BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE drought-like season being experienced in St. Kitts and Nevis is of grave concern to the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Eugene Hamilton.
Speaking with Clement ‘Junie’ Liburd yesterday (Aug. 21) on Freedom FM’s talk show programme ‘Issues’, Minister Hamilton said based on the dry season, he was in sympathy with food producers in the Federation, particularly farmers and fishermen.
“The people who are engaged in the production of food are having a very difficult time and I can assure them that the Ministry is actively looking at how it could serve them by providing some form of assistance in the near future.”
He informed that pig rearing is being done by a number of farmers in the mountainside of Bayford’s and Conaree, and that during a recent walk-through of those areas he did observed that there was a lack of water for the animals.
From this perspective, the Minister noted that not only are the residents adversely affected by the dry season, but also the food producers and “everything else”.
Comparing the amount of rainfall at the end of July, Minister Hamilton said this (2015) is the worst year since 2010. He noted that at the end of July 2010 there were 54.73 inches of rain, while in 2011 there were 48.63 inches, 27.44 inches in 2012, 26.27 inches in 2013, 29.08 inches in 2014 and only 9.78 inches in 2015.
He opined that this phenomenon may have its genesis in the climate change syndrome being experienced globally and hopes that some relief would come in the wake of the impending hurricane.
Hamilton said that there would be some rain should the Federation be in the path of Hurricane Danny, and he trusts that it is “not kind of rain that will remove all of the top soil to the sea, but the kind of rain that gives us the assurance that farmers can go out and plant”.
He hopes, too, that the hurricane would do no damage, no loss of life and that people could do what is necessary to ensure they are safe within their home or in shelters that the Government and other organisations have provided.
Quite recently, the Water Services Department had issued an advisory for consumers to implement water-saving and storage measures, including the purchase of cisterns, as water levels are extremely low.
The communiqué stated that “we have now reached a critical stage of water abstraction from the Basseterre Valley Aquifer and have taken measures to control demand from that source”.
As a result of the prolonged dry spell, it has prompted the Water Services Department to ration the life-saving commodity.
The Department has advised that the following should be adhered to:
• Persons without cisterns should explore purchasing storage containers capable of holding 500 gallons on more;
• Businesses should implement a water management contingency plan involving daily checks of water meters;
• Government should ensure that critical institutions have onsite standby water storage receptacles; and
• All residents, government and private institutions should prioritize the repair of leaking pipes or faucets.
Information reaching SKNVibes this morning (Aug. 22) states that Hurricane Danny is located about 660 miles east of the Leeward Islands in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, that it continues to slowly weaken and should bring drought relief to the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
It is also said that as of 11:00 a.m. today, the category three hurricane has maximum sustained winds estimated at 90 mph and could possible reach the Leeward Islands by Monday and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on the following day.
Indeed, the rain will be welcomed as Minister Hamilton hopes, but let us pray that Danny does not cause damage to life, limb or property within the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and, by extension, other countries within the Caribbean region.
