The World Bank says that the water of the Dominican Republic is not drinkable. The report titled ?Environmental priorities and strategic options; Environmental analysis of the country? also criticizes the fact that tourism policies have been directed towards getting more tourists, with little regard made for the natural resources needed. The World Bank says that tainted water in the Dominican Republic causes 2,400 infant deaths a year. Pointing the finger at the development of the Punta Cana-Bavaro area, the World Bank says the area is a prime example of tourist development without consideration for the available natural resources. The document, published on 29 June, recalls that in the 80s, the INDRHI (Dominican Institute for Hydraulic Resources) estimated that the area around Punta Cana and Bavaro had sufficient available water to sustain 20,000 hotel rooms, but this figure has since been surpassed by several thousand rooms. The report calls the efforts to develop the area around the Bahia de las Aguilas (Bay of Eagles) in the Southwest of the country is a model of ?slash and burn? touristic development that goes after new areas as the older ones become despoiled through overuse. El Caribe reporter Panky Corcino relays that the international institution says the levels of organic material and bacteriological contamination in the available water supply make it unfit for human consumption. The bank points out that Dominicans consume over one million cubic meters of bottled water (approximately 25 billion gallons) per year, considering this to be sufficient evidence of the poor quality of local supplies. The wide-reaching report also focuses on the local coral reefs under attack by tourists and fishermen alike, the ?fragile ecological zones? near the ocean, the budget for the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, and the overuse of agricultural pesticides in the valley of Constanza. In the latter area the report states that the management of integrated systems of pest control is ?virtually unknown.?
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