A specialist from the Cuban National Institute on Water Resources (INRH),
Viviana Castro Enjamo, told ACN that it is necessary to include more
Caribbean islands in this organization given that this region is
frequently hit by extreme hydro-meteorological phenomena.

Castro explained that Cuba is taking part in these meetings since 2008 and
ever since has defended integration and the mutual exchange of experiences
as the Caribbean Sea is threatened by pollution, tropical storms and
hurricanes.

The specialist will represent Cuba in this meeting that will take place
from November 24 through 26, in the city of Panama, and will present
Cuba’s results as to assessing sustainable management of hydrographic
basins.

She will also take part in a Symposium of the International Hydrologic
Program, from November 21 through 24, the single intergovernmental program
by the United Nations on water researches, resources management, and
education.

Cuba possesses 652 superficial basins, ten of them of national interest,
which cover an area of more than 23,000 square kilometers and shelter more
than 2.9 billion people, that is, 26 per cent of the country’s population.

This Caribbean island also relies on an early alert system by the Civil
Defense, which has been praised by the UN and reduces the risk of dying as
a result of hurricanes to a staggering 15 times less than in the U.S.