The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

CARIBBEAN water ministers are examining ways to manage scarce resources and the proper treatment of wastewater, following the latest regional Water and Waste Water Association (CWWA) conference.

Following a high-level meeting at the CWWA conference at Atlantis, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works, Philip Davis, said water security and the proper treatment of waste water were two key issues that will be addressed moving forward.

“I think it was every successful event. The theme of this conference for ministers was water security. It seems as though we are all facing the same challenges. Our water reserves have been reduced to 50 per cent over the years. Of what we used to have, we have only about 50 per cent today,” Mr Davis said.

“We have to find ways and means of managing that, and there were ideas that were exchanged as to how, going forward, we are going to deal with managing our limited water resources and the alternative means of producing good, potable drinking water.”

Mr Davis added that wastewater treatment was also a key issue. “We don’t pay much attention to waste water, and what happens to waste water and the consequences of waste water just being flushed or thrown out,” he said.

“What we need to do is to ensure the proper treatment of waste water to ensure that it does not end up affecting our health.”

Mr Davis added that recommendations would be made to CARICOM, and water ministers in the Caribbean were being asked to sensitise their respective Cabinets to the issues of water security and waste water treatment.

“Part of the challenge of water management and water security is climate change. Most of the countries who were represented at the conference do not contribute to climate change; it is the industrialised nations,” said Mr Davis.

“Funds have been created to assist nations with greening their economy so as to cut down on what they call the carbon footprint. Accessing those funds has been challenging for small islands states. We are talking about forming a unit and approaching these funds as a group as opposed to individually.”