Agreement Reached on How to Manage Waste Water in Eastern Part of Country

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARENA), the Ministry of Tourism (SECTUR) and the National Institute for Potable Water and Aqueducts (INAPA) met on Friday with representatives from more than 90 tourism companies from Bávaro and Punta Cana to exchange ideas and unify their stand on the environmental situation in the area, including water, its use and its future.

“We have agreed that within four months INAPA will present a master plan to be used for the treatment of residual water.

One of the results of the meeting, held in the Punta Cana Hotel, was to have drawn up a plan to control the use and future of water, from its extraction at the source for consumption by the hotel industry to that which will ultimately serve the region.

The initiative seeks to involve all actors connected to the topic as well as organizations that are concerned about the environment and the conservation of natural resources.

“We have agreed that within four months INAPA will present a master plan to be used for the treatment of residual water. Thirty per cent of the cost for this treatment system will be assumed by the hotels, 30% by the Tourism Ministry, 30% by INAPA and 10% by SEMARENA,” said Environment Minister Jaime David Fernández Mirabal.

In addition to a commitment to deal with residual water in a comprehensive project, an agreement was reached to promote and support the territorial organizational plan that was already drawn up by companies in the area.

“One of the problems of the region is the Higüey Aqueduct which has been approved by INAPA and is to be built in two phases, but it is still pending approval in Congress,” said Mariano Germán, director de INAPA.

The meeting was attended by Environment and Natural Resources Minister Jaime David Fernández Mirabal; Mariano Germán, director de INAPA; Frank Rainieri, of the Punta Cana Group; Haydee Cure de Rainieri, of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants (ASONAHORES) and Maribel Villalona, representing the Tourism Ministry. Also present were Luis Rafael Cedeño, Governor of Higüey and Julio Aramis Mora, provincial director of the Environment Ministry in Higüey.