Take away from me the noise of your songs, to the melody of your harps I will not listen; but let justice roll down like waters and righteous like an overflowing stream. – Amos 5: 23 and 24
IS THERE A water crisis in Barbados or are we approaching one?
I think there is one and we have a big problem on our hands when it comes to water, because there are cries everywhere in Barbados about water outages from St Lucy to St Philip. This was unheard of in the past.
It was only St Joseph that was crying out for years, but now it is everyone. The shortage is affecting everything in our country – homes, schools, livestock and the farming community.
It is terrible in St Joseph where I live, but we are so accustomed that we have stopped complaining.
The students and staff at the Grantley Adams Memorial School are really suffering. So far for the term which is seven weeks old, the school has been closed ten times around 11:45 a.m. and that is valuable teaching time that has been lost. What will those students who are writing CXC examinations next year going to do?
The livestock farmers in St Lucy are badly affected and have had to seek help from the Barbados Fire Service. It must be noted that you cannot farm without water.
Climate change has really impacted on them. Many of the plantations are behind in planting the 2017 sugar crop and this is a result of the lack of rain. Usually in October, there are midway in planting and this has not happened as yet.
Rain is one of the main problems where this water is concerned and we can judge by not hearing about much flooding in the country this year.
What are we going to do about the whole situation?
I am convinced that the Barbados Water Authority is doing its best, but how much more can they do.
We have to wait until God sends rain. Let’s hope and pray for this to happen soon.
