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Mexico's Calderon to tackle Acapulco stink
24 May 2008 01:01:56 GMT
 Source: Reuters
MEXICO CITY, May 23 (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon pledged $42 million on Friday to "rescue" Acapulco, the Pacific resort whose sewage-stained beaches are barely recognizable from its 1950s heyday.

Calderon said he would spend 440 million pesos over four years to improve sanitation services in Acapulco, which is struggling with an explosion in its local population and of the luxury hotels that draw hordes of U.S. spring break tourists and weekend visitors from Mexico City.

"In short, we're going to rescue Acapulco Bay," Calderon said at a news conference.

Tourism is one of Mexico's main economic motors, and Calderon vowed during his 2006 election campaign to restore the Pacific coast resort to its former glory.

Once an sparkling playground for the Hollywood set including Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth, Acapulco has grown grubbier as the city has expanded and its tourism industry has ballooned.

Six million tourists visit the resort each year.

But barely treated sewage and waste water flows into its famous bay, leaving the sea murky brown and foamy in places, and egg-like odors hang over its pretty central square.

The lack of infrastructure means poor families living in the city's outskirts suffer water shortages while foreigners splash about in bubbling hot tubs and landscaped swimming pools in hotels along the seafront.

Calderon said he would bring clean water to poor neighborhoods, improve the city's drains and upgrade sewage treatment plants.

"This is an indispensable step to improve the quality of life for all the (local residents) as well as the more than six million national and international tourists," he said.

Acapulco, famed for its huge crescent-shaped bay, has also been scarred by the presence of child sex tourists and by rising crime after being sucked into a turf war between violent drug cartels. ($1=10.39 pesos) (Reporting by Mariano Castillo; Editing by Catherine Bremer)


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A child receives a bath in drought-affected Los Chiles de San Carlos, 300 km (187.5 miles) north of San Jose, May 23, 2008. Hundreds of families have lost crops and livestock, ...


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