Ecobreves – CUBA: Electricity for Rural Guantánamo

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HAVANA, Jul 30 2007 (IPS) - Peasant farmers who live near the hydroelectric dam of the Guaso River in the eastern Cuban province of Guantánamo will see their living conditions improve as a result of a project to take place in the second half of 2007. The plan, backed by the Small Donor Program of the Global Environment Facility, will benefit 110 families with electricity from the dam — which has a potential of 1.8 megawatts — reforesting some 100 hectares and creating a cultural and training center.

The national coordinator of the program in Cuba, Fabio Fajardo, told Tierramérica that it will conclude in mid-2009, and that he thinks it has important “synergy” with another project promoted by the government and the United Nations Development Program to improve rural electrification in Guantánamo province.