The Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) warned in a press release on Wednesday, that coastal waters in the Caribbean are being threatened by the discharge of large volumes of untreated waste water into the marine environment in the region.
The livelihoods of those who depend on fisheries and even tourism and other sectors are at a great risk and there is a negative impact on both human and the coastal and marine ecosystem health.
As a result, the CEHI said, the near-shore waters of many islands in the region are becoming environmental hot spots, where sedimentation and algal growth threaten vital coastlines and coastal resources and in many ways further impacts on the economic growth and social conditions of Caribbean countries.
The CEHI in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through its Regional Coordination Unit for the Caribbean Environment Programme (UNEP CAR/ RCU) will be hosting a Waste Water Management Course in Jamaica from today to Friday to address the above mentioned consequences.
The training will focus on objective-oriented planning; innovative technological and financial approaches; stakeholder involvement, presentation techniques and feasibility reporting and the course targets waste water managers and decision makers, town planners, and representatives from stakeholder and user groups in the fisheries, tourism and public health sectors, along with communities and environmental NGOs.
