“Santiago United and Green” Accord Signed

“Santiago United and Green” Accord Signed
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic   10/24/2011

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Council for the Development of Santiago signed an agreement in which both institutions committed themselves to developing the “Santiago United and Green” Provincial Environmental Agenda Management System Project.

The signing of these agreements signifies a strategic alliance between the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Santiago Development Council (CDES in Spanish), and different productive sectors of the Northern Region…

The signing of the agreement was headed by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Engineer Ernesto Reyna Alcántara, and businessman Carlos Alfredo Fondeur, president of the Santiago Development Council. Also present were commissioners, community leaders, business people, directors and presidents of entrepreneurial and city development associations.

The signing of these agreements signifies a strategic alliance between the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Santiago Development Council (CDES in Spanish), and different productive sectors of the Northern Region, to work together to develop the “Santiago United and Green” Provincial Environmental Agenda Management System Project.

The accords in this alliance include measures to promote, in an articulated manner, a process of formulating a strategic work tools to organize systematic interventions and proposals for action for the coming six years. The process will define the diagnostic profile and provincial environmental characterization of Santiago as conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources within the framework of the Management Program and Protection of the Natural Resources of the Water Basin (PROGEN), sponsored by the GTZ of Germany.

Also, the signatories commit themselves to support municipal and provincial planning as well as the planning of various Vice Ministers of Environment in order to have environmental, territorial, integral and participative focus, in concurrence with the Pluriannual 2010-2013 Plan of the Ministry of Environment and PES 2020, structuring the operation in three programs: i) conservation of the protected areas, ii) sustainable management of natural resources and iii) protection of environmental quality.

This strategic alliance will develop “Activities of Rapid Victories” or impact prior actions in order to show the relevance of a Provincial Environmental Agenda Santiago, among which are:

·Communication campaign for the Prevention of Noise Pollution in Schools, Education Centers, Hospitals and other risk territories.

·Recycling promotion campaign, from an integral management, especially regarding solid waste and cooking and household oils.

·Establishment of the Annual Provincial Environmental Prize for new development initiatives under criteria of Clean Production and Energy.

·Support for the updating of environmental impact studies and making the issuance of Environmental License of Projects more agile: Increase and Improve Potable Water and Treatment of Residual Waters System implemented by CORAASAN.

This meeting served as a scenario to present the National Prize for the Cleanest Production, which is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the National Competitiveness Council, the USAID Program for Environmental Protection and the National Network of Businesspeople for the Protection of the Environment (RENAEPA in Spanish).  The object of this prize is to recognize work done by Dominican companies, institutions or any type of organization involved in productive activity and/or services which have demonstrated that they have implemented strategies that enable greater environmental performance and global competitiveness. The Prize is national and all companies, public, private or non-profit organizations that have implemented programs for cleaner and more sustainable production are welcome to participate

The object is to contribute to the competitive position of  Dominican companies, in domestic, regional and international markets, in the face of demands imposed by sustainable development and free trade, to achieve direct and indirect influence on corporate environmental performance and to support initiatives of fair promotion of products and services that apply cleaner production processes.

The Categories of the National Prize of Promotion of Cleaner Production are:

Materials:

This includes all those projects focused on techniques of eco-design, reduction of materials and/or residue, optimization of productive processes, recycling and management of solid waste.

Water:

All those projects focused on techniques of reduction of water consumption, reutilization and/or recycling of water currents, reduction of effluents and pollution content of effluents.

Energy:

Includes all those projects focused on efficient and renewable energy.

Management System:

Companies that have systems of environmental management that show greater environmental performance in at least two aforementioned categories.

Benefits of prize

Those receiving the Recognition of Implementation are institutions and/or companies which the Technical Evaluation Committee has found to have implemented P + L projects independent of the fact that they have been awarded first places prizes.

Private and state companies that win first place will go directly to opting for the Regional P + L prize, awarded every 2 years.  With regard to companies, public and private institutions and non-profit winners of the first prize, they will be awarded a plaque, in addition to the recognition.