Caribbean and Europe generate dynamic cooperation

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe – European Cooperation Day was commemorated in the Caribbean last month under the theme of “Sharing borders to grow closer”.

POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe – European Cooperation Day was commemorated in the Caribbean last month under the theme of “Sharing borders to grow closer”.

The special day, commemorated on Thursday, September 25, 2014, was marked by highlighting special projects across the French overseas territories in the Caribbean.

The Regional Council of Guadeloupe, as the management authority of the INTERREG IV Caraรฏbes European regional cooperation programme, organized the commemoration in the Caribbean in collaboration with the Regional Councils of Martinique, French Guiana and the Saint Martin local authority.

Events centered on highlighting projects supported by the INTERREG IV Caraรฏbes program, which aims to enhance collaboration and to promote the development of future projects in the 2014-2020 program period.

This year, the INTERREG IV Caraรฏbes programme honoured the island nation of Dominica by welcoming its ministers of energy and agriculture and helping boost its electricity generation.

Under the “Geothermal I” project, financed under the INTERREG III B phase, the Regional Council of Guadeloupe consolidated its cooperation with Dominica to promote and develop renewable energy.

Dominica will move towards energy independence thanks to a 40MW power plant which will generate sufficient energy for export to Guadeloupe and Martinique via an underwater cable.

With Guadeloupe’s experience at the Bouillante site, the Dominica cooperation positions the Regional Council of Guadeloupe as a “pole of excellence” for geothermal energy and contributes to the development of renewable energy usage across the Caribbean.

A similar project sets up a regional water cycle observatory to evaluate, monitor and better manage water resources to better understand regional hydrometeorological phenomena and the evolution of the environment.

In addition to modernizing existing networks, the project also transfers technology, launches training programmes and creates a regional data bank.

Also planned is the creation of a hydraulic information system, the promotion of regional cooperation initiatives and the emergence of a community of Caribbean hydrologists.

This water cycle observatory project falls under the “Caraรฏbe Hycos” programme led by the Institute of Research for Development of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the General Council of Martinique, the Prefecture of Martinique, the Antigua Public Utilities Authority, the Barbados Water Authority, the National Institute of Water Resources of Cuba, the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company, the National Service for Water Resources of Haiti, the Water Resources Authority of Jamaica, the National Institute of Water Resources of the Dominican Republic, the St. Lucia Meteorological Service, the St. Lucia Water Resource Management Agency, and the Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago.

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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