Ecuadorians tired of waiting for a cleanup of Guayaquil’s filthy waters [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuadorians tired of waiting for a cleanup of Guayaquil’s filthy waters

A World Bank loan helped privatise sanitation in Ecuador’s largest city, but some residents say they still lack clean water and claim the river is polluted with sewage



The waters flowing through Estero Salado, a river delta in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, can be deceptive, even for those who have lived their entire lives alongside the filthy and meandering estuarine network.

“We know the water is not clean, but you build up a tolerance,” says 21-year-old local activist Jasmanny Caicedo. Though he says he can take a dip without becoming ill most of the time, even Caicedo says he gets caught out on the “really bad pollution days”.

The temperature in Ecuador’s most populous city typically ranges from 21-31C (70-88F), meaning swimming is a welcome pastime for many of Guayaquil’s 2.3 million inhabitants. But unsanitary water conditions can increase the risk of catching waterborne infections such as cholera, typhoid and hepatitis. One day, Caicedo says he plunged into the water for “just a few minutes” but that was still enough to gave him a severe allergic skin reaction. On other occasions he reports that bathing in the estuary has resulted in stomach cramps, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

. . .

The water and sanitation services in Guayaquil were privatised in 2001, backed by $18m (£27m) from the World Bank and $40m from the Inter-American Development Bank. The contract was won by a consortium of international companies called Interagua. The privatisation – backed by Jaime Nebot, mayor of Guayaquil since 2000 – was meant to improve sewerage and clean water provision, in particular for the poor of the city.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/may/26/ecuador-veolia-clean-up-guayaquil-water-sanitation-pollution

[center]

You remember sleazoid right-wing Mayor of Guayaquil, Jaime Nebot?







Nebot and a real American winner, Rudi Giuliani. Two of a kind.

What's in the boxes? I'm guessing a pen and pencil set, and the other, long barbeque matches.



"I invite you to pull this finger!"[/center]