Excessive tourism Development is pcoving to be on Cuban environment A major bug msem is the con of a stone bridge dw mainland with on I cays or rand or sand. "It's dw immediate so dw environment inumm; use' says a degist- -We are g swan into the sea know what might happen to them during a hurricane of large magnitude."

Though Cuban minister of tourism, Osmani CieDfuegos insists that "Cuba is betting on, and in fact is developing sustainable tourism," ecologists tend to have strong reservations. A report presented to the Forum of the Organisation of American States and the Caribbean on the Environment warns that construction of excessive tourist infrastructure next to the beaches will break down the dunes and hinder the recycling of sand, besides triggering contamination by waste products which are not disposable in the sea.

The example of other countries is hardly heartening. In several countries, say Cuban environmentalists, tourism development has caused the destruction of coral reef segments during the construction of piers and the budding of new beach areas in the mangrove zones. There are other dangers too of going in for large scale tourism projects. According to experts, massive fumigation of mosquitoes and black flies has eliminated other insects that till now bad played an important role in the pollination of plants and as food for insect-catirig birds,(IPS)