Monday, August 4, 2008
Water Preservation a National Security Matter in Mexico
Presidency of the Republic
ˇ Water
shortage or inefficient water management could hamper countries’ development
ˇ Handing
over of resources in Sonora to construct and rehabilitate wastewater treatment plants
Hermosillo, Sonora – Water
has become a strategic resource that may limit or trigger the development of countries, and for Mexico it is already a matter
of national security, declared President Felipe Calderón.
The president said that the federal
government is therefore firmly committed to investing to guarantee the right of all Mexicans to receive potable water, and
have drainage and wastewater treatment plants.
Accompanied by Sonora Governor
Eduardo Bours Castelo, the president handed over funds from the Program of Incentives for Wastewater Management, which consists
of paying municipalities or operating organizations for the amount of water they treat.
Through this program, each operating
organization will be given up to one peso for every cubic meter of treated water it delivers, which will reduce the operating
costs of wastewater treatment plants and permit investment in the modernization or expansion of their capacity.
To this end, the president explained
that the National Wastewater Treatment Fund has already been created with a fund of $2.2 billion pesos, $700 million of which
will be used for construction and rehabilitation, while the remaining $1.5 billion will be used for the operation and maintenance
of the wastewater treatment plants of municipalities and operating organizations throughout the country.
President Calderón delivered
$37 million pesos of this fund for water and the benefit of the inhabitants of Sonora, and he pledged, together with the state
governor, that this year construction will begin on the capital's wastewater plant, together with the modernization of the
041and 018 irrigation districts of the River Yaqui.
“I would like to add that
for me, water in Hermosillo is still vital and just as we solved the supply problem through the El Molinito aqueduct, we will
also solve the wastewater treatment problem,” he explained.
He
recalled that this year $920 million pesos, contributed by the federation and state and municipal governments, will be allocated
for Sonora alone to deal with the water program, adding that, “Through these actions we want the people of Sonora to
have water of sufficient quantity and quality to be able to live better."
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Press Release: Presidency
of the Republic, July 31, 2008, Mexico City
Translation Presidency of
the Republic
