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Gov’t should start planning for El Nino

Oct 06, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
Nowhere in the media have I seen any warning about an impending El Nino drought in Guyana. From all reports, this phenomenon might well be worse than in 1997/98, which as far as I recall, was a record at that time.
In 1997, sugar and rice were severely affected, with sugar production decreasing by about 13% and rice by about 37%. Cassava crops were decimated in the Rupununi and famine conditions existed in most villages. Severe drought conditions caused many wells to become non-productive. School attendance fell. And mile upon mile, bush fires burned unchecked for months all over the region.
The signs are already evident in the Rupununi. This year has seen one of the least productive rainy seasons in a very long time, as a result of which, fish has been unable to spawn as they usually do. This means that there will be a severe shortage of this staple commodity among the Amerindians for a long time to come. And seine fishing in the Takutu River is exacerbating the problem.
Many of the older folk in the region are saying this was one of the hottest Septembers they can remember. Added to all this, the level of the Rio Branco in Boa Vista, which feeds into the Takutu River on the Guyana border, started falling as far back as four weeks ago, already displaying many sand banks. This is highly unusual at the end of a rainy season. The fact that the Takutu can now be crossed by foot in some parts suggests that this river will soon be considerably depleted.
I personally saw the effects of El Nino drought in 1997, but haven’t experienced anything like this in my seventeen years in the Rupununi. Just today, (Tuesday), the BBC reported on the unusually hot conditions along the northern coast of South America – five to ten degrees higher than normal!
The government needs to carry out its own investigations without delay so as to determine what response might be necessary. We cannot wait until it is too late, as happened in 1997.
Clairmont Lye

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