ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Faced with a worsening drought situation in the Caribbean, St. Lucia has announced stringent measures to conserve water while consumers in Dominica are being warned that the situation on the island could get worse.
St. Lucian authorities have issued a “Declaration of Water Related Emergency” and have warned that persons contravening the new measures could face both a fine of not less than EC$3,000 (US$1,110) and to imprisonment of not less than six months.
Among the measures contained in the declaration is a ban on the use of water for watering of gardens, lawns, grounds and farms as well as for supplying ponds, swimming pools “or for use other than normal domestic services such as drinking, cooking, washing, bathing and sanitation”.
The emergency decree said that the measures would be enforced by the Water Resources Management Agency, with the support of the police, and would “remain in effect until further notice”.
In Dominica, the Water and Sewerage Company (DOWASCO) warned consumers that they should conserve water as the levels in the reservoirs continue to drop.
““That is of concern to us. There is a still a large amount of water. What we have been doing is switching various communities to different supplies, managing the system, so that people can realize a little relief from the effects that could arise,” said DOWASCO general manager Bernard Etinoffe.
Head of Communications and Customer Service at DOWASCO, Gwennie Dickson, said the company was anticipating a worsening of the situation.
“Based on what we are hearing from the Met Institute in Barbados, they are forecasting that we will experience severe dryness for some time to come. If it does continue as they forecast it means the water level will definitely get lower and there will not be sufficient pressure to provide water to many communities,” she warned.
However, she said Dominica, which boasts 365 rivers, was still in a position to provide assistance to drought-affected St. Lucia,
“St. Lucia has introduced a water rationing system. We have not gotten to that stage and we hope that we do not get to that stage. They are in discussions with us to purchase water from Dominica and we are looking at how we can assist,” she added.
One thing i have to say is that i warning all u , do all wat all u doing give all who allu want our water but make sur Antigua is not one of the countries that getting water from us let them drink there dirty dead fish water
Dominica the nature isle of the world. Is Situations like this that suppose to remind us of how blessed we are. We may not be the richest country financially but we are rich in many unique ways money can’t buy like this is just 1 for example. We have plenty but we don’t have to waste , we have to be wise. Now i don’t agree with “However, she said Dominica, which boasts 365 rivers, was still in a position to provide assistance to drought-affected St. Lucia”. When all the other countries in the caribbean boasts bout all their other kind of stuff in Dominica we are blessed with organic vegitation and water so we’re not boasting when we speak the truth. Please know how you phrase your statements
I cannot recall exactly who said it about Dominica that if Coulmbus were to come back to the Caribbean only Dominica would be recognized. The comment was made to surmise that Dominica has not developed as many of the other Caribbean. But frankly if Columbus were to come back to the Caribbean, Dominica would be the only place where he would find fresh water in its natural state and fresh air to breath.
And you know what makes our island unique: We (unlike other countries in the Caribbean) still have almost 70% of our forests still uncleared and intact.
The person who made the statement about Dominica did not realize the importance of preserving our forests. All the waterfalls we have, all the sparkling crystal clear water in our rivers are the result of the abundance of trees in our forests. Because of those very unexploited forests, Dominica can fare better than most of our neighbours who have cleared their forests. We certainly are less severely affacted by drought than our neighbours. But we need not be too proud and complacent about that because if we do not protect our forests, we will end up just like those other countries now feeing the effects of rainfall scarcity.
There is a saying ” Si bard a voisin ou pwi dife’, mouye’ sa ou. Otherwise we may be the next . We must preserve out forests. Whereas one tree can be felled in a couple of minutes, it takes many years forests can regenerate itself through natural processes. In addition to preserving our rorests the call to ration water is rational.
Water is life so we need not waste it and cutting down of our trees can be even more so predispose us to droughts in the near future
365 rivers and reserviors are drying up? Is water the real problem or energy to pump the water? cause this makes no sense. anyways we have engineers who can work around that so mr. PM please employ them……
hmm…those plant proud home-owners, i wonder what measures they going to take about watering their plants every night?