Pedro Nasco Alvarez, UPECI
HAVANA, June – Parts of the eastern Cuban province of Guantánamo are experiencing an environmental and economic crisis as a result of misguided development policies by several government agencies.
Experts with the Provincial Soil Center say the accelerated salinization of the soil in the southern end of the Guaso valley are due to the construction of more than 70 aquaculture tanks with improper drainage and impermeability by the Provincial Fisheries Directorate.
Some of the results in evidence in the Guaso valley are:
• A rise in the water table, from 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) to 5 feet (1.5
meters).
• Increased salinization of agricultural lands, from 1,700 to 2,500 parts
per million. This last figure renders the land unsuitable for most crops.
• Permanent scarcity in the drinking water supply to the population centers
of Guantánamo and Caimanera due to the contamination of the water table.
• Accelerated desertification in the province. Recent studies show semi-arid
land occupies twice the area of previous estimates.
All this happened in spite of substantial investments in the desalinization of extensive areas; after recuperating hundreds of acres for agriculture, the lands were lost again to salt intrusion.
During the past 15 years millions of dollars were invested in land reclamation in the Guaso valley. When the aquaculture operation was first proposed, Caridad Piedra, Soil Center director for the province warned of the attendant dangers. Her advice was disregarded. Today, an observer can see
salt efflorescence in lands that recently were productive.
The aquaculture operation was designed to produce 700 tons of fish; it has never surpassed 100. At the same time, the Varied Crops Enterprise of Guantánamo plans to sue the Fisheries Directorate on account of 660 plus acres of land that had been reclaimed and that now are again unsuitable
for agriculture.
The official press is no less schizophrenic than the economic planners. The official daily Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) on June 7 blamed construction on the U. S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay for the increased salinization.
Four days later, the same newspaper published an article pointing an accusatory finger for the mess at the directors of the fishing industry in the province.
Versión original en español
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