When newly elected mayor Fritz García Gallont takes office here on Jan. 14, one of his toughest challenges will be to overcome the acute shortage of in this capital, Central America’s largest city. Some fear that if García, a German-educated industrial engineer, doesn’t improve water service to the city’s 2.7 million people soon, serious social unrest could be in the offing. The task won’t be easy. Guatemala has the largest renewable water supply of any Central American country, according to the 1999 U.N. study “Guatemala: The Rural Face of Human Development.” But the water isn’t getting to the population, and the capital’s water table is falling relentlessly. “Unfortunately, in the last 14 years nothing significant has been done to increase water production,” says City... [Log in to read more]
