table, most professing to be ready to take those steps today to ensure a better future for Carib-bean Water tomorrow.

One such regional entity living up to its commitment to Water is the Caribbean development bank (CDB), which on November 27th and 28th, hosted Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from 16 regional public and private sector water utility companies in Barbados for a special Caribbean Water Utility Reform Workshop.

The meeting -- hosted by the CDB in collaboration with the World Bank Group, the Carib-bean Regional Fund for Waste-water Management (CReW) and the Caribbean Water and Sew-erage Association (CAWASA) – was also attended by CAWA-SA’s new Executive Director Ig-natius Jean.

CDB hosted Caribbean Water Leaders in BarbadosCAWASA Directors and fellow CEOs of Caribbean water utilities met, talked and decided on

several matters pertinent to the preservation and conservation of the region’s water resources.

CAWASA Executive Director Ignatius Jean (second from left) along with CAWASA Directors and fellow Caribbean water CEOs gathered in Barbados at the end of November to discuss challenges and opportunities facing regional water agencies

and communities. CAWASA’s 2014 Annual General Meeting was also held at the same venue

The Barbados meeting examined a 2012 Caribbean Millennium Develop-ment Goals (MDGs) Report, which found that Caribbean countries had made consistent progress in expand-ing the coverage of drinking water services. However, it was also found that a high level of access to improved water and sanitation services did not mean consistently good or reliable service, because the financing re-quired was limited.

“The region has done well. How-ever, we have some ground to cover to increase and maintain access and quality,” said Edward Green, Divi-sion Chief at the CDB’s Technical Co-operation Division.

The CDB itself has contributed sig-nificantly over the year to Water De-velopment across the region. Since 2005, it has funded the installation and upgrade of more than 3,400 kilo-metres of water lines, affording over

63,000 households (200,000 peo-ple) in the region with access to a clean water supply and improved sanitation.

In 2013, the bank provided fund-ing of US$3.2 million in funding for water and sanitation projects, while US$4.7 million in grants through the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) were directed to providing water supply systems for vulnerable groups.

Minister of Infrastructure, Communica-tions, Utilities and Housing of Anguil-la; The Honourable Sharon Ramclam,

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture of Belize; The Hon-ourable Reginald Austrie; Minister of

Lands, Housing, Settlements and Water Resource Management of

Continued on page 10

In thIs Issue

Editorial and Secretariat News Page 2 Regional Rainwater Harvesting Forum Pages 3 Caribbean attends German Water-loss Forum Page Meet the new CAWASA Executive Director Pages 6 and 7Engaging the Media for Change Page8 Member Utility News - Page 9 EU Helping Water Company Page 10World Water and Children Back Page

e-SourcePage 2 July-December 2014

CAWASA Secretariat News

The Secretariat participated in a num-ber of activities involving strategic partners in the region, including Carib-DA, CDB, CWWA, CEHI/CARPHA, GWP-C, GIZ and CARILEC. A sum-mary of each follows:

CaribDACAWASA collaborated with the

CaribDA by facilitating a pre-confer-ence Workshop on “Disinfection Solu-tions” at the CaribDA 2014 Conference which was held in St Thomas, June 23-26, 2014. Invitations were sent out to member utilities but only one was able to attend.

The workshop was facilitated by Mr. David Benny, consultant engineer and Head of Research & Development at WASA, Trinidad and the moderator and co-chair was Mr William Anderson of CaribDA.

CAWASA pursued several 2014 Strategic Partnerships The Executive Director represented CA-

WASA at the pre-conference workshop and CaribDA Conference. The network-ing sessions allowed for the Executive Di-rector to become acquainted with utility leaders and suppliers.

Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C)

President Bernard Ettinoffe represented CAWASA at the Annual General Meeting of the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean Chapter held in Trinidad on June 29. The President also attended the Integrated Ur-ban Water Management Workshop and GWP’s Consulting Partners meeting from 26-28 June 2014.

Caribbean Water & Wastewater Association (CWWA)

The Executive Director represented the CAWASA Secretariat at the Annual Conference and Exhibition of the Carib-

bean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) held in the Bahamas from Octo-ber 6-11.

The Executive Director also attended the Annual General Meeting of the CWWA and the CAWASA Secretariat also had an opportunity to promote the ABC Certifi-cation Progammes to operators of The Ba-hamas Water and Sewerage Corporation (BWSC) and operators from the private sector.

Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance (GWOPA)

CAWASA collaborated with GWOPA to facilitate a CariWOP workshop on Disas-ter Management.

As the head of the Secretariat for Cari-WOP, the Executive Director assisted in arranging the workshop on Disaster Man-agement and the 2nd CariWOP Steering Committee Meeting which were held dur-

ing the CWWA 23rd Annual Confer-ence held in the Bahamas on October 6-11.

German International Development Agency (GIZ)

The Secretariat collaborated with the GIZ in coordinating the participation of operators in a Workshop on Water Loss Reduction held in Germany Octo-ber 13-16, 2014.

Seven operators from five member utilities participated. They came from Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and St Vincent & the Grenadines.

IMS Business ConsultancyThe Secretariat collaborated with

the IMS Business Consultancy in or-ganizing an Inventory Management Workshop in St Lucia in October 2014. Seventeen participants attended the workshop.

During the 2014 Financial Year, the Secretariat conducted an Operators Certi-fication Seminar for Hotel Operators and other companies with internal water systems. The facilitators were Irwin Gill from Irwin Gill Training & Consultancy of Trinidad & Tobago and Alphonsus Daniel from Daniel & Daniel Engineering in Grenada.

Training for Hotel Water Operators

The new Executive Director Mr Ignatius Jean attended several conferences since his appointment in July. They included the CARIBDA Conference in St Thomas in June, followed by the Water Sector Review Validation Workshop in July in Barbados.

He also attended The Water Expo in Miami in September, then the Caribbean Water and Waste Water Association’s annual conference in The Bahamas and the CARPHA/UNEP – CReW Rainwater Harvesting Workshop in Saint Lucia in October.

Several Conferences AttendedSummary of Examinations Results – March 2014

Operator/Analyst Certification

Country No of CandidatesBarbados 1Cayman Islands 6Dominica 1St Lucia 1Trinidad & Tobago 8Total 17

Summary of Examinations Results: June 2014

Country No of CandidatesDominica 2Grenada 15St Lucia 15St Vincent & the Grenadines 13Trinidad & Tobago 8Total 53

There was no examination this year for the Alternative Certification Pro-gramme. However, Anguilla and Montserrat have shown interest and it is an-ticipated that this activity will be undertaken during the last quarter of the next financial year (2015).

Alternative Certification Program Planning

Water is certainly going places these days. There can be no doubt that the world’s

most precious and popular liquid is gain-ing more attention now at higher and wider Caribbean levels than ever before. Indeed, water is flowing. People are talking about it, communities are better understanding why to save it, entire countries are waking up to the need to protect and preserve its sources. At national levels, new regulations are being implemented and governments are adopting more programs supporting biodiversity and more protected areas are being declared. And now, more Caribbean Governments (than ever before) are saying they will not only join the water conversa-tion, but will also give it a higher place on their national and regional Cabinet and CARICOM agendas.

The High Level Forum (HLF) of Carib-bean Ministers of Water in the Bahamas in October saw ministers and Caribbean water stakeholders sit and find common ground to jointly push the region’s water cause, also calling on CARICOM to place water higher on the regional governmental agenda. The recent World Water Expo in Miami also of-fered a wider platform for interaction be-tween Caribbean and Latin American water stakeholders to discuss current and future prospects for this vital resource and allowed

them to exchange, share experiences and coop-erate towards achievement of mutual goals.

The Global Water Partnership–Caribbean (GWP-C) has played a significant role working alongside other regional water partners to en-sure the water conversation continues to flow and that agreements are implemented and rec-ommendations pursued beyond the conference rooms.

In the midst of it all, CAWASA has in the pe-riod since July 2014 continued to engage mem-ber utilities and related water companies in im-plementation of adopted decisions. CAWASA continues to collaborate with other regional and international stakeholders, while provid-ing training opportunities for water operators and supervisors across the region to ensure bet-ter delivery of water at national levels and in accordance with agreed regional approaches.

At the end of November, CAWASA collabo-rated with the Caribbean Development bank (CDB) to host a workshop on Reforms for CEOs of Water Utilities and a Water Leaders Summit in Barbados. CAWASA’s 2014 Annual general Meeting was also held at the same time.

CAWASA will continue to work in 2015 to en-gage the Caribbean public in the ongoing water conversation through conferences and public outreach programs. However, Caribbean peo-ple and governments need to move faster to better address the challenges of making the re-

gion ‘drought free’. The region needs to adapt to Climate Change more quickly. Storage and conservation, finding alternative sources, bet-ter and safer handling of waste water – all will have to continue to be priority agenda items next year and beyond.

Water-scarce regions around the world are forced to adapt to new realities as Climate Change and human interventions combine to put them through great new challenges. The Caribbean therefore has no choice but to adapt to the new realities and adopt the necessary changes.

CAWASA and the other regional stakehold-ers are not yet where they’d like to see the re-gion be at this time, but all do honestly pledge to continue to work towards achieving that lev-el of readiness and accomplishment required to ensure that Caribbean people better and more fully understand and value the simple but true saying that ‘Water if Life!’

In this the final issue for the year, e-Source of-fers another 12 pages of coverage of water news and issues from around the region -- and once again invites all CAWASA affiliates to continue to update the Secretariat on actions on issues in 2015 and beyond.

Meanwhile, Happy Holidays – and do feel free to follow our Cayman affiliates’ example and Give a Gift of Water for Christmas and the New Year!

Let the Caribbean water conversation flow!Editorial

e-Source is produced by the Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CWASA). All mail and inquiries should be sent to:

Mrs Suzanne JosephProgramme Officer

Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Inc (CAWASA)

Unit No. 15, Orange Park Commercial CentreBois d'Orange, (P O Box RB2293, Rodney Bay)Gros Islet, SAINT LUCIA

Tel: 758 458 0601 Fax: 758 458 0191E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]: www.cawasa.org

Seventy (70) operators sat the Certification Examinations in Water and Wastewater in March and June, respectively. Particular congratulations go to Jefferson Durand of Domi-nica’s DOWASCO, who did it again -- this time obtaining Level IV certification in Water Treatment. A summary of the results of the examinations are shown in Tables below:

Jefferson Durand

e-Source Page 3 July-December 2014

Country No of CandidatesBarbados 1Cayman Islands 6Dominica 1St Lucia 1Trinidad & Tobago 8Total 17

The season of giving is almost here. It is a time to be thankful and a time to help those in need.

Did you know that gift certifi-cates can be purchased from the Water Authority this holiday season? Gift certificates are a thoughtful and practical way to make a donation to your favou-rite charity, to give to a neighbour or just to say thank you.

With the cost of living constant-ly on the rise, a gift that can ease someone’s financial burden is often avery welcomed gift. Wa-ter Authority gift certificates are available in denominations of $10, $25 and $50 and can be redeemed toward the payment of Water Au-thority water and sewerage bills.

Gift certificates are valid for one year from the date of purchase and are avaiable from the Water Authority offices.

Give the Gift of Water this Holiday

World Toilet Day has been marked by international and civil society or-ganizations all over the world for many years. In 2013 the United Nations General Assembly formally recognized it as an official UN day and request-ed UN-Water, in consultation with relevant entities of the United Nations system and in collaboration with Governments and relevant stakehold-ers, to facilitate the implementation of World Toilet Day in the context of Sanitation for All.

The objective of this initiative is to make sanitation for all a global devel-opment priority and urge changes in both behaviour and policy on issues ranging from improving water management to ending open defecation. Today, 2.5 of the world’s seven billion people, mostly in rural areas, do not have proper sanitation and 1.1 billion people still defecate in the open. This has significant impacts on human health, dignity and security, the environ-ment, and social and eco-nomic development.

World Toilet Day in-tends to raise awareness of sani-tation issues – in-cluding hygiene promotion, the provision of basic sanitation services, and sewer-age and wastewater treatment and reuse in the context of inte-grated water management – and make a case for sanitation for all.

It intends to encourage UN Member States and relevant stakeholders, including civil society and non-governmental organi-zations, to promote behavioural change and the implementation of policies in order to increase access to sanitation among the poor and end the practice of open defeca-tion. From UN Water’s World Toilet Day site: http://www.unwater.org/worldtoiletday

CReW’s Lines Newsletter of the Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater

Management

Vol. 3, Issue 3 September 2014

In this issue: Stakeholders Weigh-in on

Wastewater Management in Guyana (Pgs. 1,2,7)

Engaging the Media for

Change! (Pgs. 1,2,3,7) World Toilet Day (Pgs. 1,8) Jamaica’s new environmental

regulations spur training for water and wastewater opera-tors (Pgs. 3, 6)

How Can we Transform Envi-

ronmental Science, Manage-ment and Activism into Com-pelling and Useful Journal-ism? (Pgs. 4,5)

Sanitation for All—the Drive

to 2015 (Pg. 6) The UN-Water Decade Pro-

gramme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DRC Resources (Pg. 8).

www.gefcrew.org

Stakeholders Weigh-in on Wastewater

Management in Guyana

On July 17th, Guyana’s Ministry of Housing and Water (MHW), hosted and chaired a Stakehold-er’s Workshop on Wastewater Management in Guyana. MHW has oversight over Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) which is directly responsible for the provision of water and safety of sewerage sys-tems for improved health and sustainable develop-

(Continued on page 2)

Engaging the Media for Change!

Lessons from GEF CReW’s Media KAPS

Journalism can have a significant influence on the public’s environmental literacy. According to the Project for Improved Environmental Coverage (PIEC) which conducted a study in the United States of America in 2013, several studies have shown that the public wants better and more environmental news. The PIEC looked at the environmental cov-erage in the mainstream media in the USA in 2013 and found that entertainment and crime garnered 20 and 60 times more coverage respectively than the environment. This was despite the fact that there are now more resources available on environmental topics from more diverse sources, such as academ-ic institutions, science-based research organiza-tions, environmental news services and projects, than ever before. Several KAPS regarding the environment have been conducted in the Caribbean in the past

Continued on page 2)

19 November is World Toilet Day! World Toilet Day has been marked by international and civil society organizations all over the world for many years. In 2013 the United Nations General Assembly formally recognized it as an official UN day and requested UN-Water, in consultation with relevant entities of the United Nations system and in collaboration with Governments and relevant stakeholders, to facilitate the implementation of World Toilet Day in the context of Sanitation for All. The objective of this initiative is to make sanitation for all a global development priority

(Continued on page 8)

Emil McGarrell, PS, Ministry of Housing and Water addresses participants at Opening

19 November was World Toilet Day!8

www.gefcrew.org

For more information contact:

Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management Project Coordination Group 6th Floor, Dyoll Building, Inter-American Development Bank

40—46 Knutsford Boulevard Kingston 5, Jamaica, W.I. Phone: (876) - 764—0815

E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Please check our website and visit (and like!) our Facebook page: [email protected]

Acknowledging the contributions of the Guyana and Jamaica Pilot Project Management Units

Contact Donna Sue Spencer at: [email protected] for more information.

GEF CReW Project Background:

The CReW is a four-year project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It was established in 2011 and will end in

July 2015.

It aims:

· To provide sustainable financing for the wastewater sector · To support policy and legislative reforms, and · To foster regional dialogue and knowledge exchange amongst key stakeholders in the WCR.

There are thirteen participating countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Guatemala, Guyana,

Honduras, Panama, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.

The Project Coordination Group (PCG) is based in Jamaica, at the offices of the IDB and at UNEP’s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit which is Secretariat to the Cartagena Convention (UNEP CAR/RCU).

and urge changes in both behaviour and policy on issues ranging from improving water management to ending open defecation. Today, 2.5 of the world's seven billion people, mostly in rural areas, do not have proper sanitation and 1.1 billion people still

defecate in the open. This has significant impacts on human health, dignity and security, the environment, and social and eco-nomic development. World Toilet Day in-tends to raise awareness of sani-tation issues – including hygiene promotion, the provision of basic sanitation services, and sewer-age and wastewater treatment and reuse in the context of inte-

grated water management – and make a case for sanitation for all. It intends to encourage UN Member States and relevant stakeholders, including civil society and non-governmental organi-zations, to promote behavioural change and the implementation of policies in order to increase access to sanitation among the poor and end the practice of open defecation.

From UN Water’s World Toilet Day site: http://www.unwater.org/worldtoiletday

(Continued from page 1)

The UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) Resources

It is just one of many useful resources published by the Water and Sanitation Programme. The UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Commu-nication (UNW-DPAC) publishes Bimonthly Publications Reviews in both English and Spanish. It features the latest publications produced by United Nations agencies and programmes on issues related to water and sanitation. Publications are freely accessible from the web and are regularly added to the UN Documentation Centre on Water and Sani-tation (UNDCWS) http://www.unwaterlibrary.org/

This manual for the implementation of Sanitation Entrepreneur Training aims to provide a comprehensive reference for planning, implementa-tion, monitoring and evaluations to business leaders, trainees and trainers in the provision and monitoring of sanitation services. It was developed by a team of facilitators and resource people who have experience in implementing training in provinces across Indonesia between 2008 and 2013.

A Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) Knowledge Exchange Forum which took place on October 21st -23rd , 2014 in St. Lucia was hosted by the GWP-C under its Water, Climate and Devel-opment Programme (WACDEP) in collaboration with the Environmental Health and Sustainable Development Department of the Caribbean Pub-lic Health Agency (CARPHA), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Amazon Project, the GEF Interna-tional Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW: LEARN) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fUr Interna-tionale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) through the Caribbean Aqua-Terres-trial Solutions Programme (CATS).

The main objectives of this unique Knowledge Exchange Forum were to: • Present practical experience and best

appropriate technology in RWH to decision-makers from public and pri-vate sector.

• Support targeted learning through structured discussions at expert lev-el and discuss the requirements for a wide up-scaling improvement of RWH technologies in the Caribbean and Amazon region.

• Exchange technical, scientific and so-cioeconomic experience between the Amazonian and Caribbean partners.

• Create interaction mechanisms that allow the expansion of knowledge concerning techniques and research on RWH systems in partner coun-tries, in order to provide decision-makers with adequate practices and models of RWH systems that pro-mote access to safe water supply in Amazonian and Caribbean rural ar-eas.

The three-day event kicked-off with a short opening ceremony which in-cluded remarks by representatives of the collaborating agencies hosting the event and a feature address by Mr. Sylvester Clauzel, Permanent Sec-retary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology of St. Lucia.

Mr. Clauzel commended the or-gansing agencies for their initiative in putting on the unique event and congratulated them on being suc-cessful in bringing together so many

GWP-C and Partners Host Regional Rainwater Harvesting Knowledge Exchange Forum

Participants at the Regional Rainwater Harvesting Knowledge Exchange Forum held in St. Lucia on October 21st-23rd, 2014.

stakeholders from various countries to discuss Rainwater Harvesting. Mr. Clauzel indicated that RWH was an issue that the Government of St. Lu-cia took very seriously and saw the benefits of safe RWH especially in the case of natural disasters. He added that St. Lucia has made great strides in incorporating provisions for RWH in its National Water Policy.

Critical to the workshop was the sharing of knowledge and experienc-es on RWH from the more than fifty (50) participants from the Caribbean region, Central America, the Amazon basin and as far as the Mediterranean. The participation of a wide-cross sec-tion of countries brought a meaning-ful balance and pool of knowledge to the activity. The Forum also pro-vided a platform for cross-regional sharing within the GWP Network as representatives from GWP-Central America and GWP-Mediterranean attended and delivered presenta-tions. Participants ranged from rep-resentatives from water utilities, non¬governmental organisations, academia (universities), the public

health sector, the agriculture sector, private organisations (hotels, engi-neering firms), government minis-tries, among others.

The first two (2) days of the Forum comprised of key presentations to set the context of the workshop fol-lowed by question and answer ses-sions which enabled participants at all times to share their thoughts and opinions. Some of the main presenta-tions focused on: • An overview of regional Rainwa-

ter Harvesting (RWH) efforts in the Caribbean both past and current initiatives.

• The climate outlook for the Carib-bean and strategic directions for enhancing water security and how RWH may contribute to policy and fiscal challenges.

• The GWP-C Water, Climate and De-velopment Programme (WACDEP).

• Commercial-scale RWH applica-tions (current practices and success stories).

• RWH applications in agriculture (Overview of support initiatives and success stories).

• RWH experiences from the private sector.

• Water safety and RWH. • A Caribbean Regional RWH Pro-

gramme -An Action Plan for a wide up-scaling implementation of RWH systems

Presentations spurred a lot of discus-sions amongst participants who raised several issues such as: • How do you regulate individual

use of RWH?• The need for greater political will in

support of RWH. • The need for widespread public ed-

ucation and sensitisation on RWH. • Should the water utilities subsidise

the cost of RWH? • The need for a policy framework on

RWH in terms of regulation, stor-age, treatment.

• RWH should be a tool in Integrat-ed Water Resources Management (IWRM).

• Should RWH be centralised? • Innovative RWH systems which

take into account health concerns with RWH.

Continued on Page 9


Saint Lucia’s Minister for Sustain-able Development, Energy, Science and Technology, Senator Dr. James Fletcher, has cautioned that there are dire consequences should the island’s water supply reach critical mass. He has therefore advised that citizens of Saint Lucia and other OECS island states should cooperate to prepare for the present and future repercussions of Climate Change.

“This is going to be our reality from now on,” he said. “This is something we have to live with due to Climate Change: reduced water availability, more intense droughts, and more fre-quent and severe weather events. So we have to prepare. This is all the more reason for us to protect the qual-ity and integrity of our water sources.”

The gravity of Saint Lucia’s reduced water availability was made promi-nent five years ago in a 2009 Paper on Climate Change and the Water Sector.

The paper discussed the availability of general as well as potable water sources and the causes of Saint Lu-cia’s dwindling supply.

The “present water demand is ex-ceeding the available supply. An increase in future demand can only serve to exacerbate this deficit,” the report stated.

The island’s current water supply stems from surface sources in rivers, wetlands, streams and springs, and few groundwater sources.

There are 37 main sources of surface run-off, but these surface water catch-ments, the report stated, are relatively small, with steep slopes on which run-off occurs fairly rapidly.

In addition, surface water yields for potable purposes are inconsistent, due to increased abstraction, and soil and chemical contamination.

The four major potable water sup-ply systems are located at the Roseau

Dam and Hill 20 in the north, and Grace and Beausejour in the south.

“The potable water supply has been severely affected by pressures of in-creased demand, the destruction of upper watersheds, and the increas-ing exploitation of Saint Lucia’s rivers and wetlands,” the report stated.

Following a visit to the John Comp-ton Dam earlier this year, Dr. Fletcher remarked briefly on the financial con-sequences of a water related emergen-cy. Importing water, he said, would

be a worst case scenario.“Saint Lucia’s water cost is $12.21 per

gallon. Dominica’s is $15 before it is ex-ported,” he said. “Dominica will charge us $15 before it gets on the barge. The cost of that water even before it gets on a barge is already prohibitive.”

Saint Lucia declared a water-related emergency in March of this year due to drought conditions. Those condi-tions intensified and experts predict that the island could continue in drought conditions until August.

Reduced OECS water supply due to Pollution and Climate ChangeRegion urged to cooperate to address impacts

of Climate Change on water resources

A Water loss Reduction Train took place in Hamburg, Germany from October 13th to October 16th, 2014 -- and was well represented by the Caribbean.

The training took place in the frame of the strategic alliance be-tween the German International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur International Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), the companies VA-GArmaturen, Sewerin and Ham-burg Wasser, with the support of University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and the Karlsruhe Insti-tute of Technology (KIT).

There were 25 registered partici-pants from St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and

The main subjects discussed at the training were: Introduction to water-loss reduction and key influencing factors, calculating a water balance, integrated perspective to water utili-ties, District-metered areas, Intro-duction to methods and instruments for water loss reduction, Leakage de-tection, Organization and documen-tation in leakage repair, Information systems for water-loss management and Pressure management.

The subjects were covered over four days by presentations from trainers and group exercises which allowed participants to share ideas and to grasp the training concepts. Each group was allowed to pres-ent to the general group, to receive feedback and suggestions.

the Grenadines, Grenada, Jamaica, Guyana, Kosovo, Germany, Palestine, France and Uganda.

The Facilitators/Trainers were: Mr.

Emmanuel Oertle (FHNW), Mr. An-dreas Kamphues (CAH), Mr. Micheal Kersting, Lucatina Ercolano and Ms Deepa Vethaviyasar.

The training group in Germany

Caribbean was well-represented at German Water-loss Reduction Workshop

In an effort to effectively manage the effects of extreme weather and natural disasters, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) along with USAID, provided climate-related training to water sector per-sonnel in the member-states of the island grouping.

The training – held in Saint Lucia -- will strengthen national capacity to hanmdle water problems.

In Saint Lucia’s case, the island’s water company WASCO will ben-efit from improved resource capacity and the training will also improve the company’s network management and service delivery.

For almost two years, the OECS Sec-retariat has been assisting WASCO in improving its efficiency via comput-er-based mapping technology and personnel training.

David Popo, from the OECS Com-mission’s Social Sustainable Devel-opment Division, said the workshop was integral because of Saint Lucia’s dependence on fresh water sources.

“The RRACC project (Reducing Risk to Human and Natural Assets Result-ing from Climate Change) carries out climate change adaptation actions,

especially within productive sectors like tourism and agriculture with a focus on fresh water and coastal re-sources,” Mr. Popo said.

He added, “In this regard, the proj-ect builds an enabling environment in support of policies and legislation to reduce vulnerability.”

The Strategic Planning Information Officer for WASCO, Nikolai Hya-

cinth, said the workshop was essen-tial to properly manage the island’s water systems.

“I do hope that the workshop’s results will make the water sector in Saint Lu-cia a more cohesive unit, thereby mak-ing us more resilient to disasters in their extremes of drought or flood.”

The workshop on Hydro-Climatic Disasters in Integrated Water Re-

sources Management ran from July 8-10 in Castries and since then partici-pants have been applying their relat-ed skills according to the new infor-mation and methodologies that came out of the training.

In addition to water personnel, vari-ous government agencies working in water resources management were also beneficiaries of the workshop.

OECS Water sector personnel receive training in Climate Change adaptation

Participants in the OECS raining exercise have been applying the newly-acquired information to their daily tasks related to Climate Change adaptation since the three-day workshop in Castries.

e-Source Page 5 July-December 2014

Spotlighting the “gathering and intensifying threat of global cli-mate change” leaders from Ca-ribbean Islands warned the 2014 United Nations General Assembly that indifference, narrow interests and electoral cowardice threaten to squander “our only real chance to save the planet.”

Addressing the Assembly, min-ister for foreign affairs for Gre-nada, Nickolas Steele, said climate shocks are amongst the “most ter-rifying” for his country and other small islands around the world and given such risks, island states need concessionary financing.

The indebtedness of small is-lands developing states (SIDS) must be regarded among the many challenges of our time, he said, adding that the “annual cry” of small islands to make conces-sionary funding available should serve as an early warning system for the international community. “Let us settle the LDC [least devel-oped country] graduation issue in favour of SIDS rather than use it as a parallel climate-negotiating tool against SIDS,” Steele said.

Due to high import costs of fossil fuels, electricity in Grenada costs four to five times higher than in developed countries. He said Gre-nada cannot educate its people, if its school children have no access to electricity. Islands like Grenada come to the climate table, “not like hapless victims with cap-in-hand”.Renewables must be imple-mented in the Islands with zero subsidies.

Minister of foreign affairs of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ca-millo Gonsalves, said that, despite a tiny carbon footprint and minis-cule emissions, his island has been victimised by weather anomalies partially caused by the “environ-mental abuse” of major emitters.

“The prospects of genuine prog-ress against climate change be-come increasingly remote with each passing day of diplomatic dithering, buck-passing and fin-ger-pointing,” said Gonsalves.

Yet, despite the gathering and in-tensifying global threat of climate change, with its real and ruinous present-day impacts, historical and major emitters continue to act as the planet has time on its side, he continued, adding that “if nar-row interests and local electoral cowardice force us to retreat be-hind our national borders and bury our heads in the sands, we may squander a decade of effort, and our only real chance to save the planet upon which we live. The stakes are that high. We can-not afford to fail.”

The UN’s 2014 Climate Sum-mit, held at UN Headquarters, was an “admirable attempt” but the tangible results were less than encouraging. “The numbers just don’t add up” to anything close to what is required to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

“Further, the new resources raised and pledged for the fi-nancing of adaptation to climate changes effects were a drop in the bucket – “akin to having a bake sale to settle national debt.”

Post-2015 goals and indicators must focus equally on targets within developing countries. A major shortcoming of the MDGs was the “nebulous nature” of the so-called Global Partnership for Development. New goals must be concrete and measurable.

The minister of foreign affairs of St Kitts and Nevis, Patrice Nis-bett, said SIDS were susceptible to economic and environmental shocks, which resulted in high indebtedness.

While St Kitts and Nevis has suc-cessfully reduced its debt to GDP [gross domestic product] ratio by 50 percentage points, it remains mindful that severe climate events can erase gains achieved. He called on the international com-munity, including international financial institutions to broaden the scope of assessment of SIDS, in order to avoid the creation of measures that undermine national governments.

He reiterated his call for a strong global response to combating the high rate of non-communicable diseases in developing countries in particular saying that “a na-tion’s wealth lies in the health of its people.”

Climate change remains more than an environmental concern for SIDS, it is regarded as a “threat to our existence,” he said. The in-ternational community must take creative initiative such as debt swap for climate adaptation and mitigation. Climate change financ-ing and technology transfer will be pivotal to that end.

The minister of foreign affairs of Belize, Wilfred Elrington, also said small countries like his own are disadvantaged by the lack of re-sources and human, financial and technological capacities, which are only compounded by the increas-ing effects of climate change.

Belize welcomes the UN mul-tilateral legal framework of debt restructuring and hopes it will lead to a robust treaty that will in-crease the efficiency, stability and predictability of the international financial system. Following the 2008 financial meltdown, there have been “unmistakable and troubling indicia of donor fatigue and a tendency towards isolation-ism,” he said.

Climate change is the biggest

threat to the Central American nation. “Horrendous” devasta-tion is already occurring around the world caused by extreme droughts, intense rainfalls, floods, and hurricanes. Belize is now wit-nessing its share of climate change effects including coral bleaching, coastal erosion and flooding, and it is forecasted that next year the entire country will be visited by severe drought.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos López stressed the need to draw up a Post-2015 Agenda for Sustainable Develop-ment that embodies a just world order for inclusive growth that also takes measures to counter the threats of climate change.

“We find ourselves in a world fraught with many interrelated crises where unjust and unequal development between nations and peoples takes first place. The current unjust economic order, the product of imperialism and the present model of capitalism, has been unable to address these cri-ses that are growing ever more fre-quent and serious,” he declared.

“Every day the number of poor people in the world grows greater, both in the south and in the north, in flagrant violation of their most elemental human rights. We must work in unity to overcome these crises and in the shortest time pos-sible eliminate poverty, hunger, malnutrition, diseases, wars and conflicts, and the policies of re-gime change and coups d’état.”

These efforts must also eradi-cated violence against women and children, the negative impact of climate change, and such so-cial scourges as slavery and drug and human trafficking, but “the eradication of poverty remains the greatest challenge facing the world,” Santos added.

Foreign Minister Samuel Santos López

of Nicaragua

Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington of Belize

Foreign Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Patrice Nisbett

Foreign Minister Camillo Gonsalves of St

Vincent and the Grenadines

Foreign Minister Nickolas Steele of Grenada

Caribbean diplomats warn of real and ruinous impacts of Climate Change

The region’s ambassador told the United Nations that indifference, narrow interests and electoral cowardice threaten to squander

“our only real chance to save the planet”.


Q: You’ve been the new Executive Direc-tor of CAWASA for a few months now. How has the settling-in period been?

A: During the transitioning period, we’ve been looking at the various water challenges facing our Caribbean region, from the standpoint of both the histori-cal and actual challenges. I’ve met with our (CAWASA) Directors, as well as with several of our regional and national af-filiates. We’ve been looking at issues like Climate Change and Desalination and we’ve had some very interesting rev-elations from a recent CDB Validation Workshop that will be shared with our stakeholders across the region.

Q: How do you see the Caribbean’s wa-ter situation? Are governments and peo-ple waking-up to the reality that if we don’t save and conserve, we can eventu-ally lose the resource?

A: There is some growing awareness. Climate Change is getting blamed for a lot that we do, but we’re starting to better understand. The 2010 Caribbean Drought affected us all across the region, one way or another. The Christmas Eve 2013 Trough also affected Dominica, Saint Lu-cia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Saint Lucia’s water-related emergency (implemented several months ago) has resulted in a greater level of awareness -- and the same can be said elsewhere. But unfortunately, so far we’ve mainly been giving knee-jerk responses. When there’s a drought, we cry for water; when it’s rainy, we beg for sunshine. But we need to be conscious all the time and not only at times. So, governments are start-ing to move to do what they have to: re-placing old infrastructure with new, etc. The water sector spends over 40% of its revenues on energy. With such high costs of energy, the sector is looking to become more energy-efficient through options

such as energy conservation and renew-able energy. CARICOM States have a strategic relationship with Germany’s In-ternational Development Agency (GIZ) to help better respond to environmental challenges, including Water and Climate Change. The main concern in Saint Lucia, for example, is to get the national water company (WASCO) to reduce its level of non-revenue water, which is costing so very much through things like leaks, broken pipes and illegal connections. The GIZ has started a pilot programme to assist WASCO reduce its non-revenue water. We are collaborating with the GIZ in extending this pilot program to other countries in the Region. As part of the

‘Climate Change is get-ting blamed for a lot that we do, but we’re starting to better understand…’program, we have mobilized person-nel from eight countries to participate in training in non-revenue water in Ham-burg. We’re also looking at collaborating with the OECS Commission to promote the harmonization the OECS Water Sec-tor Policy and draft legislation. For ex-ample, Saint Lucia already has a Water Resource Management Agency (WRMA) and a National Water and Sewerage Commission (NWSC), but several other countries don’t have similar entities. We at CAWASA will be seeking to promote the level of harmonization needed to better coordinate more effectively. We also looked at those matters at the Carib-bean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) Annual General meeting in the Bahamas in October.

‘I want to see Caribbean

people better understand the value of water!’Exclusive interview with Mr. Ignatius

Jean, Executive Director of the Caribbean Water and Sewage

Association (CAWASA)

The new Executive Director, Mr Ignatius Jean, is a Saint Lucian-born Caribbean man who brings to the posi-tion a wealth of experi-ence in administrative and technical fields and as a policy maker.

He joined the Carib-bean Water and Sew-erage Association Inc. (CAWASA) in May 2014 with a long a rich history of public ser-vice national and re-gional levels and has served in several Ca-ribbean capitals in dif-ferent positions, with much exposure to the international commu-nity.

Mr Jean’s education-al background saw him complete his sec-ondary education at St. Mary’s College in Saint Lucia, following which he commenced agricultural training at the Morne Technical College (Union School of Agriculture) and completed a Diploma in Agriculture from the Guyana School of Agriculture. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Agricul-tural Economics and Master’s Degree in Ag-ricultural Management from the University of Reading, England.

The new CAWASA ED also pursued sever-al other courses includ-ing: Certificate in Busi-ness Administration (UWI School of Con-tinuing Studies), Cer-tificate in Risk Man-agement (Insurance Institute of America), Certificate in Develop-ment Diplomacy (Dip-lo Foundation, Malta), Certificate in Applied Project Management (Project Management Global Institute/Bos-ton University Corpo-rate Education Centre) Executive Manage-ment and Leadership (Central American Business School – IN-

CAE).Mr Jean also has

broad experience in technical cooperation projects, agricultural extension and agricul-tural risk and insur-ance, teamwork and group dynamics.

His policy back-ground includes being an elected Member of Parliament (MP), Min-ister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and also Minister of Physical Planning, En-vironment and Hous-ing in Saint Lucia.

During his tenure as Minister for Agricul-ture, he was Chairman of the CARDI Board of Governors.

Mr Jean was em-ployed by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agri-culture (IICA) in June 2007 and served as the IICA Representative in Guyana (June 2007 – January 2012) and Ja-maica (February 2012 – December 2013).

He was appointed the Government of Saint Lucia’s director on the Board of the Eastern Caribbean Telecom-munications Author-ity (ECTEL) in January 2014 and is the current Chairman of the Board.

In July 2014, Mr Jean was also appointed the Chairman of the Devel-opment Control Au-thority (DCA) in Saint Lucia. He is married to Dr Jeanice Stanley.

Who’s the new CAWASA Executive Director?

Ignatius Jean: A man of regional

public service

Continued on Page 7

e-Source Page 7July-December 2014

1

Continued from Page 6

Q: CAWASA’s membership is far and wide. To what extent is there the level of coordination that’s needed to ensure active cooperation across the skies and waters?

A: Our mandate as a secretariat is to coordinate cooperation among our members towards a path of sustainable growth and development. A core function is to administer a programme involving classification of water utilities and training and certification of water operators and allied personnel. We are the authorized providers of the Association of Boards of Certification (ABC) accreditation in the Caribbean. We also facilitate cooperation among our membership within the region and globally through our association with partners, such as the CWWA, the Caribbean Water Operators’ Partnerships (Cari-WOP), the Water Operators’ Partnerships of Latin America and the Caribbean (WOP-LAC), under the umbrella of the UN Habitat’s Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA), United Nations Environmental Pro-gramme (UNEP), and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).

Q: What’s your view on Privatization of Water?A: There’s room for it. Water is a right, but it’s not free – except when

in a river. We prefer to pay more for bottled water than the regular rates for our local water because we don’t even check what it costs to deliver drinking water to our homes. There’s room for privatization, but there’s also much room too for the State and the Private Sector to engage in joint public and private partnerships.

Q: Bottled water versus Tap Water… Do they threaten or complement each other?

A: There’s no threat. Bottled water depends on marketing, so the bev-erage companies have exploited and opportunity to make use of its commercial possibilities. We’ve bought into the idea that bottled water is safer than tap water. What we don’t realize is that the big bottled water companies buy water from the same local company as us. They have adorned the tap water in creative packaging, in some cases, as pristine spring water and sold at an exorbitant price. It’s a combination of convenience and competitive marketing. Bottled water companies will never take the place of water utilities in providing water at afford-able rates for household, commercial and industrial needs.

Q: To what extent is Desalination a viable Caribbean alternative?A: The main observation regarding Desalination is related to energy

cost. Some can pay and others simply can’t afford. Of course, there are other considerations such as impact on the environment and the man-agement of brine from processing sea water. Another observation is that

‘I want to see Caribbean people better understand the value of water!’

the “water scarce” countries -- particularly in the northern Caribbean -- appear to be more “drought proof” because of desalination systems. Desalination is an option, but not a panacea. The ‘water abundant’ ter-ritories should also consider water conservation and increased storage.

Q: What were the main issues coming out of the recent Caribbean Wa-ter and Wastewater Association AGM in the Bahamas?

A: He hopes that an MOU could be signed between the Caribbean and the Pacific during the World Water Forum in South Korea in April, 2015. Through the Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance (GWO-PA) at the World Water Forum in South Korea in 2015, we hope to sign a cooperation agreement between CWWA/CAWASA and the Pacific Water and Waste Association (PWWA). The Germans and the Ameri-can Water Works Association (AWWA) pushed for us to make a pre-sentation at meetings ahead of that meeting next year. The annual meet-ing of the CWWA, which was held in the Bahamas this year, brings top water operators together, as well as a High Level Forum of Ministers responsible for water. This year there were 12 Ministers from CARI-COM countries -- and it was the first time there were so many. At that Bahamas meeting, resolutions were passed and sent to the CARICOM Secretariat calling on the region’s governments to give water a greater level of attention, given Climate Change and the need for greater levels of importance to address water issues directly today. The meeting also adopted what’s called ‘The SAMOA Pathway’ referring SIDS’ (Small Island Developing States) Accelerated Modalities of Action (Post 2015 Development Agenda). This was considered the most key outcome of the whole conference.

Q: World Water Day is celebrated annually by the UN, but it’s up to member-states and water utilities to decide how. Does CAWASA have a role in regional coordination?

A: Each utility and each country normally gets involved in World Wa-ter Day observances in one way or another. CAWASA does not take the leading role, but coming in March each year allows us to be able to use it to push harder to promote how we can do better to appreciate water generally throughout the year. We really need to increase our conver-sations on water and CAWASA is willing to help members coordinate World Water Day if asked. But the best coordination would be to do it regionally.

Q: Where would you like to take CAWASA? What’s your vision and what legacy do you want to leave?

A: I want to ensure we better communicate the value of water to our citizens across the region, so they can better understand and value wa-ter than they do now.

The new CAWASA Executive Director, Ignatius Jean (at right) hit the road running after his appointment in July. He attended and represented CAWASA and its member-utilities at several high level meetings of Caribbean and global water associates, in the region and beyond. Here he’s seen with two of the many other top water representatives from around the world who attended the recent 2014 World Water Expo in Miami,

where he also spoke on behalf of Caribbean Water.


Journalism can have a significant in-fluence on the public’s environmental literacy. According to the Project for Improved Environmental Coverage (PIEC) which conducted a study in the United States of America in 2013, several studies have shown that the public wants better and more envi-ronmental news.

The PIEC looked at the environmen-tal cov-erage in the mainstream me-dia in the USA in 2013 and found that entertainment and crime garnered 20 and 60 times more coverage respec-tively than the environment. This was despite the fact that there are now more resources available on envi-ronmental topics from more diverse sources, such as academ-ic institu-tions, science-based research organi-za-tions, environmental news servic-es and projects, than ever before.

Several KAPS regarding the environ-ment have been conducted in the Ca-ribbean in the past decade by various environmental projects. They have found that radio and television, in particular, are the main sources from which the public obtain information about the environment or environ-mental issues. Newspapers are also significant sources but remain less im-portant than radio and television.

The media is sometimes accused of being inaccurate, sen-sationalist, not correcting mistakes, having a short attention-span and not covering all important issues. Yet journalists face many chal-lenges in covering envi-ronmental issues. The purpose of a KAPS of the media conducted by the GEF CReW Project in 2013 was to ex-plore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the media in the re-gion to wastewater management, and to bet-ter understand how the media in the region values, perceives, and behaves in relation to wastewater and the en-vironment in general.

Approach and MethodologyThe GEF CReW Project hosted two

regional media sensiti-zation work-shops on wastewater for journalists between November 2013 and July 2014. The first was for journalists from its English-speaking countries and Suriname (referred to as the Carib-bean jour-nalists) that took place in Georgetown, Guyana in November 2013. The second was for journalists from its Spanish-speaking countries (referred to as the Central American journalists) that took place in Ciudad del Saber, Panama in July 2014. A total

Journalists complete KAPS, Caribbean Workshop, November 2014

of 42 journalists and media personnel participated in these workshops which aimed pri-marily to deepen the knowl-edge and expertise of environmental jour-nalists on wastewater issues and management in the Wider Caribbe-an Region. This is part of the Project’s ef-fort to increase media cov-erage about wastewater and related issues.

At both work-shops a KAPS ques-tion-naire was distributed and com-pleted by partic-ipants before presen-ta-tions and discussions began. This was meant to ensure that knowledge and attitudes were not influenced by the new knowledge that they were about to be exposed to. The survey used both a quantitative and quali-tative approach. The questionnaire contained both closed-ended and open-ended questions. It included questions that were designed to cap-ture information on the respondents’ knowledge, attitudes and prac-tices with respect to wastewater and envi-ronmental issues in gen-eral.

In addition to completing the ques-tionnaire, both workshops included facilitated sessions designed to obtain additional feedback from the partici-pants with the aim of improving the project’s effective-ness in providing them with useful resources and as-sistance. Some of the questions posed to the participants in these sessions were useful in corroborating some of the information reported in the KAPS.

Key Findings of the Media KAPS:• Of those surveyed, more of the

Central American journalists had focused on environmental cover-age previously than was the case among their Caribbean counter-parts who were more often gener-alists with some experience in en-vironmental coverage.

• A relatively low percentage of re-spondents (36% and 30%) rec-og-nized that untreated wastewater is a threat to every sector named. This is indicative of poor awareness of linkages and of how pervasive the negative effects of poor wastewater manage-ment are.

• In both groups, perceptions of levels of wastewater treatment existing in their countries were close to reality (that is: between 5% and 30%)

• Significantly, very few respondents thought that the media is regular-ly a source of information about wastewater issues.

• Both Caribbean and Central Ameri-can journalists expressed pos-itive

attitudes towards wanting to learn more and understand environmen-tal and wastewater issues better.

• The vast majority of the Caribbean journalists (93%) and all of the Cen-tral American journalists felt that they had a role in shap-ing and/or changing people’s perception of wastewater.

• The majority (57%) of journalists in both groups reported that they oc-casionally write about environmen-tal and wastewater management issues. More of the Central Ameri-can journalists (36% vs. 28.5%) re-ported that they write about these issues fre-quently.

• In looking for stories they consider human interest, public good and educational value ahead of revela-tion and sensationalism.

• Interviews are the preferred sources of information and the inter-net, institutional and project reports as well as scientific reports were also most desirable.

• There was general agreement on the greatest barriers to effec-tive media coverage: Lack of information that is easily under-stood by the public; a general lack of information; lack of interest and support by media houses and editors, and; lack of clear messages.

Knowledge gained from the survey will help the GEF CReW Project to develop better resources and mes-sages for regional media as well as inform the development of the GEF CReW replication strat-egy and fu-ture wastewater projects.

Perhaps the findings of the KAPS which have the greatest implications for our approach to the media are:

• Members of the regional media of-ten have poor awareness of link-ages and of the pervasiveness of negative effects of poor wastewater management even though they are generally aware that the majority of wastewater receives no treatment at all. They also recognize that the media is not a regular source of information about these issues but believe they have an im-portant role to play in shaping or changing the way people per-ceive wastewa-ter. This willingness is a good start in our interac-tion with them but we need to be prepared to support them and to ourselves follow-up in order to assure better coverage.

• Environmental news is not a priority for media outlets, as confirmed by the experiences of these journalists. This means that if environmental projects and programmes want to reach their audiences, more creative and collaborative approaches are needed, particularly in approach-ing editors and decision makers in the media. Relying on the automat-ic dissemination of media releases by media houses “for the public good” is inadequate if we want our messages to go further.

• Journalists are most interested in stories which are of hu-man inter-est, focus on public good and are of educational value. Environmen-tal and wastewater issues, which affect every-one, have all of these qualities. We need to begin fram-ing our issues from the perspec-tives of ordinary people in order to help journalists identify story angles that will get their audiences’ at-tention.

Engaging the Media for Change!

Lessons from GEF CReW’s Media KAPS

Interviews are preferred sources of information for

journalists.

e-Source Page 9July-December 2014

In today’s economic climate many companies are having to cut back on spending, and the Water Author-ity is no ex-ception. However, one area where the Authority believes it must continue to invest in is the de-velopment of Cayman’s youth. The Water Authority is proud to once again grant a scholarship to a young Cay-manian, Chynna Retumban.

Chynna graduated from St. Ig-natius Catholic School in 2012 with four GCSE, five IGCSE and returned there to complete Sixth Form. Chynna was accepted at sev-eral uni-versities in the UK, and has chosen the University of Brad-ford where she will major in Chemistry

with a minor in Drug Discovery.Chynna states that she has always

been curious about how things work and has de-veloped her analytic skills over the years at school.She looks for-ward to returning home after com-pleting her degree to work in the Author-itywhereshecouldimproveon existing systems of scien-tific opera-tions.She envisions research to be a key compo-nent of her role.

She is also keen to give back to the community, whether it is by work-ing with children to develop in the sciences or by research and develop-ment hopefully re-sulting in innova-tion and im-provements in the local and regional environment.

From left: Retumban, Dr. Frederick-van Genderen (WAC), Chynna Retumban, Mrs. Retumban, Pat Bell (WAC)

Scholarship Recipient to Pursue Chemistry in UK

The Water Authority con-tinues to fulfil its mandate to ensure that all residents have access to adequate supplies of clean, potable water. In the current eco-nomic climate where the Cayman Islands Government is tightening its belt, Water Authority is doing more with fewer resources without compromising on its obliga-tion to produce affordable, high qual-ity drinking water for all.

In September, Water Au-thority crews completed the pipeline upgrade along South Sound Road replacing an aging 6-inch pipeline in-stalled in the late 1980’s that had become insuffi-

cient to deliver water efficiently and reliably to the increasing number of large develop-ments in the area.

Similarly, on Cayman Brac, Water Authority teams are expanding the limited pipe-line network there.

By late August 2014 the Author-ity had completed the installation of pipelines along Gerrard Smith Ave, includ-ing its side roads, and had complet-ed the upgrade of the exist-ing pipe-line along the south coast.

This project, which was started in November 2013, is part of the Wa-ter Authority’s ten-year capital plan to ex-pand its water infrastructure

on Cayman Brac. Over the next few years the Water Authority will invest heavily in Cayman Brac in order to ensure continued reliable water ser-vice to its custom-ers. In November 2014, works will commence work on the pipeline extension along the North Coast.

In the aftermath of Hurri-cane Pal-oma in late 2008 it became evident that im-proved emergency power generation is critical to con-tinuity of the Authority’s Cayman Brac op-erations. The Water Authority will soon commission an emergency stand-by generator that will ensure that both water pro-duction and dis-tri-bution can contin-ue at the West End Water Works in the aftermath of a hurricane.

Later this year a 60,000 US gallons

per day container-ised RO plant will be com-missioned to ensure that ad-equate water production capacity will be available to meet growing demand.

Fulfilling a Mandate to Supply all Residents with Piped Water

Montserrat Utilities Limited has a new boss. The company announced the appointment of Mr. David Thom-son to the position of Managing Di-rector of Montserrat Utilities Limited (MUL) since 1st September 2014.

Mr. Thomson’s appointment is for a period of two years and the com-pany looks forward to his contribu-tion to the development of Mont-serrat Utilities Limited, working together with the Government for the people of Montserrat.

Mr. Thomson brings a wealth of experience as a civil engineer, hav-ing worked in a number of local government authorities in the Unit-

ed Kingdom before spending two years on Saint Helena, a remote vol-canic island in the South Atlantic, with a population of about 4,000.

He managed the water and elec-tricity authorities as well as the in-frastructure of roads and buildings for the government of St. Helena and one of his jobs there was to divest the utilities away from gov-ernment and set up a private sector company to provide these services.

He is joined on Montserrat by his partner Jane. They left behind their families in the UK and are both looking forward to setting up home on Montserrat.

Asked why he choose Mont-serrat and Montserrat Utilities, Mr Thomson replied, “I came here in July for a short visit and immediately felt relaxed with the people and enchant-ed by the beauty of the island. “I’m looking forward to work-ing with the Board of Directors and staff at Montserrat Utilities Limited.

“I appreciate there is a job to do in terms of generating and distribut-ing electricity efficiently and safely, and in terms of delivering clean and safe water, and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Mr David Thomson is the new Managing Director of Montserrat

Utilities Limited (MUL)

Montserrat Utilities has a new Managing Director

Continued from Page 3

Representatives from Grenada, the United States Virgin Islands, the Amazon Basin, Central Amer-ica and the Mediterranean were able to deliver presentations giving regional experiences on RWH look-ing specifically at driving issues for investments, achievements and challenges. Another very important aspect of the Forum was capturing participants’ ideas and discussions on actions to make the existing Ca-ribbean Regional Rainwater Har-vesting (RWH) Programme more effective in the areas of:

1. Awareness Raising 2. Capacity Building 3. Legislative and Policy Formulation 4. Infrastructural Development

A wealth of information was re-ceived from participants which has been collated by the GWP-C and will be used to contribute to the strength-ening of the existing RWH Pro-gramme for the Caribbean.

Knowledge sharing was the driv-ing force of the Forum which also explored the possible formulation of a RWH Partnership or Network or a Community of Practice. Stakeholders at the Forum agreed that it would be

ideal for one organisation to take the lead on this and share information with other organisations.

Dr. Natalie Boodram, Programme Manager of the GWP-C Water, Cli-mate and Development Programme (WACDEP) shared with participants that GWP-C under its WACDEP has developed a Caribbean Water and Climate Knowledge Platform which would be a good tool/resource to share knowledge and continue the dialogue on Rainwater Harvesting and related topics. She explained to participants that a “Rainwater Har-vesting” page had been created espe-

cially for the Forum as a space for discussions to continue.

On the third and final day of the workshop, participants were taken on a guided field trip where they were able to see real-life ex-amples of small-scale and com-mercial-scale RWH installations in households, a school, a health centre and a hotel. It was a fruitful experience for the diverse group who were able to share differenc-es and similarities in the systems when compared to installations in their respective countries and how the systems are used.

GWP-C and Partners Host Regional Rainwater Harvesting Knowledge Exchange Forum

Member Utilities News


Saint Lucia’s Water and Sewage Company (WASCO) has embarked on a Southern Water Redevelop-ment Project aimed at improving the service provided to residents worst affected during the passage of Hurricane Tomas in October 2010.

WASCO’s Utility Services Plan-ning and Design Manager Ally An-thony said it follows a consultancy on improving water delivery for the South of the island.

“This is spearheaded by the Water Sector Reform Unit from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and what it entails is how best to redevelop the entire water sys-tem for the south, which includes Dennery, Vieux-Fort and envi-rons,” Anthony said.

The consultancy received grant funding from Mexico for the

Dennery region, following recom-mendations.

Meanwhile, some water contami-nation in Desruisseaux occurred in September.

According to Anthony, “We had to shut down and disinfect our en-tire system – flush, disinfect and flush, until we got quality we could have been distributed to customers.

“This cost the company a lot in terms of not being able to provide the quality of service that we would have wanted to; and in terms of the trucking that we had to do in order to provide the community with water.”

He also re-emphasized WASCO’s thrust to improve water quality, particularly rural systems worst affected by Tomas, the effect of which continue to be felt in some areas three years later.

Mexico supports Southern Water Redevelopment Project

in Saint Lucia

The Water and Sewage Company (WASCO) is now one step closer to the start in its plan to de-silt and rehabili-tate the John Compton Dam.

Aly Anthony, Senior Manager of Utilities Services, Planning and Design at WASCO, said proposals to address siltation at the John Compton Dam have been submitted to the Caribbean Development Bank for review and ap-proval.

Following approval, a survey and analysis that will dictate the progres-sion of the de-silting process will begin.

“The study will look at the problem we are experiencing at the dam at a ho-listic level,” Anthony said.

He added, “This includes the catch-ment, the dam structure, the problem with de-silting, and even the socio-economic impact of the project on the Millet and Vannard communities.

“In essence, the study will inform the next stage of operations.”

The study will also determine the depth, and analyze the chemical com-position of the silt for disposal pur-poses.

The silt may contain heavy metal con-taminants or hydrocarbons from road runoff, Anthony explained, which are hazardous and therefore cannot be spread to land without remedy.

De-silting of the dam is slated to be-gin next year.

Meanwhile, WASCO has already en-

gaged key stakeholders in a consulta-tion on the de-silting and Rehabilita-tion study, which allowed stakeholders to provide input into the preparation of the de-silting project.

Chairman of WASCO, Egbert Louis, said the study takes into account sev-eral variables.

He also said Phase One involves the preparation of a de-silting project.

The first phase also assesses the im-pacts of the proposed solutions on the environment and surrounding com-munities, while the road network and the dam structure will be comprehen-sively analyzed during this study.

One of the main outputs of Phase One will be a document which will prescribe a plan for addressing the de-silting of the dam.”

The study will be undertaken by the Canadian firm Golder Associates in co-operation with local firms.

Golder Associates representative, Dr. Michael Bender, highlighted the objec-tive of the study, saying: “We intend to work closely with WASCO to develop a comprehensive plan.”

He also said “The plan will achieve three things. It aims to restore the reli-ability of the water supply; to do that in an economically viable way; and to do it in an environmental and sociable way.”

The first phase of the project com-menced at the end of September.

De-silting of Sir John Compton Roseau Dam to start in 2015

Accumulated debris and lack of adequate maintenance over several years resulted in serious siltation of the Roseau Dam, the island’s

largest, forcing the government to embark on emergency measures to secure the island’s water supply.

Continued from page 1

the Commonwealth of Dominica; Senator The Honourable Simon Stiell, Minister of Agriculture of Grenada; The Honourable Robert Pickersgill, Minister of Water, Land, Environ-ment and Climate Change of Jamaica; The Honourable Paul Lewis, Minis-ter of Communications, Works, En-ergy and Labour of Montserrat; The Honourable Troy Liburd; Minister of Works and Communications of Nevis; Senator The Honourable Dr. James L. Fletcher, Minister of Public Service, In-formation, Broadcasting, Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology of St. Lucia; Senator the Honourable Ganga Singh, Minister of Environment and Water Resources of Trinidad and Tobago; and The Hon-ourable George Lightbourne, Minister of Government Support Services of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Senior government officials were also pres-ent representing the Cayman Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.

In looking back at the past High Lev-el Forums, the CWWA and the GWP-C were keen on improving the format of the 10th Forum to ensure greater engagement of Ministers in discus-sions and more importantly, critically exploring a practical mechanism for follow-up after the Forum.

The theme of the 10th HLF was “Ca-ribbean Water Security -Risks and Op-portunities.” Some of the main topics and discussion sessions at the Meeting were: • Opportunities and Risks in Secur-

ing Water Security in the Caribbean • Feedback on the Third International

Conference on Small Island Devel-oping States held in Samoa (The Way Forward for SIDS in terms of water management)

• Financing Challenges in the Water Sector

• Regional Initiatives on Water, Wastewater and Climate Change

Following a brief opening ceremony, discussions at the Forum began with a feature presentation on “Leadership for Water Security” by Mr. Wouter T. Lincklaen Arriens, a Technical Com-mittee Member of the Global Water Partnership (GWP). His presentation looked at methodologies for assess-ing water security and strategies to increase water security drawing on his work with the Asian Development Bank, as well as, his participation in the Global Technical Committee of the GWP. His presentation sparked a lot of dialogue amongst the Ministers as it encouraged them to think about the role leadership plays in driving and supporting change.

Critical to the Forum was a fruitful round-table discussion led by the Ca-ribbean Water Ministers on “Policy Challenges” focusing specifically on innovative solutions and the policy environment needed to support in-novation in the water sector. The ses-sion allowed for Ministers to actively engage with each other and learn from each other as they were able to share their experiences in their respective countries. The session was very ben-eficial as it gave both the CWWA and the GWP-C a better understanding of some the policy challenges being faced in the region so that both organisa-tions and its strategic partners could

better respond to these regional needs. Also key to the 10th HLF was a ses-

sion looking back at the ten (10) years of the Forum. This session provided an opportunity to reflect and critically analyse the goals and objectives of the HLF; look at its main achievements and outcomes and more importantly chart a way forward. Professor Jacob Opadeyi, a Former Chair of the GWP and Dr. Hugh Sealy, a Past President of the CWWA each provided inputs on the history of the HLF and the ratio-nale behind the Forum’s establishment to lead the discussions. According to some of the Ministers present, the ses-sion was extremely helpful to them be-cause they had a clearer picture of the genesis of the Forum.

The 10th High Level Forum was deemed a success and was made pos-sible through financial contributions by the CWWA, GEF-CReW and the GWP-C which was shared between its core funds and funds under its Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP).

Immediate Outcome: After their discussions and delibera-

tions, the Caribbean Ministers present at the 10th HLF signed a declaration agreeing to: 1 Commit themselves to make all

the necessary efforts to convey to their Cabinets the recommenda-tions made at the High Level Forum (HLF).

2 The GWP-C, CWWA and the Carib-bean Regional Coordinating Unit of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-RCU) conven-ing a Closed Ministerial Session within the HLF for Caribbean Water Ministers for the purpose of collabo-ration on matters related to water.

3 The GWP-C, CWWA and UNEP-RCU preparing an Information Note including but not limited to joint in-vestment, research and development and procurement for the guidance of Ministers making presentations to their Cabinet.

4 The GWP-C, CWWA and UNEP-RCU providing human resources to support the Caribbean Commu-nity (CARICOM) Secretariat in the implementation of decisions of the 10th HLF as appropriate.

5 The GWP-C, CWWA and UNEP-RCU conveying the recommendations of the 10th HLF to CARICOM for the purpose of presenting them to the Council for Trade and Economic De-velopment (COTED) and ensuring that water is represented as a critical portfolio.

6 The GWP-C, CWWA and UNEP-RCU initiating a process to establish a CARICOM Ministers of Water with the COTED with the necessary link-ages to the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) that will provide political leadership, policy direction and advocacy in the provision, use and management of water resources for sustainable social and economic development of CARI-COM member states.

Follow-up Actions: The GWP-C is committed to working

with the CWWA and the UNEP-RCU to ensure that these recommendations are followed-up on. (Global Water Partnership - Caribbean).

Eleven Ministers commit to better sell Water to their Cabinets...

Bahamas hosts largest gathering ever of Caribbean Water Ministers!

e-Source Page 11July-December 2014 e-Source Page 11July-December 2014

Member Utilities News

THE NEW BARBADOS WATER Author-ity (BWA) Headquarters complex, when complete next year, will allow staff oper-ating under one roof to deliver services to the Barbadian public and engage them in a more effective and efficient manner.

The island’s Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management, Dr. David Estwick, made the declaration as he spoke with mem-bers of the press following a tour of the complex, which is now 50% complete.

Projections are that BWA management and staff will be able to move into the modern facility by April 2015.

Stressing that such a project was first conceptualized in 1985, the Minister with responsibility for Water Resource Management noted that Cabinet took a decision in June 2011 to reengage the concept of a modern facility for the BWA to house its numerous departments. As such, the Minister expressed his delight with the progress being made on the fa-cility to date.

Minister Estwick noted that great focus is not only being placed on the construc-tion of the state-of-the-art facility, but a great deal of internal work is also being done to ensure that the public can be bet-

“We are at a point that I have been look-ing forward to for a very long time!” Those were the words of NAWASA’s General Manager Mr. Christopher Hus-bands, as he addressed persons at the Sod Turning Ceremony for the Chemin Valley Water System on October 21st, 2014.

For over 40 years, the Chemin Valley residents and its surrounding environs have had to deal with no water supply on occasions during power outage and also system maintenance. The Borehole was constructed in 1965 and is the only practical source of potable water for the communities of Confer, Marian and Close Rock, Egmont and Golden Heights, which are residential developments.

This Chemin Valley Water System Proj-ect involves procurement of tank, pumps and telemetric switching devices, rein-forced concrete tank base and also the installation of approximately 2 km of 200mm ductile iron pipeline, glass fused tank, borehole pumps, fencing to site and test and commission system.

According to Mr. Husbands, “This proj-ect provides NAWASA with the ability to improve its energy efficiency, as Chemin Valley is the only system that NAWASA pumps directly into customers’ pipelines. This has been inefficient and very expen-sive, considering the cost of electricity.

“This project was one of priority for NAWASA because it allows us the abil-ity of scheduled pumping from one point to another, significantly reducing pump-ing costs, as persons will now receive this

As a corporate business organization, The National Water and Sewerage Au-thority (NAWASA) continued for the 10th year to award employees’ children for their achievement in the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) Ex-amination.To date, 70 students have benefitted from this initiative, which, in many ways, has enhanced their educa-tional experience e in school and com-plemented their learning at home.

This year, driven by its responsibility and commitment to ensuring that there is a balanced pool of qualified human resources who would contribute to na-tion building, the Authority awarded ten more students with vouchers in the worth of $300 each, plus other school

ter served and production levels can rise, when BWA employees enter the com-plex.

“There’s a lot of internal work being done at the Barbados Water Authority and a lot of that internal work is related to internal restructuring and that is be-ing done heavily through a lot of IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) programmes.

“IDB programmes that look at upgrad-ing the ICT platform in particular, put-ting in Management Information Sys-tems, Financial Information Systems and other types of systems under the Water and Sanitation Upgrade Programmes,” Dr. Estwick revealed.

“Those types of systems allow the Barba-dos Water Authority to be more efficient. For example, in the technical area, intro-ducing new SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems within the IDB framework,” Estwick explained.

“The SCADA system will be a central-ized monitoring ICT interface, which will allow the Water Authority to be much more efficient and to manage its processes in terms of what you need to delivering new connections and also to deal with burst mains etc. in a more effective and ef-

ficient manner and in a more timely man-ner,” the minister added.

“I think what this new dynamic will do, is create the infrastructure that allows not only the customer service element to work more efficiently with your procurement services, (but) also your distribution ser-vices, as that has always been an area of

concern for the Barbados Water Authority.“That’s because you may make an ap-

plication for a service, but sometimes you have to wait several months -- or even a year -- to get that service. With the modern platform, the BWA will be introducing, I believe those things will be of the past,” Minister Estwick stressed. (GIS Barbados)

supply by gravity.”“This project also provides the benefit

for NAWASA in that persons served by borehole have a preference for surface water, which up until now NAWASA has not been able to influence via treat-ment. This new reservoir allows NAWA-SA to invest in other treatment additives that can address the taste concerns.” the GM further added.

Parliamentary Representative for St. David Hon. Oliver Joseph said this proj-ect is all part of Government’s Five Year Development Plan for the parish’s infra-structure. Minister Joseph and Minister of Public Utilities Hon. Gregory Bowen turned the sod.

Minister Bowen said “We are very hap-py that significant complaints of water shortages will be addressed by this proj-ect. The Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project is of significant importance as it helps with disaster vulnerability while bringing improved water supply to vari-ous communities.”

Following the Sod Turning at Chemin Valley, teams journeyed to Observatory to the site where a four hundred thou-sand gallons (400,000) glass fused steel bolted tank will be constructed as part of the Observatory Reservoir Installation Project. The project aims to ensure that the town of St. George will not continue to experience a depleted water supply

during working hours. Parliamentary Representative for the

Town of St. George Hon. Nicholas Steele and Minister of Public Utilities Hon. Gregory Bowen, turned the sod for this project.

Farmex has been awarded the $5.4 mil-lion project to construct Chemin Valley at $3.8M and the Observatory Tank Res-ervoir at $1.6 million. Both projects are funded by the Government of Grenada and the World Bank as part of its Disas-ter Vulnerability Reduction Programme.

Meanwhile, September 25 marked an-other major step-up for the authority’s operations in the parish of St. Patrick with the Official Commissioning of its Mt. Reuil Water Treatment Plant.

In January 2014, the Authority started the Mt. Reuil Water Treatment Project, which will see the parish of St. Patrick being served by two systems. The construction of this 250,000-gallons-per-day treatment plant would address the unreliable water supply in the parish and therefore provide an environment conducive for investment, particularly in the Tourism industry.

The completion of this Project also greatly contributes in ensuring Climate Change resilience to the water supply in the Parish.

This Commissioning ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Public Utilities Gregory Bowen, who officially cut the ribbon to open the facility.The ceremony was held on the grounds Glen-leg Natural Spring Production Office.

Superior service and greater efficiency promised with new Barbados Water Authority headquarters

SOD TURNED FOR TWO NEW WATER PROJECTS IN GRENADA

The new Barbados Water Authority (BWA) headquarters is taking shape to open its doors next year.

Minister of Public Utilities and responsibility for Water Hon. Gregory Bowen (centre) officiated at the ceremonies.

items, which will help to defray some of their educational expenses and encour-age them to continue to perform well in their studies.

Speaking to the awardees, Chairman of NAWASA’s Board of Directors Mr. Terrance Forrester said, “Your achieve-ment proves that given the right op-portunities, you can thrive and do well in your education. Undoubtedly the support provided by NAWASA to its employees and their children will be able to realize potential and attain their goals.”

The Authority values the efforts of staff in providing the award to these children, allowing them to develop into competent individuals who are able

to overcome challenges in today’s ever changing and competitive environment.

The Award Ceremony was held at

the Main Office on the Carenage, in the presence of parents, well-wishers and employees.

NAWASA rewards CPEA achievers

CPEA awardees with NAWASA Chairman Terrence Forrester (right) and HR Manager Pansy Ventour (left) at the special award ceremony.


Surveys from 45 developing coun-tries show that women and children bear the primary responsibility for water collection in the majority of households. This is time not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family members, or attending school. In addition, con-sider the following:• 443 million school days are lost

each year due to water-related ill-ness.

• Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death among children under five in the world.

• Around 1.5 million deaths each year - nearly one in five – are caused by diarrhea. It kills more children than malaria, AIDS and measles combined.

• Every minute at least one child dies from diarrhea.

• An estimated 4,100 children un-der the age of five die each day from diarrhea globally.

• Malnutrition, due to dirty water, inadequate sanitation, and hy-giene, is estimated to lead to death in an additional 2,350 children un-der the age of five each day.

• Nearly 1.5 million children under the age of five die every year from diarrhea globally.

• It is estimated that in the 1980s, a child died approximately every six seconds from diarrhea

• 90% of the deaths due to diar-rheal diseases are children under 5 years old, mostly in developing countries. (Source: UN Water)

In more and more places water is being brought to communities that never had it so clean – or never had it at all – much to the happiness of all. But in many places too, children continue to die just because of lack of their community’s access to water. The Caribbean is more furtunate than many other parts of the world, but in many parts there’s still much to

be done to harness the proper distribution and supply to communities near and far. CAWASA seeks to make a change in and for the Caribbean.

These statistics speak volumes about the nature of tasks facing water agencies worldwide and

CAWASA is committed to play-ing its part to ensure the Carib-bean addresses related issues

earlier than later, with full coop-eration of all members and fellow stakeholders.

World Water and ChildrenThe horrors of thirst and water-borne diseases continue to

affect children worldwide daily!

The way in which we handle waste has implications for our health. If you had any doubt, just CONSIDER the following: • Diarrhea is more prevalent

throughout the developing world largely due to the lower levels of access to safe drinking water and sanitation, along with poorer overall health, hygiene, and nutritional status.

• It is estimated that in the 1980s a child died approximately every six seconds from diarrhea

• Half of the hospital beds in the world are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associ-ated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate san-itation and poor hygiene.

• It is estimated that nearly 10% of the global disease burden could be reduced through improved water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and water resource management.

• 88% of global cases of diarrhea is estimated to be attributable to unsafe drinking water, inad-equate sanitation, and poor hy-giene.

• 90% of the deaths due to diarrhe-al diseases are children under 5 years old, mostly in developing countries. (Source UN Water)

Proper treatment of waste and waste water is essential to the development of clean and safe water resources everywhere.

Water and Waste Water associa-tions and agencies across the Caribbean are doing their best to address the related issues and to encourage appropriate actions at national levels.

With the health of the region’s water consumers in mind, CA-WASA is committed to enhanc-ing of a regional approach to the proper handling and treatment of waste.

The link between Water and Waste can be

Deadly!

Cawasa e source newsletter - 3rd Quarter 2014

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