Tourism trashes island nations

AP , JEJU, SOUTH KOREA
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2004,Page 5

Small island "paradise" countries are increasingly being trashed by piles of solid waste and sewage they have neither the money nor space to cope with, the UN warned yesterday at a global environment summit.

The new trend is a health and economic hazard and linked to exploding tourism in places like the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, the UN said in a report.

The findings were released as environment ministers from around the globe gathered for the second day of a UN Environment Program summit dealing with water and sanitation. The summit ends today.

Developing small island countries are especially vulnerable because they are burdened by an influx of tourism, but often lack the landfill space, expensive incinerators or treatment plants to deal with garbage and human waste.

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