AG/RES. 1579 (XXVIII-O/98)

SEMINAR ON CLEANUP OF THE SHORELINE OF THE CITY OF GONAÏVES, HAITI

(Resolution adopted at the third plenary session, held on June 2, 1998)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HAVING SEEN the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001; the Plan of Action for Sustainable Development of the Americas; the conclusions of the High-Level Meeting on the Special Security Concerns of Small Island States, held in February 1998 in El Salvador; and the Declaration of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures;

CONSIDERING:

That the Government of Haiti is deeply concerned over the nature of wastes being deposited since 1988 along the shoreline of the city of Gonaïves, located 150 km. from Port-au-Prince along the northern highway and overlooking a sound, the "Canal au Vent," which is home to important species of fish and is the transit route for tour boats and commercial craft en route to Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other islands of the region; and

That it is incumbent on the Government of Haiti to reassure the inhabitants of the Gonaïves region and to adopt sanitation measures to protect them against all types of disease or deformities that could occur over the long term as a result of the deposit of such wastes a few kilometers from the Canal au Vent;

NOTING that the Government of Haiti is attempting to establish, through investments in large-scale infrastructure projects, a number of tourist sites in the country, and that the city of Gonaïves could become one of these sites, given its history, its location, its beaches, and the extensive rice paddies that define its parameters; and

CONSIDERING ALSO:

That the Strategic Plan for Partnership for Development 1997-2001 of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) attaches high priority, in the context of fighting poverty and promoting sustainable economic development, to cleaning up coastal areas and promoting tourism, as well as any activity likely to improve the life of the inhabitants of the Americas and protect them against sudden disasters caused either by natural phenomena like El Niño or by environmental pollution;

That the General Assembly, through resolution AG/RES. 1584 (XXVIII-O/98), requests the Permanent Executive Committee of CIDI (CEPCIDI), through that Council, to help the countries seriously affected by El Niño in 1997 and 1998 to take every possible measure to improve environmental conditions in these regions and to protect the populations from any epidemics that might result;

That, for the time being, the Government of Haiti is merely requesting assistance from the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) in obtaining an in-depth understanding of the precise nature of those wastes, by way of a high-level technical seminar;

That SEDI is in a position to provide such assistance and to carry out, in coordination with the Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment, all sorts of activities enabling the Government of Haiti to move ahead with this task; and

That the measures the Government of Haiti would like to take in this connection could benefit other Caribbean states in the short term, and that Haiti can, under a partnership program with those states, undertake regional projects centered on tourism and industrial activities,

RESOLVES:

1. To request the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), through the Permanent Executive Committee of CIDI (CEPCIDI), to assist the Government of Haiti in holding in Port-au-Prince, before the end of 1998, a high-level seminar-workshop, attended by international and national experts, to assess environmental conditions in the environs of the city of Gonaïves, where a mass of toxic waste has been deposited since 1988; and that workshop costs will be covered by each of the participants and the Government of Haiti will cover the local costs, with no need for additional financial resources.

2. To request CIDI, through CEPCIDI, to assist the Government of Haiti in determining, on the basis of the conclusions of this high-level seminar, what measures should be taken for the purpose of informing the inhabitants of the Gonaïves region and of cleaning up the city's shoreline, which activities could enable the Haitian authorities to promote major tourism activities in this area in the medium term, with the possible participation of several Caribbean states.