Jamaica, Cuba Seek to Step Up Cooperation in Water, Housing Projects

Jamaica is seeking to deepen cooperation with Cuba in the areas of water and housing development.

Water and housing minister Donald Buchanan, who last week led a delegation to Cuba, where meetings were held with Cuba´s water minister Jorge Aspiolea Roig and president of the National Housing Institute of Cuba, Victor Ramirez Ruiz, said the cooperation will also involve the exchange of technical expertise.

Mr. Buchanan said discussions in Cuba focused on strengthening cooperation between both countries´ ministries of water, in the area of water resources management and development, including the issue of water supply and sanitation.

“In the area of water, we will be concentrating the cooperation in hydrogeology, water resources assessment, irrigation and the expansion of domestic water supply,” Buchanan said.

The water minister, who was accompanied by senior officials within his ministry and some of its portfolio agencies, also visited water-related facilities while in Cuba, including the Varadero Water Supply System, the Almendares Valley Sewerage Facility in Havana, and the Hydraulic Complex in southern Havana.

He noted that while Cuba has so far attained 95 per cent coverage in supplying potable water, Jamaica has only achieved 85 per cent. However, he said that with the establishment of the Rural Water Supply Limited and greater collaboration between Jamaica and Cuba is this area, there should be an improvement in this situation in the near future.

Following the discussions, Buchanan signed two aides memoirs, one with the Housing Institute and another with the Cuban water ministry, pledging greater cooperation between both countries.