ENVIRONMENT-COSTA RICA: El Nino Wreaks Havoc in Central America

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IPS Correspondents

SAN JOSE/TEGUCIGALPA, May 23 1998 (IPS) - Drought and forest fires caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon in Central America have led to life-threatening food and water shortages, serious health risks and millions of dollars in losses in agriculture and fishing.

Dozens of people have died of hunger in Nicaragua, mainly in the northern part of the country. Non-governmental organisations report that some 50,000 families had lost their harvests as of March, a situation that led the UN World Food Programme to launch a 3.2 million dollar aid programme.

In neighbouring Honduras, meanwhile, the greatest threat to people’s health is posed by air pollution caused by forest fires, which have been burning out of control due to the high temperatures and drought brought by this year’s abnormally prolonged and intense El Nino phenomenon.

The government of Honduras admitted over the weekend that it lacked the means to fight the air pollution which has cast a pall over the country’s main cities for the past two weks, the result of fires like the ones that have ravaged hundreds of thousands of hectares in Brazil and Mexico.

As authorities did in Mexico City late last week, Honduran officials recommended Saturday that people stay indoors.

Deputy Minister of Health Eliette Giron said “we are facing a difficult situation, because this country has never seen such high levels of pollution. We recommend that people suspend any kind of physical exercise, ventilate their homes and remain in their houses as much as possible.”

The levels of air pollution have risen fivefold in Tegucigalpa, where commercial flights have been suspended due to limited visibility.

Giron said that in the last two weeks, the number of doctor’s visits due to respiratory problems, irritated vision and skin allergies, mainly in children under five, had risen to more than 30 cases a day.

The Centre for Studies and Control of Pollutants sent the government a study on the state of the environment, urging it to take measures that safeguard people’s health. It recommended changes in school schedules and the suspension of physical education, and a ban on slash and burn land-clearing techniques and the circulation of vehicles.

The Centre also suggested that private health centres provide free-of-charge emergency treatment for patients with respiratory problems, and called for donations of asthma medicine and nebulisers.

More than 1,800 forest fires have occurred this year in Honduras, according to government figures. A study released last week by environmental groups warns that the country’s forests could disappear in as little as 20 years if coherent policies protecting them from logging and other threats are not adopted.

The Minister of the Presidency, Gustavo Alfaro, said the fires and the resultant smoke had caused more than 100,000 dollars a day in losses in tourism and the suspension of commercial flights.

In Guatemala, unusually high temperatures and drought have played a major role in the destruction of 65,000 hectares of forests in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve, located 600 kms north of the capital.

Apart from the fires, drought caused by El Nino has brought millions of dollars in losses to agriculture in the region. Losses in export crops, basic grains and livestock were estimated at around 23 million dollars in Costa Rica, mainly in the northern part of the country, where the government has declared a state of emergency.

In Honduras, more than 100,000 hectares planted in grains have been lost, and the government estimates corn and sugar cane losses at close to 50 million dollars. In El Salvador, meanwhile, losses stood at around 172 million dollars.

Water and electricity supplies have also been hurt. Honduras, which suffers a chronic shortage of energy in spite of its abundant water resources, has been hit hardest, and the government was forced to import some 120 megawatts from neighbouring countries.

In Panama, the water level in lakes and reservoirs has dropped approximately 70 percent, according to the National System of Civil Protection.

The Central American Regional Council (Coreca) suggested a series of measures in mid-1997 to confront the effects of El Nino, such as favouring grain production on well-irrigated land and stockpiling fodder for livestock.

Costa Rica adopted contingency plans such as the distribution of hay and molasses in the areas hardest hit by drought, and financing for irrigation projects to help tackle the problem in the medium to long-term.

Costa Rica’s new government, which took office May 8, has made vehicles available to farmers for transporting animal feed, and the Emergency Commission has asked private companies to help transport water for human consumption.

The National Meteorological Institute says rains should stabilise in the region in June.