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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Today's News Headlines
* WPP Continental to develop waste-to-energy project in Alajuela - Costa Rica
* MOP to finish Caldera river channeling in July - Panama
* Roundup: Cleanup of lake Atitlán - Guatemala
* Cagece to invest US$18.6mn to improve sanitation in Fortaleza - Brazil
* Swisscontact to improve hospital waste management in Andean area - Peru
* Country accepts OECD invitation - Chile
* MOP inaugurates Huasco-Vallenar irrigation project - Chile
* JICA to provide machinery for deep wells - Paraguay
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* WPP Continental to develop waste-to-energy project in Alajuela - Costa Rica
Costa Rican waste management firm WPP Continental is waiting for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to approve a waste-to-energy project as a clean development mechanism (CDM), WPP Continental operations manager Christian Montero told BNamericas.
The project will be carried out at the Los Mangos landfill in Alajuela province and will generate energy from methane gas.
"Of the gas produced when organic waste decomposes, 50% is carbon dioxide and the other 50% is methane, which is also a combustion gas that can generate electricity," Montero said.
The project is already designed and only lacks the UN certification to begin construction. Once that comes through, it is easier to obtain financial support from different organizations, according to Montero.
By Indiana Corrales
Business News Americas
* MOP to finish Caldera river channeling in July - Panama
Works to channel Panama's Caldera river in Chiriquí province are expected to finish in July, a public works ministry (MOP) official told BNamericas.
Construction work is 21% complete and MOP has been carrying out works to remove, collect and transport materials extracted from the river. "Boulders are currently being placed along the river bank and the dredging is being carried out," the official said.
The project, which will cost US$11.5mn, is designed to prevent floods and will benefit approximately 20,000 inhabitants.
The initiative is being carried out in Chiriquí's Boquete district in western Panama.
By Indiana Corrales
Business News Americas
* Roundup: Cleanup of lake Atitlán - Guatemala
A total of 19 municipalities located near Guatemala's Atitlán lake generate 150t of solid waste per day but only 20% of the trash ends up in dumps, according to a study carried by the country's environment ministry.
One of the main reasons for the lake's contamination is the high concentration of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. The algae's proliferation is caused by the presence of domestic waste and untreated wastewater in the lake, the government reported in a release.
Climate change has also caused the lake's temperature to increase to above its normal 23-25 degrees Celsius, which has encouraged the algae's growth, according to previous reports.
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President Álvaro Colom inaugurated a committee to coordinate the cleanup of lake Atitlán, in the Sololá province, the presidential website reported.
The committee will begin to take action immediately, although the cleanup process will be developed over a long period of time.
The cleanup will not be easy but, according to technical and scientific experts from different universities, the lake can still be saved, the release said.
***
Meanwhile, Sololá province authorities have rehabilitated a wastewater treatment plant located in the municipality of Santa Cruz La Laguna, the presidential website reported.
The project was carried out by the National Peace Fund (Fonapaz) at a cost of 378,000 quetzals (US$45,315).
Resources were invested in the installation of a new pipeline and collection and dispersion filters, among other improvements.
The objective is to avoid contaminating the Atitlán lake and the project will benefit some 20,000 inhabitants.
Lake Atitlán is located in southwestern Guatemala and is the deepest lake in Central America. The cleanup plan for 2010 will be supported financially by NGOs, research organizations and Sololá province authorities.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Cagece to invest US$18.6mn to improve sanitation in Fortaleza - Brazil
Brazil's Ceará state water utility Cagece has signed a service order for a 32.2mn-real (US$18.6mn) sanitation project in state capital Fortaleza.
Works will be carried out in the neighborhoods of Cidade dos Funcionários, Cajazeiras, Parque Iracema and Barroso, according to a company release.
The project includes the implementation of some 154km of pipelines and four pumping stations. Three other pumps will be replaced giving the region a total of seven operating pumping stations once completed. Overall, Fortaleza will have 16,696 new sewerage connections.
From October 2008 to October 2009 sewerage connections in Fortaleza increased 4.55% while water connections rose 4.49% in the city. By October 2009 sewerage and water service connections totaled 14,351 and 27,415 respectively.
Billing volume also rose with sewerage up 3.48% and water billing showing a 2.5% increase in the same period, the release said.
Since 2006, some 275mn reais has been invested to improve the city's sewerage network. Funding has come from IDB and the country's growth acceleration plan (PAC).
STATE STATISTICS
In Ceará state, sewerage connections increased by 24,000 (6.42%) in the same period. While October 2008 registered 383,618 connections, the state had a total of 408,250 in October of 2009.
Water connections increased 4.55% in the same time period, bringing the total to 54,887 connections.
Sewerage revenues went up 4.78% while water increased 2.68%, the release said.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Swisscontact to improve hospital waste management in Andean area - Peru
The Swiss agency for technical development (Swisscontact) is working with Peru's environmental health department (Digesa) to improve hospital waste management in the south of the country, the latter country's health ministry reported on its website.
The initiative will look to implement the correct management and disposal of hospital waste in public and private hospitals in the cities of Cuzco, Puno, Juliaca and Arequipa, all of which produce over 4t/d of hospital waste, according to health minister Oscar Ugarte Ubilluz.
As well as helping implement the program, Swisscontact will partially fund its US$1.6mn cost, the report said.
The project will contribute significantly towards reducing the transfer of diseases between hospitals, Ugarte Ubilluz said.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Country accepts OECD invitation - Chile
Chile has become the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) 31st member and the organization's first in South America under an accession agreement signed on Monday (Jan 11) in Santiago by OECD secretary general Angel Gurría and Chilean finance minister Andrés Velasco.
"The 'Chilean way' and its expertise will enrich the OECD on key policy issues," said Gurría during the signing ceremony in Santiago. "Chile has been engaged in a continuous effort to reform its economy. This experience will be an asset for the OECD as we try to address issues such as inequality or sustainable pension systems." The agreement requires ratification by congress.
Since it began talks with the OECD in May 2007, Chile has taken significant steps by introducing new laws to end the banking secrecy that provides a shield for possible tax evasion and enabling prosecutors to pursue companies suspected of bribery and corruption, OECD said in a press release.
"The Chilean economy has been growing at over 5% a year for the last 20 years. Impressive progress has been made in reducing poverty, although more still needs to be done. Chile's groundbreaking pension reforms in the early 1980s have served as a model for many other countries."
The OECD said that Chile's prudent tax policies gave it the necessary financial leeway for stimulus measures to support demand and employment when the financial crisis hit in 2008.
In recent months, and as part of the OECD accession process, competition laws and consumer protection in the country have been strengthened. New legislation has established a clear separation between the state and the board of copper mining company Codelco, Chile's largest state-owned enterprise, OECD noted.
In the private sector, a new law will boost transparency by requiring increased information for financial markets while combating misuse of insider information and reinforcing requirements for external auditors, the OECD said, adding that another major reform has seen the extension of public pension coverage.
The OECD will release its latest economic survey of Chile on January 21 in Santiago. The survey sets out the OECD's assessment and recommendations on the main economic challenges faced by Chile.
With both Chile and Mexico as members, and thanks to increasingly close cooperation with Brazil, the OECD said it will have substantially strengthened its links with Latin America. Four other countries - Estonia, Israel, the Russian Federation and Slovenia - are currently negotiating to become members of the organization, which is also working closely with other major economies, including China, India, Indonesia and South Africa, as well as Brazil.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* MOP inaugurates Huasco-Vallenar irrigation project - Chile
Chile's public works minister Sergio Bitar inaugurated the third section of the Huasco-Vallenar irrigation project on January 8, the public works ministry (MOP) reported in a release.
Works involved improving the five main irrigation canals located in the Vallenar area, as well as the construction of new water intake systems and water tanks.
The third section will irrigate a 4,500ha area, benefitting over 600 farmers.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* JICA to provide machinery for deep wells - Paraguay
Paraguayan environmental sanitation service Senasa will receive two drilling machines as part of the Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) project to expand potable water services in the country.
Senasa director Pedro Martínez will head a delegation visiting Japan next week to oversee a tender process to select the company that will manufacture the drills, according to local news service PPN.
The machinery will be used to drill deep wells in areas that have insufficient water supplies, particularly in rural parts of the country.
The equipment is being provided as part of a US$9.5mn donation from JICA, which was approved in January 2008.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
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In-deph interview
* "There is potential for dozens of sites to become CDMs at the moment"
Francisco Blanco
Latin America CDM project development manager
Biogas Technology
Mexico
http://www.bnamericas.com/interviews/waterandwaste/Francisco_Blanco_,Biogas_Technology,/169479503
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Main companies covered in today's news
* Secretaría Nacional del Agua
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Secretaria_Nacional_del_Agua-SENAGUA/169479503
* Acciona Agua S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Acciona_Agua_S,A,-ACCIONA_Agua/169479503
* Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo en América Latina S.A.B. de C.V.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Impulsora_del_Desarrollo_y_el_Empleo_en_America_Latina_S,A,B,_de_C,V,-IDEAL/169479503
* Japan International Cooperation Agency
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Japan_International_Cooperation_Agency-JICA/169479503
* Companhia de Agua e Esgoto do Ceará
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Companhia_de_Agua_e_Esgoto_do_Ceara-Cagece/169479503
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