Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha is urging citizens to practise water conservation as the country continues to experience a prolonged dry season, which is projected to go until the end of November.
He has also sought to reassure that Guyana has adequate water supply to meet essential needs.
“I have spoken to the head of hydromet yesterday and he told me that by the end of next month, we might have some change in the weather. So far, we have enough water in the system to take care of our needs, but that does not mean that we must go about wasting the water. We must conserve the freshwater that we have in the conservancies,” Mustapha said.
He said currently water levels at the conservancies are at normal heights and is hoping that it remains and the country battles the El Niño weather phenomenon.
Mustapha said that there are no serious threats caused by the dry weather conditions.
“I don’t think we are experiencing any serious problems with the dry spell so far. We have enough water in the system, but I want to appeal to farmers, stakeholders, and residents generally, we must conserve our fresh water,” Mustapha said.
In August, the Barbados-based Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF) said rainfall deficits are still possible despite the increasing rainfall and that concerns exist for parts of the eastern Caribbean and Belize.
CariCOF had also expressed concerns over long-term drought that can impact rivers and reservoirs by the end of the wet season at the end of November, noting “this raises some initial concerns over water availability entering the 2019/2020 dry season.”
