–As regional officials meet to tackle water management, climate change woes

MINISTER of Communities, Ronald Bulkan has called for stronger integration of Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) member states to better address water management in the region and the threat of climate change to populations that inhabit coastal areas and small-island states.

At the opening Monday of the 26th CWWA meeting at the Marriott Hotel, Minister Bulkan said the problem must be tackled “frontally and collectively”, since it is too big for individual responses.
He highlighted that among the expected outcome of the five-day seminar is a White Paper addressing overall governance in the water sector, integrating and emphasising access of vulnerability to climate change and elements of a strategic plan for water governance and climate resilience.

“Implicit in those is the acknowledgement that disasters are now occurring with greater frequency that makes building climate resilience in the water sector an urgent necessity and that stronger regional cooperation has to be forged,” Minister Bulkan said.

The minister pointed out that Guyana also recognises the need for good water governance and effective infrastructure, hence,its direction in the green state development strategy.
CWWA President, Mr Alphonsus Daniel, underscored the destruction of the water infrastructure caused by recent hurricanes in the region, and commended member states for assisting the affected countries.

“The responses by our members of the CWWA to reach out with engineering skills and assist them (Caribbean countries) with rapid assessments of the affected water infrastructure was tremendous,” Daniel indicated.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer, Guyana Water Incorporated, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles, drew attention to the fact that the conference being convened on the heels of the recent devastation allowed for more decisive action and strategic direction on climate change and water security to be taken.

“As we grapple to respond to the effects to these hurricanes,” Dr. Van-West Charles said, “the question is: Has there been the required focus over the last nine years, and could these results which we witness today could have been mitigated?”
Not waiting for a response, he said: “May I suggest that these issues remain a major concern, and the critical agenda item for action by the high-level Ministerial forum of 2017,” Dr. Van-West Charles emphasised.

Also present were Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock; Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Dawn Hastings-Williams; Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin; Minister of Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes; and representatives and members of the CWWA.
The five-day 26th CWWA Annual Conference and Exhibition is being held, at the Marriot Hotel, under the theme “Promoting innovation and creativity in water, waste water and waste management.”