Linton P. Gordon
The country is experiencing the worst drought it has ever experienced in living memory. Not only is it a severe drought but it has extended over a long period of time and during this time the progress that was being made in the Agricultural sector has all but been wiped out. Several plants have died during the drought and it will take years for there to be replacement for these. The drought has been a disaster for farmers most of whom have lost their entire crops. Other farmers have lost livestock . We are now being brought to the reality that “Water is Life”. Jamaica should not be experiencing the difficulty it is now facing with the drought. My understanding is that there is adequate supply of water underground in Saint Ann, Trelawny and to a lesser extent, Saint Mary. What has happened over the years is that successive Governments have failed to pursue and ongoing policy of employing underground water resources by sinking wells where such underground reservoirs exist. Bamboo and its adjacent communities should not be without piped water as there is adequate underground reservoir all along, from Bamboo back to Claremont. Several of our communities that are without piped water could easily be supplied with the commodity if there was the political will to do so. This period of drought should be treated by our political leaders as a wakeup call, for not only has it affected the agricultural sector but also the construction sector because water, as we all know, is needed on every construction site, especially to mix concrete. However the greatest harm that the drought and lack of water are causing is the inconvenience that householders are experiencing. There are communities that have not seen water in their pipes for weeks now. Other get a little drip now and then while others receive water through their pipe of so poor a quality that they can only put it to limited use. Citizens have resorted to collecting water from stagnant sources in desperation. This has implications for the health of these citizens, especially for children. The situation in Kingston is desperate. In fact it is frightening because it has been recently announced that the largest water storage facility on the island, the Mona dam, has only one month’s supply of water. No one wants to imagine what would happen if the supply of water in Kingston and St Andrew is exhausted. Where would the three quarters of a million people living in Kingston go? Let’s not imagine that happening; instead, let us pray for rain. A very unfortunate consequence of the drought is the wild fires. These fires have destroyed large tracts of our vegetation. Several areas of our rain forest have been destroyed by these wild fires. These rain forests contains trees older than most of us and it will take years for these rain forests to return to the glory they were up to the time of these fires. The fires have also destroyed agricultural crops animals and so far at least one house in Jack Hills, Saint Andrew. Citizens need to heed the advice of the health authorities who have been encouraging persons to boil the water they use. The drought is a challenge for all of us. We all have a duty to conserve water, to cease washing our motor vehicles, to cease watering our gardens and to hang in there, do a rain dance and hope and pray that the drought will be broken before it is too late.
