Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Canada Gives a Hand to Caracas Sanitation

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

CARACAS, Mar 6 2004 (IPS) - Canada will contribute a half-million dollars to build wastewater systems in poor districts of the Venezuelan capital, says the Canadian ambassador Allan Culham. The Venezuelan government will put up 100,000 dollars for the initiative.

“In 700 neighborhoods around Caracas, wastewater drains an average of three meters from houses. To channel them, it is essential to build collectors,” said Jacqueline Farías, president of the public enterprise Hidrocapital.

The highly contaminated Guiarie River, which runs 72 km west to east across the southern part of the city, currently receives most of the sewage. The authorities' ultimate aim is to clean up the river, said Farías.