(JAMAICAOBSERVER)Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday issued a plea to Jamaicans to conserve water and make investments in its harvesting and storage as the current drought, which he has deemed a crisis, persists with projections showing no ease in the coming months.
“We are really in a crisis and every Jamaican now needs to internalise that we are living in this period of time when we are seeing climate change before our very eyes. It is often said that we are the generation who will see the climate change but will probably be the last generation who can do anything about it,” Holness said as he outlined in the House of Representatives the prolonged dry period which has gripped the country for several months now.
“We had hoped that traditional rainfall patterns for May would have pertained, and give us the relief that we need. It is possible that this could still happen, and we do pray. For those of us of faith, we continue to pray for rain,” Holness said.
He noted that an analysis of the data comparing rainfall accumulated during the October to February periods of 2022-2023 reveal that the current dry period has been cumulatively drier than any similar period in recorded meteorological history.
“So we are in an extreme period of dryness,” the prime minister said.
He noted that rainfall outlooks published by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology for the region for the periods May to July 2023 and August to October 2023 show that for May to July 2023 Jamaica is projected to have a 40 per cent chance of below-normal rainfall, with a lower likelihood of receiving normal or above-normal amounts.