In response to the looming El Nino drought, a group of concerned citizens in Lethem, Rupununi, have gotten together to form the “El Nino Committee”, a release from the group said today.
Members of the Committee are: Bryan Allicock, Regional Chairman; Rene Edwards of Conservation International; Roger King of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce; and Clairmont Lye of the Beacon Foundation.
The Committee aims to sensitize residents in the Rupununi to the negative effects on their lives by the El Nino phenomenon. Several indicators, the release said, already point to an extreme situation in coming months.
“The level of the Rupununi River is over fifteen feet below its normal level for this time of the year, and sandbanks have already started to show in the Takutu River at Lethem at what is traditionally the end of the rainy season. Farmers have also reported that the unusual high temperatures is adversely affecting their crops”, the release said.
Pipe-borne water might reach critical levels in another two or three months. If this happens, then Lethem will experience a severe water shortage from January to April next year, the release said.
Through regular bulletins to each household in Lethem and St Ignatius Village, the Committee will advise residents on ways to save water. The Committee is also making efforts to procure a short-term variety of cassava out of Brazil for farmers to plant without delay in low-lying areas. The relevant Government agencies are being alerted to the situation, the release said.
